Water uses draw fire
by Jesse Phelps

The Casitas Municipal Water District hosted a public forum Wednesday night at Sunset Elementary in Oak View to discuss the proposed and planned, but as yet unbuilt, fish ladder at the Robles Diversion Dam in Meiners Oaks.
The cafeteria was packed with about 175 people, some in the day's work clothes, some in business suits. The diverse audience included ranchers and farmers, typical water users, Ojai City Council members Carol Smith and David Bury, environmental activists and Michael Jackson, an executive with the Bureau of Reclamation.
The panel was made up of National Marine Fisheries Services Assistant Regional Administrator Jim Leckey, CMWD board members and biologists and a representative from CalTrout. The affair was presided over by Bob Rauch, a public affairs consultant hired by the CMWD.
The first half hour was dedicated to meeting and greeting - an opportunity for the people who came to participate to familiarize themselves with the people, issues and data involved.
CMWD and NMFS had posterboards set up with graphs and charts and what each organization saw as relevant information. The crowd mingled and exchanged ideas for half an hour before Bob Rauch introduced CMWD board president Jim Coultas and general manager John Johnson, who introduced the dilemma as seen through the eyes of the district.
Johnson referred to the district's twin priorities of providing water to its customers and recovery of the steelhead and requested that the audience provide opinions. He delineated three options for moving forward.
He said NMFS could mandate that the district comply with its specifications regarding water release and implied that in that scenario, CMWD would have to follow the order. A second option, Johnson said, was to release the water without the order. The third option, do nothing, he rejected as "not an option" despite its presence as a PowerPoint slide on the overhead.
Johnson was followed by Leo Lynch, the district's biological consultant, who explained issues surrounding the lake's hydrology, accompanied by slides depicting lake levels over the last 50 years and the amount of water diverted via Robles. Analyzing the former, he noted that "during the wet periods, really no significant differences" would exist in the amount of water availability because of the fish ladder.
"The other area of concern," said Lynch, "is the potential effect on the fishery. Sport fishing has a regional reputation at Casitas." He pointed out the need for a process to protect reservoir storage during dry periods.
Leckey was up next. He admitted that the particular processes for drought conditions have yet to be lined out, but also assured the throng that, in the case of a prolonged dry period, NMFS would be willing to suspend or modify its requirements for water release by the district.
"Safeguards for CMWD," he said, "would include monitoring, research, and adaptive management" techniques in the event of a drought. "We have no intention of drying up the lake," he stated
After the presentations, Rauch asked the crowd to write questions or comments on paper provided at the rows of benches. The people complied in abundance, bringing thick stacks of paper to the front during a ten-minute break. Rauch then read the questions, being careful to alternate topics so as not to allow a single point of view to dominate the discussion.
The most vocal groups were the ranchers, lake recreation enthusiasts and the environmental activists. Questions and comments addressed several topics of concern, chief among them issues of the lake drying up, perceived misconduct on the part of the various agencies, and whether the steelhead can be strictly classified as a species or a sub-population.
Leckey clarified that whether or not the steelhead are a separate species (they are not), his agency has a duty to protect the endangered population, which he estimated has lost 99 percent of its density.
One citizen pointed out that in Santa Paula, a similar ladder on the Santa Clara River has not returned the species to health. In response, Leckey said that to come back, the steelhead will need decades and three open channels, and warned people "not to expect too much, too soon."
All sides purport to want the fish ladder. CMWD and NMFS agree, in principal, that to build it is feasible and to do so in a timely manner is critical. "During high-flow years," Johnson said, "there's no problem that we can see with your water supply or recreation."
Yet, the sticking point remains the specific amount of water for release. "The problem," said Lecky, "Is when you get into one of there twenty-year long droughts. There are impacts from those drought scenarios on water supplies. In that scenario, they're going to get pretty close to drying up the lake anyway."
In answer to one citizen's concern regarding the safeguard measures NMFS would be willing to institute during a drought, Leckey said, "We are tying the flow requirements directly to the hydrology. The issue is, we're down to the last few remaining fish and we need to protect them."
"This is an opportunity for CMWD to do the right thing and support the NMFS plan," said councilman Bury. "Remember, the fish were here first. Casitas needs to be a good steward of our environment while still meeting the needs of its customers."
California Steelhead Coalition Program Coordinator David Pritchett took it a step further. "I think the district is not really being honest about their gain or loss of revenue from the lake recreation area. The water they would have to give up is water they really want for other pet projects," he said.
The Ventura River has a "braided" channel with a number of riffles, areas where the ground is higher and the water level lower. The goal of NMFS is to release enough water during peak fish migration conditions to cover these riffles with the minimum six inches Leckey said the steelhead need to migrate. The fish move about a mile a day. The distance from the river mouth to the diversion is about 10 miles, so 10 days of water release would be required to allow "the slower swimmers" to make it past the dam.
The meeting, originally scheduled for two hours, ran well into the third before the crowd had thinned, the Christmas cookies were gone, and the last notes were read. Though nothing was resolved, the public did have a chance to voice its diverse views, though some were unhappy with the Rauch-mediated discussion.
"We are disappointed that they set up the format of the meeting so people could not speak directly," Pritchett said. "Much more would have come out and we would have been able to anticipate any obfuscation to better effect."
The issue promises to heat up further as long as the passage remains in the planning stage and the fish remain cut-off from Matilija Canyon. In the meantime, district officials continue to debate with NMFS over much water is needed. Leckey said it's doubtful his agency will put the mandate through to release the water for fear that the "local agency" might litigate and further push back the fish ladder construction.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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