Well, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) is at it again…showing utter disregard for California’s wildlife. This time around, they’ve pumped dry flooded Prospect Island, in the Sacramento River Delta, with no regard for rescuing the fish that lived in there.
Right now, there are thousands upon thousands of dead and dying fish laying in the shallow puddle that used to be the island. These pumps are now idle, but the damage has been done.
But first, a little background…
There was a levee break on Prospect back in 1999, which was repaired and then another occurred in January of 2006. Since the ‘06 event, the island has turned into a sanctuary for wildlife — fish of several varieties, waterfowl, herons, egrets, raptors and a whole host of others. In fact, the island was purchased by BOR in 1995 and was slated to become an official wildlife refuge to be operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service…until the then-Republican controlled legislature voted it down.
Now, the entire place, which was supposed to be a haven for fish has turned into a massacre. Work began on repairing the levee breaches in early October (here’s how it looked before they patched the break):
The levee break was a hazardous spot for boaters who tried to move in and out of the island due to strong currents and trees in the channel and that is, according to the BOR, the main reason that they fixed the gap and started pumping.
The BOR’s plan for the project: As long as there were no endangered species like delta smelt or winter-run Chinook salmon on the island, which they claim there weren’t, Prospect would be drained with no recovery plan for the fish. And that’s pretty much how it went down. The carnage at the pumps was crazy. When the pumps were running, thousands of fish from threadfin shad to splittail to crappie and bass, could be seen floating on the surface in Minor Slough, mortally wounded or dead after getting sucked through the pumps.
Behind the levee, the water in Prospect kept getting lower and lower until untold thousands of fish died, including large numbers of striped bass. There are also rumors that there are dead salmon and steelhead floating in the pool, but that has yet to be confirmed.
State wildlife officials said Friday they are conducting a criminal investigation into the fish stranding and State Fish and Game Department spokesman Steve Martarano said his agency began the investigation Wednesday when it learned the fish became trapped after two levee breaks were repaired on the island.
“We know we have a lot of dead fish,” Martarano said. “Any time you have a large number of dead fish like this, you have to investigate the reasons why.” The state Fish and Game Code forbids the “wanton waste” of a sport fish….which, striped bass, of course are.
We’ll keep an eye on this sad situation and keep you posted…
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Uh, I’m no biologist, but I think they may have been killed by a sudden lack of water… I guess solving this one would be as easy as asking who told them to drain it? In order to prosecute they are going to have to get a few mirrors to find the defendants.
I know who did it for a fact, I called 9-11 on them before it and left their plate number!
Nail on the head, Big Boy….
Good on ya Ol boy. Keep up the good work. For those of you who give a darn about our resources should: Send a link to their friends so they can see this massacre. Call California DFG about this incident. Talk to an earth friendly congressman about legal action. The delta is in decline (as are most fisheries in the golden state) and it is up to us to police the actions of the government. Does profits before all else ring a bell?
Fred Contaoi