75 



Private Agricultural Lands : Stream degradation due to agricultural 

 practices and flow depletion have both administrative and statutory 

 barriers. The California State Water Resources Control Board has 

 the authority to prevent water users from wasting water but actions 

 are only initiated when a complaint is filed. Any riparian land 

 owner in California may begin to extract water without any permit 

 from the SWRCB at any time. This antiquated water law needs 

 revision if we are to maintain fisheries resources in the face of 

 increasing development in the state. Ground water extraction is 

 almost completely unregulated in the state, yet if aquifers are 

 drawn down, streams may dry up and riparian zones may die. I am 

 unaware of any statutes that prevent over-grazing that leads to 

 stream degradation due to loss of riparian vegetation. Non-point 

 source pollution from stock may be a violation of the Clean Water 

 Act but no enforcement action has been initiated in our area. 



There is a misperception at present in rural communities that 

 private property rights reign supreme over public trust resources. 

 These local interests groups see only short term economic gains or 

 losses and are reluctant to entertain more sustainable land use 

 practices. Thinking people, however, are recognizing that we must 

 change. A major economic engine for over-cutting of our forests is 

 an almost unlimited international market for wood products. In the 

 past, when markets were primarily domestic, recessions led to 

 decreased demand for wood products and a slow down in the rate of 

 logging on public and private land. Free market economics can no 

 longer be relied upon as a moderating influence on forest harvest. 



4) What management techniques are avaiiaJbie to maintain and restore 

 high cfuality watersheds that will sustain hairvestable , naturally 

 spawning fish populations? 



I support the watershed approach to fisheries and river 

 restoration currently being advanced by Mr. Robert Doppelt of 

 Pacific Rivers Council, who joins me on this panel. A similar 

 approach is endorsed in the Klamath Plan (USFWS 1991) . The most 

 cost effective method of restoring streams impacted by 

 sedimentation is to stabilize upland areas and allow streams to 

 flush during subsequent high flows. While implementation of such a 

 strategy should move forward on public lands immediately, there is 

 a great need for similar activities on private lands as well. No 

 public money should be spent on private lands, however, until there 

 is fundamental reform of timber harvest practices. 



Because the landscape is so fragmented at this point and 

 rivers in such bad ecological health, I believe it is prudent to 

 place the watersheds which serve as refugia for the last viable 

 Pacific salmon populations in permanent reserves. No restoration 

 will be possible in the future if the last gene resources that 

 exist in lightly impacted or undisturbed watersheds are lost. We 

 must also develop long term strategies based on desired future 

 conditions of riparian areas so that stream health can be restored. 



