Issue
For over 25 years the main road into Pescadero has been blocked by the annual flooding of
Butano Creek, jeopardizing public safety and impeding access by public safety officers and
medical responders into and out of the Pescadero community. Why has the County not resolved
this problem and how can it finally be fixed?

Summary
The blockage of Pescadero Creek Road, in the unincorporated community of Pescadero, happens
one or more times each rainy season, often for days each time. Flooding jeopardizes the safety of
local citizens in two primary ways: First, alternative routes into the Pescadero area are along
much longer, narrower roadways requiring at least two to three times more driving time from the
coastal highway. In the case of emergencies where the San Mateo County Sheriff, CAL FIRE or
the California Highway Patrol is required, response time is critical and delays can impact
personal safety of citizens and their property. Second, as the road floods, there are always some
individuals who deliberately or inadvertently drive through the flooded road areas, sometimes
successfully, sometimes not. A flooded road impacts local commerce, tourist traffic, and
agribusiness in the area, and often leaves debris and silt to clean up.
The flooding is linked to decades of silt accumulation in the streambed, and excess vegetation
growth and debris build-up along Butano Creek and in Pescadero Marsh. The drainage from the
Marsh into the sea, and associated flushing of silt into the sea, is compromised by natural and
man-made changes. These include logging debris, erosion, run-off, levees and channels built to
facilitate agriculture, as well as certain now-abandoned modifications intended to correct
watershed problems. The bottom line is that rains cannot be contained within Butano Creek’s
banks, resulting in predictable and dangerous road flooding.
The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury recommends the removal of excess silt and clearance of
vegetation overgrowth and debris from as much of the Butano Creek as necessary to eliminate
the road flooding by October 1, 2012, before the 2012/2013 rainy season, using the regulatory
framework of “Emergency” action if necessary.

Background
Since the 1880s, the town of Pescadero, population ~650, has been a farming and ranching
community. The town is located at the upstream (eastern) edge of Pescadero Marsh, at the
confluence of Pescadero and Butano Creeks, both of which empty into the Pacific.

The flooding of the Pescadero Creek Road at the Butano Creek Bridge closes the main route into
and out of Pescadero, while simultaneously inundating privately owned farmlands. The road
closure isolates the town and surrounding areas from its CAL FIRE Station, severely impacting
emergency services. Alternate roads are small and winding through local hills. An ambulance,
fire engine, or police vehicle could require an extra hour or more in transit time. In recent years,
flooding has occurred several times during the rainy season, often for 24-48 hours at a time.
Several sources document the history and complexities of the Pescadero watershed. 1 The cause
of the annual flooding includes progressive silt accumulation and vegetation overgrowth and
debris build-up in Butano Creek up- and down-stream of the Bridge and beyond into the Marsh
itself. Additionally, numerous property owners decades ago created levees and channels in the
marsh for their land-uses, and several projects for the Coastal Highway have modified the
seasonal sand-berm that affects the Butano Creek’s flow from the Marsh to the Ocean. State
regulations enacted beginning in the 1960s have prevented property owners from dredging and
clearing creeks on their property and opening the sand-berm as they had historically done.2
Survey profiles demonstrate the silt build up. (See, Attachment A.) The streambed was ~12 feet
below the bottom of the bridge in 1968.3 Currently the bridge clears the silted creek bottom by
only two feet. The creek has no capacity to handle rainstorm run-off; the water has nowhere to
go but up and over the road.

The California Department of State Parks and Recreation began acquiring Marsh properties in
the 1960s, and in 1993 started to implement extensive modifications to the Marsh area intended
to address and resolve environmental concerns4. Modifications included adding and removing
dikes, adding water-control gates and culverts, and re-contouring certain flow features. The
added features were not maintained, and were subsequently abandoned. The reasons for this
abandonment have not been identified. As a result, silt-up and vegetation overgrowth has
reduced the capacity and impeded the water flow in the Creek. Fish-kills within the Marsh have
also increased; agribusiness has suffered; sport fishing has all but disappeared; and negative
effects on endangered wildlife are being documented.
To read more from this report click here grand-juryflooding to view the pdf.

Studies have also shown that when State Parks projects were done in the 1990’s, it changed the natural way the sandbar opens and closes. Many levees were altered and even built by State Parks. They also installed a series of tidal gates allowing salt water to enter the north pond, which after only one year became inoperable because of rust. The tidal gates were never fixed and are still inoperable to this day as they remain rusted open. These modifications created new areas for water to fill within the system and have contributed to the anoxic conditions and have changed the natural opening and closing of the sandbar.

Below is a report of the 2007 studies made by the Geological Society of America (GSA)
These studies were done 4 years ago and still nothing has been done to fix it.
You can read the full report on their website here Geological Society of America (GSA)

BRADSHAW, Samantha ¹, ALLEN, Christin M.², LEROY, Sverre L.², FAUL, Kristina L.², and RADEMACHER, Laura K.¹, (1) Dept of Geosciences, Univ of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Ave, Stockton, CA 95211, sammiibee@gmail.com, (2) Dept of Chemistry and Physics, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA 94613

Estuaries lie at the terrestrial-marine interface, linking freshwater and ocean systems. These transitional environments are influenced by many parameters such as temperature, oxygen concentration, and biologically mediated processes over multiple timescales, including daily tidal cycles, intra-annual seasonal changes, and inter-annual climatic oscillations. Despite the transient nature of the geochemical conditions of these systems, estuaries provide critical habitat for many specialized species. While many studies of biogeochemical cycling have been conducted on large estuary systems, relatively little is known in the smaller estuaries along the west coast.

Located 60 km south of San Francisco, Pescadero Marsh is an estuary on the central coast of California that is formed by the mouths of Pescadero and Butano creeks. During summer months, a sandbar forms across the mouth of Pescadero estuary, separating the salt marsh from the ocean and causing the saline lagoon to become brackish. Runoff associated with the first significant winter rain erodes the sandbar, reconnecting the estuary with the ocean. First observed in 1995, fish kills occur every year in association with the breaching of the sandbar. To develop an understanding of how biogeochemical cycling (especially of O, C, N, and P) is related to these fish kill events, in situ observations of dissolved oxygen, conductivity, temperature, and pH were collected at multiple times during the 2007 water year. Water samples collected during the same trips were used to analyze anion, cation, and carbon content. Preliminary results indicate that isolated deep-water zones within the estuary system are anoxic during the late summer months. These anoxic waters are likely mixed into the estuary during breaching events and contribute to deterioration in environmental conditions required by coho salmon, steel head trout, and tidewater goby. Decreases in salinity and increases in conductivity and pH were also observed in the months leading up to the breaching event. The results of our analyses will provide a basis for understanding the causes of the Pescadero Marsh fish kill events and help in the development of management strategies that will protect the organisms in this ecosystem.

Coastal Alliance for Species Enhancement from + M productions on Vimeo.

Hundreds of dead steelhead line the shorelines in the Pescadero Marsh.

SEARCH RESULTS
Searching through 4 feet high tule in thick muck and heavy rains is in no way going to yield an accurate count. These results are only a small percentage of actual mortality rates. Many others were likely washed out to sea during breach or remain on the bottom in deep waters. Also, many predatory birds were observed along the shorelines during breach. Due to lack of time and energy, many areas were not searched thoroughly. I personally counted 180 dead steelhead.

SEARCH SUMMARY
11/11/2011- During my search, which pains me to say I have been conducting every year for the past 15 years, I am mystified as to how this has been allowed to happen every year for 15 years without even the slightest of hands being reached out to help these poor fish. They are swimming around every year just waiting out a death sentence. This year’s death sentence was served on 11/11/2011, where I found many dead individual fish scattered around throughout the tule and along the shorelines. In many areas there were several or dozens of dead steelhead bunched together. I observed many steelhead at the surface grasping for air and watched several dead steelhead floating out into the ocean. Oxygen levels were very low and water quality was very poor giving off a strong sulfur odor. Fish ranged in size from four inches up to 24 inches, most of the dead fish I observed were between 8 and 10 inches. There appeared to be far more dead fish this year than in the last 4 or 5 years.

What is killing the fish?

Studies indicate that during long periods of sandbar closure when waters start to back up and jump low levees and flow through rusted open tidal gates within the Pescadero Marsh, a deadly natural process begins to happen. This natural process causes some waters within the Pescadero Marsh to become anoxic. Anoxic waters are areas of sea water or fresh water that are depleted of dissolved oxygen. Anoxic conditions result from several factors; for example, stagnation conditions, density stratification, inputs of organic material, and strong thermoclines; all of which are dangers present in the Pescadero Marsh. When oxygen is depleted, bacteria first turn to the second-best electron acceptor, which in sea water is nitrate. Denitrification occurs, then after reducing some other minor elements, the bacteria will turn its attention to reducing sulfate. The bacterial production of sulfide starts in the sediments, where the bacteria find suitable substrates, and then expands into the water column. This is what causes that strong “rotten egg” odor emanating from the marsh. It is so strong, that you can smell it as you drive along the marsh on Hwy 1 and along Pescadero Road. If the wind is right it could be smelled all the way into the town of Pescadero, which is [two] miles inland. When the sandbar breaks and these conditions exist all that anoxic water starts to funnel out into the ocean and when the bottom matter is stirred up it creates a very toxic environment. The fish are suffocated and die immediately.
According to geologic record, anoxic events happening in the past may have caused mass extinctions.

Studies have also shown that when State Parks projects were done in the 1990’s, it changed the natural way the sandbar opens and closes. Many levees were altered and even built by State Parks. They also installed a series of tidal gates allowing salt water to enter the north pond, which after only one year became inoperable because of rust. The tidal gates were never fixed and are still inoperable to this day as they remain rusted open. These modifications created new areas for water to fill within the system and have contributed to the anoxic conditions and have changed the natural opening and closing of the sandbar. With this in mind the proposed temporary solution of skimming the sandbar should not be denied by State Parks under the excuse that opening the sandbar is not natural. State Parks itself changed the natural ecosystem that nature created when they made these modifications. And as such, it became their sole responsibility to make sure the system continues to function correctly. As you can see they have failed the system by allowing these anoxic conditions to occur and have failed to protect everything living in the Pescadero Marsh for the last 15 years.

State Parks? You say you need more studies. What are you studying that takes 15 years to learn? Seriously, wake up. This problem is not just going to fix itself and it is not going to go away. If you do nothing again this will keep happening again and again as it has for the last 15 years. What part of this picture do you not understand? Your plan is to study, so as the years go by you will start to studiously count fewer and fewer fish until you count none. Then you will say “No more fish are dying it must be fixed.” When in reality none are dying because none are left, or you will say your other favorite thing, “IT’S NOT THAT BAD.”

Though when in reality it is that bad. It’s not just bad, it’s tragic. It’s tragic, because this could be fixed.

Every photo/orange dot you see WAS an INDIVIDUAL LIFE and was taken because of State Parks refusal to take ANY kind of PROACTIVE conservation efforts. State Parks REACTIVE conservation effort this year was to take 5 gallon buckets equipped with aerators in an attempt to try and rescue distressed steelhead. I stood there and watched them fill the buckets with the same water that was killing the fish in the first place. Adding a few bubbles with an aerator is not going to turn ANOXIC water into a magic healing solution for steelhead. If anoxic sea water becomes re-oxygenized, sulfides will be oxidized to sulfate. Never mind that hundreds of dead fish are already laying all over the place, it is pouring down rain and the water clarity is black. Good luck seeing anything healthy enough to rescue. I have been on site for these “fish kills” for the past 15 years and hardly ever have I seen an opportunity to rescue a distressed fish, the only ones you see are already dead. Where have you been for the last 15 years? The effort is appreciated, but you are trying to save a few lives after you have already sentenced all the others to death by doing nothing to stop this from happening in the first place, not to mention you have already killed thousands and thousands of fish over the past 15 years.
DO YOUR JOBS AND MANAGE THE LAND YOU HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH OR STEP ASIDE AND LET SOMEONE ELSE DO IT FOR YOU!!!
For 14 years you have hired and funded numerous biologist and scientist who have made recommendations, endorsed by Fish and Game. Yet you continue to ignore their recommendations for a proactive course of action that could prevent the severity of these fish kills in the future. It’s time for you to make an impact on the future of this valuable ecosystem and do the job you should have done already.

Please contact your State and Federal politicians whether in California or any other State to voice your outrage that a California Department of State Parks can continue to be allowed to destroy our Wild Steelhead Trout.

The Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve is the largest coastal watershed between the Golden Gate and San Lorenzo River and is in dire need of some major conservation efforts, it shelters a diversity of wildlife in a complex of several habitats—a tidal estuary, freshwater marsh, brackish water marsh, dense riparian woods, and northern coastal scrub. Located at the confluence of two major streams, Pescadero Creek and Butano Creek, the marsh creates an important wintering ground for waterfowl on the Pacific flyway, as well as provides critical spawning and nursery habitats for steelhead trout, coho salmon, and many other native species.

*Click on images to enlarge.

Due to many causes, both natural and human-caused, the health of  Pescadero Marsh is rapidly deteriorating. Scientific studies and observation indicate critical populations of native fish and reptile species are dwindling at an alarming rate. Based on studies of one fish in particular, the native steelhead trout, experts have tracked that the population decline markedly accelerated after the marsh restoration project completed in 1997 by the California State Parks Department.

According to professional biologists and several fish and game experts, the State Parks project failed to alleviate the harmful conditions in the marsh, and in fact, due to poor operational practices, may actually be contributing significantly to the continued decline in species population. For the past 12 years, concerned citizens and other wildlife agencies have repeatedly asked State Parks to take immediate corrective action. Sadly, the Parks department’s repeated response has been “we need further studies.” Meanwhile, native species populations in the marsh have reached critically low levels.

This is a time sensitive matter, California cannot afford to lose more of its valuable native resources due to lack of action, interest, or funds of its governing bodies.

What do we do?

Under the guidance of respected scientists, we seek to obtain permits to properly restore the marsh environment and mitigate further damage to native animal species, including the endangered coho salmon, San Francisco garter snake, the threatened steelhead trout, tidewater goby, and the California red-legged frog. This multi-year effort will include collaborating with a wide scope of governmental agencies, non-profit conservation and resource protection groups, biologists, engineers, and other scientists, and private citizens with years of personal experience observing and interacting with native fish, bird, amphibian and other species in the Pescadero watershed.

Fund-raising efforts to support this initiative are underway. Your contribution can make a difference, whether it be $5 or $5000 dollars! Use the donation button and help in the efforts to enhance and restore this unique watershed so it may be enjoyed by future generations.

Dozens of dead Steelhead, trout, sculpin, flounder, eel, and dungeness crabs line the shorelines of the Pescadero/Butano Marsh.

—— Scenes like the one you are about to witness have been occurring since 1995, many on a much larger scale. ——

(15 years) “Somebody, somewhere, somehow needs to step up, take responsibility and fix this.“

*Click on images to enlarge.

These images were taken a few days before full breach. They capture a very high tide pushing water over the sandbar and into the lagoon. (A good indication that a breach is about to occur.)

The day of the breach – November 24, 2010.

A full lagoon and a drained lagoon. Same vantage point – day of breach – day after breach.

Water conditions were poor. In many areas, shorelines and stream waters were covered with an oily sheen.

Dozens of dead steelhead and trout, a majority of the dead fish were found along the northern side of the main Butano Creek Channel above the steel bridge.

Starry Flounder – learn about Starry Flounder here.

Scuds -

Dungeness Crabs – learn about Dungeness Crabs here.

Eels -

Sculpin -

Search Results -

Click here to see a full gallery of images.

Jerry J. Smith
Dawn K. Reis

Department of Biological Sciences
San Jose State University
San Jose, CA 95192
June 25, 1997

A Report Prepared for the California Department of Parks and Recreation 3790-301-722(7)

INTRODUCTION

The Pescadero Marsh, a 320 acre coastal wetland, includes an estuary/seasonal lagoon at the
confluence of Pescadero and Butano creeks, fresh and brackish water marshes, brackish water
ponds, and riparian areas along the streams. Modifications to the marsh complex due to past
human land uses include restricted water flow, due to a levee system throughout the marsh, and
reduced tidal prism, due to both the levees and sedimentation from land uses in the upper
watershed. Although it no longer functions as it did 150 years ago, Pescadero Marsh supports a high
diversity of animal and plant life, and is a refuge for a number of sensitive species (Smith 1990;
Jennings and Hayes 1990). Federally endangered tidewater gobies (Eucyclogobius newberryi)
use the lagoon and marsh habitats. Federally threatened California red-legged frogs (Rana
aurora draytonii) and federally endangered San Francisco garter snakes (Ihamnophis sirtalis
tetrataenia) use the fresher portions of the complex. Low salinity habitat (less than 4 parts per
thousand (PPT)) is required for California red-legged frog egg survival (Jennings and Hayes
1990), and relatively low salinity habitat (less than 7.5 PPT) is required for larval survival
(Jennings, pers. comm.). Tidewater gobies tolerate fresh or saltwater habitats, but avoid
strongly tidal areas when the sandbar is open (Smith 1990). North Marsh and Butano Marsh,
partially leveed wetlands in the northern and southern portions of the lagoon/marsh complex
(Figure 1), provide extensive habitat for both California red-legged frog and for tidewater goby,
but the quality of that habitat depends upon the timing of sandbar formation, water surface
elevations, the amount of flooded marshland and upon water salinity.

Portions of the Pescadero Marsh Restoration Project were implemented in the summer and fall
of 1993. One modification involved removal of portions of the levees separating North, Middle
and East Butano marshes (near water quality stations D3 and D6, Figure 1); previously an
opening had been made in the levee separating the eastern end of East Butano Marsh from
Butano Creek. These modifications allow Butano Creek flood waters to flow through the Butano
Marshes. They also allow tidal water, or water impounded by a closed sandbar, to move much
more easily throughout the Butano Marsh complex.

The second major restoration effort involved modifying the northern portion of the marsh
complex. A small culvert through the levee separating North Marsh and North Pond from
Pescadero Creek was replaced with 6 large culverts and two small culverts (water sampling
station B). In addition, a:levee that formerly separated North Pond was removed (north of water
sampling site C2).

Finally, a low levee (designed for + 5.5 feet) was added to separate North
Marsh from the channel leading to North Pond. Two large, normally-closed, culverts were
installed in the low levee (between water sampling sites C3 and Fl and between Cl and El).
One result of these modifications was to restore tidal action to North Pond, and the channel
leading to it, when the 6 large culverts are open; the culverts were to be left open except for
brief periods immediately following sandbar closure. The second intended result to was to
isolate North Marsh as a fresh-water to mildly brackish-water habitat for red-legged frogs and
San Francisco garter snakes. North Marsh would also serve as a potential refuge for tidewater
goby in case yellowfin goby (Acanthogobius flavimanus) became established in the saltier
portions of the marsh complex. The only open connection between North Marsh and the
remainder of the lagoon/marsh complex was to be a permanently open 12 inch culvert at +4.5
feet extending through the levee between water sampling sites Band El.

This report describes the results of water level and salinity sampling in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and
sampling for adult and larval frogs and tidewater gobies in 1995 and 1996. The monitoring was
designed to evaluate the functioning of the estuary/marsh complex in response to the restoration
actions and to propose additional management actions to maintain water levels, salinities and
other habitat conditions suitable for red-legged frogs, San Francisco garter snakes and tidewater
gobies.

Check out Part 1 of this report here in pdf format.

Check out Part 2 of this report here in pdf format.

Anglers ponder suing State Parks to spur action at marsh

By Greg Thomas [ greg@hmbreview.com ]

Steve Simms is losing patience.

Each year of the past decade, as fall becomes winter, the Pescadero fisherman watches the silver bodies of steelhead trout wash up on the banks at Pescadero Marsh, hoping the government will heed his call for intervention and respond with action. It’s not happening fast enough.

“We’re working on a letter of intent for State Parks right now. If they don’t cooperate this year, we’re going to file suit,” said Simms, Native Sons of the Golden West, Pebble Beach Parlor president and a lifelong Pescadero fisherman.

Fly fishermen try their luck on Pescadero Creek in December, shortly after the sandbar broke. The regular event led to another fish kill on the South Coast.

“We have to,” he added. “We have to stop this now.”

Simms is one in a cohort of fishermen and scientists growing impatient with what they call corrosive inaction on the part of regulators overseeing the marsh. The bulk of their frustrations takes aim at State Parks, the agency that owns the marshland and, they say, is the main culprit vetoing proposed restoration attempts.

People have been fiddling with the marsh for more than half a century. In the 1940s, bulldozing the sandbar separating the marsh from the ocean was an annual practice for anglers. A bridge built above the sandbar in the 1990s — a segment of Highway 1 — further altered ecology and hydrology in the marsh, some say. Shortly thereafter, fish started turning up dead, sometimes in droves, at a critical point in their seasonal lifecycle.

To get a handle on the situation, the Native Sons commissioned retired Fish and Game biologist Jim Steel to study the marsh. That was 2002. Steel, who spent 30 years with the agency studying the state’s watersheds, produced findings both he and the Native Sons believe shed clear light on the marsh’s warped ecology and suffice as a platform for designing restoration initiatives.

Steel produced a four-step action proposal in December calling for adding and replacing culverts for better flow and distribution of sediment between key segments of the marsh. The general idea is to make the marsh a “continuous landform,” he says.

Steel sent the proposal to his old department, the permitting authority for such projects, under the notion that pairing a well-conceived plan with proper permits would nullify any arguments from naysayers.

“State Parks (officials) would lose their ability to say no if they had a project on the table and a permitting agency (on board) and Native Sons paying for the project,” Steel said.

Joanne Kerbavaz is a senior resource ecologist for State Parks. She is part of a group of government agencies that was studying the problems at Pescadero Marsh until a freeze on state bonds last year put the group on pause.

State Parks’ responsibility to protect 400 acres of wetlands encompassing the marsh and the 10 threatened and endangered species residing there outweighs its duty to protect steelhead alone, Kerbavaz says.

“There are so many moving parts that it’s incumbent upon us to understand how changing one part affects so many other parts,” she said. Kerbavaz continued, saying that at the last working group meeting a year ago, “it was clear that there wasn’t a consensus on what the problems were, much less on what solutions might be, and I just don’t think we’re there.”

Fishermen say their understanding of the marsh system is solid enough to merit action now. Plus, they say, stymied cash flow puts the working group on indefinite hiatus. Meanwhile, the fish continue dying.

Kerbavaz points to a hydrological survey she says will happen this summer as evidence of her department’s commitment to the marsh. The survey is “one of the critical pieces” needed to design a simple model of flow in the marsh that would provide the group with a foundation from which to build future projects, she said.

Steel is moving sooner. He plans to present his action agenda this month before an ad hoc committee of government bodies overseeing the marsh.

“My view on it is State Parks should be given a letter of intent which clearly describes the problems everyone has with the way State Parks is doing things, and (the department) should be given a chance to respond,” Steel said. “Once that’s on the table, it’s up to Parks. But if they continue to block everyone’s concerns without explaining the rationale for doing so, I have a feeling (the Native Sons) will file suit.”

By Julia Scott
julia.scott@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 11/07/2010 05:28:52 PM PST

Locals have spent every winter for the past 15 years watching silvery steelhead trout die in Pescadero Marsh. Now they are tired of waiting for state officials to step in and are preparing for a major fight — in court.

“We’re now 15 years in and the problem is still unsolved. When the system is in utter collapse, you don’t study that. You take action,” said Ronda Azevado Lucas, an attorney representing a group of Pescadero anglers and concerned citizens who are about to file a lawsuit accusing state resources agencies of abdicating their responsibility to protect sensitive fish and amphibians under the California Endangered Species Act.

The group recently launched a nonprofit, the Coastal Alliance for Species Enhancement, to raise money to fix Pescadero Marsh. Recently, it notified California State Parks, California Department of Fish and Game and the California Natural Resources Agency to expect a lawsuit over their “complacency” in the face of evidence that man-made changes to the marsh have resulted in the annual fish kills.

An unknown number of juvenile steelhead suffocate each year in the brackish waters of the marsh when rains force open the sandbar at the mouth of the lagoon and the ocean flows in like a fire hose, mixing layers of freshwater and saltwater. Scientists believe this mixing stirs up toxic hydrogen sulfide and robs the water of oxygen the fish require to breathe.

Time is of the essence for one of the last steelhead runs in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. The marsh also hosts the largest population of threatened California red-legged frogs in the state, and the Pescadero group asserts that increasing salinity levels have substantially hurt the frog population as well as the endangered San Francisco garter snake and the tidewater goby.

The endangered Central Coast Coho Salmon disappeared from Pescadero and Butano creeks a few years ago, which feed into the marsh.

“The frogs, the snakes and gobies — they’ll come back. But once the fish are gone, they won’t come back. They’re extinct,” said Steve Simms, a local fisher and a driving force behind the lawsuit.

Everyone acknowledges something went wrong in the 1990s, when State Parks, which owns the marsh, re-engineered the water flow with levees, culverts and water gates. Many of these fixes quickly became defective but were left in place.

Juvenile steelhead grow up feeding in the marsh estuary before going out to sea when the sandbar breaks. Most seasonal lagoons have broken open by now, but this sandbar forms in the fall and remains unbroken until winter. Aquatic plants begin to decompose, which affects dissolved oxygen levels in the water. In 1995, locals witnessed the first steelhead die-off.

This lawsuit will attempt to tie the actions 15 years ago to the California Endangered Species Act. It focuses on the Coho salmon and the San Francisco garter snake, since they are state-protected species. Simms hinted that a follow-up lawsuit could target the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which protects the red-legged frog under federal law.

Lucas, the lawyer for the group, said state agencies have the power to enforce the Endangered Species Act against State Parks but have avoided doing that for political reasons.

“I really think this is about trying to let a sister agency off the hook. If it were a private citizen who owned this marsh, someone would very likely be in jail or definitely facing a cease-and-desist order,” Lucas said.

Internal correspondence obtained by the legal team through the Freedom of Information Act shows that the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Department of Fish and Game officials agree that they would like to restore Pescadero Marsh to a freshwater lagoon system, but they are stymied by a difference of opinion with State Parks, which wants to avoid re-engineering the marsh.

“We want make sure our agencies are on the same page. They’re welcome from my perspective to propose something. I’d love to hear a proposal from them,” said Krissy Atkinson, an environmental scientist with Fish and Game.

By Greg Thomas [ greg@hmbreview.com ]

Around this time each year, the sandbar separating Pescadero Marsh from the Pacific Ocean breaks, ushering in another season for fishing steelhead trout and, to varying degrees, another episode of what Coastsiders call the “fish kill.” It’s a yearly phenomenon in which fish turn up dead at a critical point in their lifecycle.

For about five years, a working group comprised of government agencies, scientists, academics and local fishermen has convened to seek solutions. Those conversations typically render research endeavors rather than action plans because the marsh is an intricate and delicate system, and because gaining consensus among agencies with differing mandates is tricky.

A freeze on state bonds earlier this year has essentially derailed the working group. A plan to install an arrangement of rubber dams at key passageways in the marsh fell through because the California Department of Fish and Game didn’t get the necessary project permits before the marsh filled up.

Fly fishermen appear Saturday morning in Pescadero Creek, looking for steelhead. The sandbar broke late last month, leading to the usual fish kill in the Pescadero Marsh.

That was the last straw for two lifelong Pescadero fishermen, who have waited for the agencies to follow through on a resolution while each year another crop of silvery fish corpses washes up.

“We’re not going to let this slide this year,” said Steve Simms, president of the Native Sons of the Golden West, Pebble Beach Parlor. Simms has fished in the marsh since he was 3 years old.

Simms and Tim Frahm, also a member of Native Sons, believe taking the lead on an action plan might spur a restoration project.

“I think the conflict has to do with a willingness to move forward (on the part of each agency), depending on how much information is at hand,” Frahm said.

Several years of observing and analyzing seasonal transitions has led many to the conclusion that fish in the marsh suffer when the sandbar breach stirs up the water column’s salty, sulfuric under-layers. That typically happens in late fall. Some of the native fish, which include steelhead trout and top water smelt, die instantly from an overdose of hydrogen sulfite – a byproduct of decaying matter in the marsh – and others suffocate from a lack of oxygen in the water.

Knowing what’s going on hasn’t improved conditions in the marsh. In fact, things may be getting worse.

This year, the marsh was as full as observers can remember, and tests showed water quality “consistently bad everywhere we measured it,” said State Parks Senior Resource Ecologist Joanne Kerbavaz. Days before the sandbar broke – on Nov. 29 – Simms lamented on the foul marsh water.

“Hydrogen sulfite – you can just smell it down there,” said Simms, comparing the acrid stench to rotten eggs.

When the sandbar broke, a passerby mistook the out pour of brackish marsh water in the ocean for an oil spill, and reported the ominous black cloud to Fish and Game.

Finally, according to biologists and fishermen, trout populations have been declining. In 1986, biologists projected between 20,000 and 25,000 trout rearing in the marsh during fall. In 2007, that number dropped to 1,500. Last year, experts estimated the total at 750.

Simms and Frahm are mulling a host of actions, including isolating the marsh from two adjacent waterways that filter into it and building the sandbar earlier in the year with a bulldozer.

Kerbavaz prefers the steadier course of studying hydrology and “trying to understand water quality.” Studies, she asserts, are “a valuable part of action,” particularly “in an area that’s incredibly complex,” such as the marsh.

Simms counters with an argument that there is enough preliminary research on the books, and implementing a project is better than standing by for another year.

“It might be wishful thinking, but it’s gotta happen,” he said. Simms said the proposal should be ready before the end of the week.

Copyright © 2010 Half Moon Bay Review

South Coast group files suit over species decline

By Mark Noack [ mark@hmbreview.com ]
Nov 17, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Half Moon Bay Review