Beyond Park Boundaries
Working with park neighbors to protect habitat for anadromous fish
By Brannon Ketcham
brannon_ketcham@nps.gov
Hydrologist, Point Reyes National Seashore, California
Effective management and protection of resources in national parks often require that natural resource managers seek the cooperation of landowners beyond the boundaries of parks. In 2000, the staff of Point Reyes National Seashore elicited the participation of landowners downstream in the protection of habitat for steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and the eventual reintroduction of coho salmon (O. kisutch) in the 9-square-mile (14.5-square-kilometer) Pine Gulch Creek watershed. Both species are federally listed as threatened.
The National Park Service manages the upper 75 percent of the Pine Gulch Creek watershed, which provides excellent habitat for steelhead trout and, historically, for populations of coho salmon, last documented in 1979. However, a successful reintroduction of the species hinges on improved management of riparian water to ensure survival of the fish during low water flow in summer when farmers withdraw water for agriculture. In 1997, park staff began to contact and visit each of the five organic farmers in the watershed to solicit cooperation for managed water withdrawal. Within one year, staff convinced the farmers of the merit of managed water withdrawal for agricultural sustainability and operational efficiency. In 2000 the National Park Service developed a water management plan and received $125,000 of state and local grants for its implementation. The farmers and the National Park Service continue to meet every other month to work out details for the implementation of the plan.
The restoration is part of a five-year undertaking funded by the Natural Resource Preservation Program of the National Park Service. Water of the Pine Gulch Creek must continue to meet agricultural needs. To ensure sufficient water flow for the survival of fish in late summer, staff of Point Reyes National Seashore and organic farmers in the Pine Gulch Creek watershed designed off-stream riparian water-storage ponds and selected lower-rate diversion pumps. Stored water in the ponds and the pumps will allow farmers to balance the effects of pumping throughout the growing season and to stop withdrawal from the creek before flows in the lower watershed become critically low. Implementation of the designed infrastructure will facilitate adaptive water management on the property of legal water users and protect essential water flow for the federally listed threatened steelhead trout.
The farmers have committed to cooperate with Point Reyes National Seashore and other regulatory agencies to ensure implementation of the design. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2001 after all necessary permits have been obtained. When the infrastructure is in place, the National Park Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration--Fisheries, and state and local agencies will coordinate to reintroduce a population of federally listed threatened coho salmon into the watershed.
Finding solutions and designing plans that meet multiple and seemingly opposing needs are never easy. Eliciting the cooperation of neighboring landowners and formulating a water management plan that meets the needs of both the fish and farmers were often frustrating for all participants, and at one time stalled for nine months. The implementation of the project is the result of all participants’ persistence, patience, and understanding of one another’s needs.
[[Photo]]
Star Route Farms is one of five organic farms adjacent to Point Reyes National Seashore that use water from Pine Gulch Creek, a habitat for steelhead trout and a potential restoration site of coho salmon. In 2000 the National Park Service and farmers agreed on a plan to manage use of the water within the creek in a more sustainable manner that will benefit the farmers and protect habitat of steelhead trout and coho salmon.
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Last Updated: 06/17/2001
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov