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August 7, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
BRIAN TRAUTWEIN: (805) 963-1622
CLAIRE COWAN: (805) 963-1622
SANTA BARBARA CITIZENS CONVENE
TO COUNT ENDANGERED STEELHEAD IN LOCAL CREEKS
SANTA BARBARA - As part of the Environmental Defense
Center's (EDC) first Trout Count and Creek Walk event, Santa Barbara
residents and representatives from nine local environmental groups
convened at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History to count
endangered Southern Steelhead in Mission Creek and Rattlesnake
Canyon. EDC hosted the event to raise community awareness about
the presence of steelhead in our local watershed and underscore
the importance of creek preservation and restoration.
Southern Steelhead, a distinct population of a species that occurs
from Alaska to northern Baja California, were listed as endangered
in 1997 after their population plummeted by 99 percent since the
mid-1900's. Dams, water projects and concrete flood control channels
were the main reasons for this decline. In Mission Creek, the
concrete channel along Highway 101 above Canon Perdido blocks
steelhead migration to spawning grounds upstream. In addition,
Mission Tunnel, which delivers water from the Santa Ynez River
and Gibraltar Reservoir to Santa Barbara, intercepts water from
aquifers around the creek, depleting the amount of water available
for fish. Despite these obstacles, a small population of steelhead
still exists in Mission Creek. At the Department of Fish and Game's
request, the City of Santa Barbara releases water into the creek
to keep the fish in good condition during the dry summer. The
Trout Count and Creek Walk was the first step in EDC's effort
to build public support for modifying the concrete channel so
steelhead can once again swim upstream to their spawning pools.
"Steelhead are one of the most endangered animals in this
region and also one of the most charismatic. They can swim 21
feet per second, jump small waterfalls and grow to 10 pounds and
30 inches long. If ever there was a time to restore Mission Creek
so steelhead could thrive again, it would be now before they disappear
from local creeks altogether," said Brian Trautwein, EDC's
Environmental Analyst.
Steelhead spend most of their life in the ocean, returning to
rivers to spawn. Headwater streams in southern California, such
as Mission Creek and Rattlesnake Canyon, provide spawning habitat
and shelter juvenile fish. Juvenile steelhead that do not make
the journey to the ocean may spend their entire life in the stream,
and are commonly referred to as rainbow trout. Today only a few
hundred adult steelhead remain between Santa Barbara County and
Baja California.
The Trout Count and Creek Walk was made possible by a grant from
the Wendy P. McCaw Foundation, and was co-sponsored by the Citizens
Planning Association, the Community Environmental Council, the
Santa Barbara Audubon Society, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden,
Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural
History, Santa Barbara Sea, the South Coast Watershed Alliance,
the Santa Barbara chapter of Surfrider Foundation, and the Santa
Barbara Urban Creeks Council.
Since 1977, EDC has been serving California's Central Coast as
the only nonprofit environmental law firm between Los Angeles
and San Francisco. EDC provides legal, educational and advocacy
support to community and environmental groups on environmental
issues such as protecting air and water quality, preserving precious
open spaces and guarding public health. Visit our website at http://www.edcnet.org.
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