Chapter 12

Water, Fish, and Wildlife

 Chapter Headings
• Fish and wildlife protection
• Wetlands and wildlife
• Case studies
– Columbia River Basin
– Platte River Basin
– Florida vs. Georgia
• Environmental Flows
 Early Fish and Wildlife Protection
• Early laws on fish and wildlife protection
dealt mainly with hunting and fishing rights
• Laws to protect fish and wildlife began in
mid 1900’s
• At that time it was recognized that some
species were declining rapidly
– Bald eagle, the national symbol, was rarely
seen except in Alaska
 Fish and Wildlife Protection
• Bald Eagle Protection Act passed in 1940
• Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in
1962
– She had been a zoology professor at U. of
Maryland and an aquatic biologist with the
Bureau of Fisheries
– Showed that DDT and other long-lasting
pesticides were causing decline in bald
eagles and other birds
 Fish and Wildlife Protection
• Environmental movement strengthened in
the 1960’s
• Time of political and social unrest
– Vietnam War
– Civil Rights movement
– Human Rights movement
– Women’s Rights movement
• First Earth Day was in 1970
 Fish and Wildlife Protection
• Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in
1968
• Protects “free-flowing” rivers from dam
construction
• Currently there are 160 reaches of
streams protected
• Protected reaches are listed on the web:
– http://www.rivers.gov/wildriverslist.html
 Fish and Wildlife Protection
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
passed in 1970
– Required Environmental Impact Statements
(EIS) be prepared for federal projects such as
dams
– Required annual report to Congress on status
of environment
– Led to the establishment of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency later in
1970
 Fish and Wildlife Protection
• Endangered Species Act (ESA) passed in 1973
• Two categories of species recognized:
– Endangered – Plants and animals (vertebrate and
invertebrate) in danger of extinction in the foreseeable
future throughout all or a significant portion of their
range
– Threatened – Species likely to become endangered in
the foreseeable future
• Goal is to increase the populations of these
species
– Includes securing habitat to aid recovery
 Fish and Wildlife Protection
• ESA applies to federal agencies
– No federal action can jeopardize a listed
species or adversely affect habitat
– Particularly affects COE and USBR water
projects
• Also applies to individuals
– Prohibits the taking (killing, harming, or
harassment) of listed species
• Individuals can sue federal government for
failure to follow ESA
 Why Save Endangered Species?
• Environmental –
Important to maintain
foodweb of plants and
animals. Loss of critical
elements of web
(keystone species) could
cause total disruption of
natural environment
– Examples: gopher tortoises
and cave bats

Keystone: arch collapses without

the keystone at the top
 Why Save Endangered Species?
• Economic – Plant and animal species such as
salmon provide economic benefits to businesses
such as commercial fisheries and tourism
• Medicine – Approximately 50% of prescribed
medicines derived from plant and animal
substances
• Agriculture – Wild strains of crop species are
gene-pool source for improved varieties with
greater resistance to disease, drought tolerance,
and other desirable traits
 Why Save Endangered Species?
• Recreation – Ecotourism, such as bird and
whale watching, is important economically
and as a quality of life issue
• Religious/spiritual/aesthetic – Many feel
that stewardship of nature’s resources
greatly enhances quality of life
 Why Save Endangered Species?
• Some of the greatest biodiversity in North America is in
southeastern streams
– Mississippi River provided an escape route south from glaciers
– Many species ended up in tributaries
– 18 of the top 20 watersheds in continental U.S. with greatest
number of endangered species are in Tennessee, Ohio,
Cumberland, and Mobile River basins
• http://endangered.fws.gov
• http://www.fws.gov/Athens/endangered.html
• Snail darter is still on the endangered species list in
Tennessee
– http://www.state.tn.us/environment/na/pdf/animal_list_2004.pdf
 Why Save Endangered Species?
• Endangered species include darters and
mussels in Georgia
• Mussel mantles are extraordinary example
of evolution
 Chapter Headings
• Fish and wildlife protection
• Wetlands and wildlife
• Case studies
– Columbia River Basin
– Platte River Basin
– Florida vs. Georgia
• Environmental Flows
 Wetlands and Wildlife
• Estimated that more than 11% of U.S. landmass
was wetlands before Europeans arrived
• Native Americans valued wetlands and hunting
beaver was prohibited in many tribes
• Early legislation aimed at draining wetlands
– Swamp Acts of 1849, 1850, and 1860
• Estimated that over 50% of original wetlands
have been drained
 Wetlands and Wildlife
• Much of the Midwest
agricultural area was
originally wetlands
• Drains were installed
by early settlers
• Area is so flat that
there are few streams
• Drains lead to
underground injection
wells, not streams
 Wetlands and Wildlife
• U.S. policy on wetlands changed
drastically in the 1970’s
– Clean Water Act
– Endangered Species Act
– National Environmental Policy Act
• Wetland functions
– Critical habitat for many species
– Filter for pollutants
– Groundwater recharge or discharge areas
 Wetlands and Wildlife
• More than 1/3 of endangered/threatened
species live only in wetlands
• Nearly ½ of these species use wetlands in
some stage in their life cycle
• Current U.S. policy for federally funded
programs is “no net loss of wetlands”
• Clean Water Act requires permit from COE
and EPA for development that will impact
wetlands
 Wetlands and Wildlife
• Mitigation programs are used where
development is approved
– For every acre of wetland destroyed up to 2 acres of
new wetland must be restored, created, or enhanced
– Wetlands must be within the general vicinity of the
wetlands destroyed
– Must function in perpetuity
• Some states and private contractors are
developing mitigation banks to make new
wetlands available for mitigation
– Questions about how suitable mitigated wetlands are
 Wetlands and Wildlife
• Recent court case has limited definition of
wetlands
– Ruling was that for wetlands to be protected
by Clean Water Act they had to be connected
to streams or groundwater
– Isolated wetlands (that might have important
wildlife functions) did not have a role in water
quality/quantity processes
 Chapter Headings
• Fish and wildlife protection
• Wetlands and wildlife
• Case studies
– Columbia River Basin
– Platte River Basin
– Florida vs. Georgia
• Environmental Flows
 Columbia River Basin
• Columbia River Basin is North America’s
4th largest watershed
– Columbia River and Snake River
• 18 mainstem dams, 10 of these are
federal irrigation/hydroelectric projects
– 9 operated by COE
– 1 operated by USBR
– Includes Grand Coulee Dam, largest
hydroelectric producer in North America
 Columbia River Basin
• 5 species of salmon live along the
Columbia River system
– Chinook (king salmon), coho, chum, sockeye,
and pink
• Also steelhead trout, shad, smelt, and
lamprey
– Steelhead trout same as freshwater rainbow
trout but spends part of it’s life at sea
– Unlike salmon they do not die after spawning
 Columbia River Basin
• Salmon life cycle
– Hatch in gravel bottoms of freshwaters streams of
Columbia River Basin
– Spend up to 2 years maturing in streams which
provide protective habitat
– Then travel downstream to Pacific where they spend
4-5 years following North Pacific currents
– When spawning time arrives travel back up Columbia
to spawn and die at the same site where they were
born
– Spawning grounds may be 2,000 miles upstream
 Columbia River Basin
• Salmon evolution (article by Lichatowich1)
– Ancestral salmon were a freshwater species
– About 15 million years ago salmon started making
short feeding forays into estuaries that were rich in
food
– Evolved a salt-pump in their gills that allowed them to
move to full-strength seawater
– Gorged themselves on rich oceanic pastures and
returned to home waters much larger than freshwater
species
– Anadromous: Fish that hatch in freshwater, migrate to
ocean to grow and mature and return to freshwater to
reproduce
1Jim Lichatowich, A Natural History of Pacific Salmon,
http://www.patagonia.com/enviro/reports/2004/natural_history.shtml
 Columbia River Basin
• Salmon evolution continued (article by
Lichatowich1)
– Return of salmon each year to Columbian
Basin represented a huge input of nutrients
and energy harvested from ocean
– At least 22 species of mammals and birds
feed on salmon carcasses (brown bears to
wrens)
– Nutrients are also taken up by streamside
shrubs and trees
1Jim Lichatowich, A Natural History of Pacific Salmon,
http://www.patagonia.com/enviro/reports/2004/natural_history.shtml
 Columbia River Basin
• Over fishing in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s
caused serious decline in salmon numbers
• As dams were built on the Columbia these
limited migration to spawning grounds and
return to sea
– Fish ladders used to provide route around dams for
salmon going upstream
– Barges and tanker trucks used to transport mature
salmon downstream
– Bypass lines installed for downstream travel
– Limited success
 Columbia River Basin
• Annual salmon runs declined from 6
million to 9,000 fish in Yakima River
• Grand Coulee Dam completed in 1941
– Too high for fish ladders
– 1,000 miles of spawning grounds in upper
Columbia lost
 Columbia River Basin
• Fish hatcheries were established to
replenish wild salmon
• Research showed disadvantages of fish
hatcheries
– Fish try to return to hatchery to spawn
– Hatchery fish do not learn how to hide from
predators
– Genetic diversity important for survival is lost
 Columbia River Basin
• Some groups are advocating breaching dams on
the lower Columbia
• Hydroelectricty produced by dams played a
critical role during WWII
– Aluminum production requires a lot of electricity
– War planes were produced by Boeing and others
• Today there is excess hydroelectric capacity
• Is providing cheap irrigation water to farmers
worth decline in salmon populations?
 Chapter Headings
• Fish and wildlife protection
• Wetlands and wildlife
• Case studies
– Columbia River Basin
– Platte River Basin
– Florida vs. Georgia
• Environmental Flows
 Platte River Basin
• Platte River is “a mile wide and an inch
deep”
– Braided river with numerous channels and
sand bars
– Due in part to high flows from snow melt in
the Rockies
– Ideal habitat for endangered birds migrating to
and from Canada
 Platte River Basin
• Sandhill Crane
• Each year 80% of
species converge on
150-mile section of
Platte River during
migration
• Also hundreds of
thousands of ducks
and geese
 Platte River Basin
• Whooping crane
• Approximately 400
birds are left
• Shallow water with
good visibility of
approaching prey is
ideal feeding ground
 Platte River Basin
• Many cities along Front Range of Rockies
get their water from reservoirs on National
Forest land in the headwaters of the South
Platte River
– Greeley, Fort Collins, Boulder, and Denver
• In late 1980’s cities filed with U. S. Forest
Service for renewal of 30-yr permits
• NEPA (passed in 1970) required
Environmental Impact Statement
 Platte River Basin
• USFS concluded that reservoirs reduced
flow and affected habitat of endangered
migratory birds in the Platte River Basin
• Permits would not be renewed without a
one-for-one replacement of water
diversions
– For every acre-foot of water stored in CO, one
acre-foot of water would have to be released
to critical habitat in central NE
 Platte River Basin
• Cities protested
• Years of negotiations followed
• 1997 agreement was signed between
governors of CO, WY, and NE and U.S.
Department of Interior
– Plan designed to restore critical habitat
– Once this is done, limited water development
will be allowed upstream
 Platte River Basin
• Elements of plan:
– Increase flow in critical habitat area by
130,000 to 150,000 acre-ft in the next 10 yr
– Reserve storage in two reservoirs to be used
to maintain flow during critical periods
– Ultimately, 417,000 acre-ft of additional flow
will be available for “environmental flows”
 Chapter Headings
• Fish and wildlife protection
• Wetlands and wildlife
• Case studies
– Columbia River Basin
– Platte River Basin
– Florida vs. Georgia
• Environmental Flows
 Florida vs. Georgia
• Long running court case over flow in the
Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river
basin
• Only recently has the Endangered Species Act
become an issue in the conflict
– Three species of mussels and Gulf sturgeon
endangered according to US Fish and Wildlife
Service
– Mussels filter water of pollutants and serve as food
source for raccoons, otters, and muskrats

Atlanta Journal Constitution, Oct 28, 2007

USWS, http://www.fws.gov/panamacity/species/ACF%20BO%20updated%20QA%209-11.pdf
 Florida vs. Georgia

Fat threeridge mussel

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/06/07/mussels_tra_zoom0.html?category=travel&guid=20060607153010
 Florida vs. Georgia

Gulf sturgeon
http://www.riversofalabama.org/Conecuh/gulf-sturgeon.gif
 Florida vs. Georgia
• Interim operating plan is being used to control
discharge from Jim Woodruff dam at FL-GA line
• USFWS estimated in 2006 that mussels would
survive with a minimum flow of 5,000 cubic feet
per second (cfs)
• This flow was set many years ago by Corps of
Engineers for reasons other than mussels
– Records dating back to 1929 show that river never fell
below this level even in a drought
– Only 4 rivers in U.S. have greater flow (Mississippi,
Columbia, Mobile, and Susquehanna)
 Florida vs. Georgia
• To maintain 5,000 cfs at GA-FL line Corps of
Engineers must release about 1,500 cfs from
Lake Lanier
• Part of the reason for maintaining flow is Plant
Scholz, a coal-fired power plant just below FL-
GA line that requires cooling water
– At lower flows water uptake is difficult
– Uses 130 million gpd to cool steam
– Serves 19,000 customers and is critical to maintaining
electrical grid in local area
 Florida vs. Georgia
• Little is known about water needs of
mussels
• FSWS doing more studies to see if
mussels are present at deeper depths in
river
• Mussels may serve as indicator species
for environmental flow
– If they disappear it may indicate that flows are
too low for entire ACF ecosystem
 Chapter Headings
• Fish and wildlife protection
• Wetlands and wildlife
• Case studies
– Columbia River Basin
– Platte River Basin
– Florida vs. Georgia
• Environmental Flows
 Environmental Flows
• Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and
Nature
– Published in 2003
– Sandra Postel and Brian Richter
• Most of our rivers no longer have “natural flow”
• Maintaining environmentally-friendly flow more
than guaranteeing a minimum flow
• Australia and South Africa leaders in this area or
science
• Also called “ecosystems services”
Flood stage in Murray-Darling Basin
Australia, December, 2003
 Environmental Flows
• Process for determining desired flows
– Assemble scientists with knowledge about individual
species
– Determine what are the key high and low flow needs
of each species
– Guiding principle: getting close to natural flow will be
best
• Develop a plan
• Use adaptive management in implementing plan
– Monitor to see if it’s working; if not modify plan
 Chapter Summary
• Endangered Species Act passed in 1972
• Destruction of habitat is the main cause of
extinction
• Wetlands are critical habitat
• Salmon are threatened in Columbia River
• Plan to restore flow in Platte River to
protect habitat for migratory birds
• Environmental flows more than a minimum
flow
 Chapter 12 Quiz
• What are 3 reasons for saving endangered
species?
• What are some practices that are used to try and
lessen the effect of dams on migration of wild
Pacific salmon in the Columbia and Snake River
watersheds?
• What is a “keystone species”?
• What does the endangered species act have to
do with the Florida vs. Georgia conflict over flow
in the Apalachicola River?