POSEIDON BEGINS THE HEALING

Mother Nature and her grand scheme have begun to allow Fall River California to cope with man’s lack of foresight as fish, birds, insects, adjust their habits. In the weeks following a serious levee break that caused this wild trout sanctuary to drop over 30 inches and flood valuable pasture. Local construction companies are working round the clock to move truckloads of dirt and rebuild the road that will allow the levee to be slowly reconstructed. Those most adversely effected are the local guides, fly fishers, farmers, cattlemen, fly shops and the Fall River general commerce that has depended on the seasonal fly fisher traffic.

My observations in respect to the many obvious changes here consist of closely monitoring local bird, insect, fish, mammal behavior. In the first several weeks after the levee break ,birds and insects appear to have rapidly altered old flight and survival routines. Fall River consists of 17 miles of meandering waters, insects and birds especially those creatures who before the break lived and fed themselves on acreage now under water. Suddenly like displaced human flood victims have had to seek new habitat. It has been educational to watch the natural cycle begin to adjust and heal itself. The section near the break has been closed to boats and the public. Those residents who live on the river have been allowed to continue fly fishing if they are not hampering the levee rebuild effort. In regard to trout, turtles, otters, beavers that may have been either displaced or killed during the break, not much data exists that I have seen or heard.

BLAME GAME

The blame game atmosphere here is still going on as the ball gets tossed back and forth between local officials, state fish and game agencies and so called watch dog environmentalists. As of the publishing of this column a general buck passing climate prevails with this over view. A weed that has slowly begun to overtake the river has become almost impossible to control due to extreme hot weather. This condition has allowed the river to become swollen and its depth and volume caused the levee break. Fall Rivers local newspaper “ The Echo “ has been on top of reporting the progress of the different agencies involved. It appears the weed problem has been around for several years. Local residents, farmers have as one would expect in a small community closed ranks to help each other. Caltrout honcho Gary Seput related to me at the time of my single fly event late June “ We ( Caltrout) haven’t really done too much in regard to the Fall River of late. In the past we were instrumental in getting farmers, cattlemen to erect fences, take down barriers and get the ball rolling.”

Local long time residents have taken the break in stride as the hot weather subsides. The culprit river weed has been dying in the colder air and now dead weed beds are being cleaned out of many areas. One aspect of this little publicized environmental tragedy that has troubled me is the lack of any careful attention by other California sports journalists? Of course I may be wrong in this assumption, yet so far no major news outfit appears to have spent any time here covering the recovery? Each day helicopters fly back and forth around the break area watching for new problems as dump trucks roll 24/7 to rebuild the road. In my mind this rivers spirit will withstand the lack of prudent planning that allowed this break in the first place. The real questions here are simple, the demon weed was here for sometime without any action taken by any authority I know of period? Local fly fishers I have spoken to and other naturalists agree it was a problem for at least the last five years or longer. Where is the scientific data supporting the “ Weed Theory? How many agencies have been tossing the “ Take Action Ball “ back and forth? What exactly are the new and improved scenarios for preventing this from happening again? Will this wonderful wild trout habitat emerge stronger or weaker than before the break? Questions asked here everyday and yet to be completely answered....

AGRICULTURAL INSANITY PREVAILS

In the months spent on this near ideal wild trout habitat I have watched crop dusters cover fields with various sprays very close to the river. Local farmer ranchers pump water freely from this river and then after flooding Alfalfa fields allow that same pesticide polluted water to run right back into the river. I have witnessed this insanity countless times along the five miles I have electric motored almost everyday. This sad fact of life along with the recent levee break will certainly impact all creatures who live and die here. Why are the resident farmers allowed to keep this vicious polluting cycle going? Where are the high profile public agencies? Will this assault ever be contained, monitored, studied? Will this rivers already strained spirit prevail, maybe, maybe not. Those interested in what may be the state of our nations remaining wild trout rivers and streams might be well served to pay careful attention to what happens here in the aftermath of what appears to be societal negligence in the extreme. Californians may be surprised and disappointed their precious drinking water is already home to many agricultural pesticides long before it reaches their five year olds innocent mouth. If this same polluted water is good enough for wild trout and all the other wildlife that live here, it must be good enough for your kids to drink.

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“ ADVENTURES OF FLETCHER QUILL “