Putrid end for levee repairs

PROSPECT ISLAND – Thousands of dead fish lay rotting in the fetid brown water of this island near Rio Vista, white bellies turned up to clouds of seagulls gathered for an easy meal.

The fish are victims of a levee repair project gone sour, and on Monday, officials worked to contain the casualties.

A team of four government men in chest waders used hand nets to gather the dead fish – mostly striped bass, carp and catfish, some up to 2 feet long.

The crews went to work Monday as part of a belated response by the owner of this 1,200-acre Delta island, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The agency responded after fishermen discovered the deaths last week and touched off a public outcry.

The men weren't talking, and it was hard to blame them: The task of dumping fish in smelly piles was unpleasant, and it seemed futile. They were working just one edge of an estimated 260 acres of standing water, all of it freckled with dead fish.

At this rate, it could take weeks to collect all the dead fish.

Over the weekend, the bureau developed a plan, endorsed by the state Department of Fish and Game, to help the surviving fish. First, dead fish will be removed from the water to keep their decaying carcasses from depleting oxygen. Today generators arrive to run aerators to boost oxygen in the water.

"Fish and Game has told us that's the appropriate thing to do," said Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the bureau. "They believe this will allow the fish that remain to survive just fine. They're saying there is no need to take those fish off the island and put them in the river."

In effect, surviving fish will live out their days in the shallow lake that remains on the island, McCracken said.

Critics aren't pleased.

"I guarantee, when they get done, they won't save one fish," said Bob McDaris, owner of Cliff's Marina in Freeport, who led a citizen effort to save the fish. "How are they going to live out there in that water? You gotta be dumber than a post to leave those fish out there in that 8 inches of water."

McDaris had 32 volunteers at the marina on Monday, ready to rescue the fish. He had available donated helicopters, amphibious vehicles, airboats and pumps.

Government officials said they don't need volunteers.

"But we certainly are going to re-evaluate this as we go through this process, because we know it's important to them," McCracken said. "If there's some way they can help, we certainly would welcome that."

The incident began to unfold last month when the bureau hired a contractor to close two levee breaks that occurred during storms in January 2006

The bureau felt obligated to repair the breaks because of liability concerns. Water washing out of the breaks with tidal action was eroding a neighbor's levee, and causing boats to capsize.

But amid the levee-repair work, no plans were made for fish that had found a home on the flooded island.

When construction crews began pumping water off the island two weeks ago, fish began to die by the score in declining water.

Many also were ground up by the pumps.

Rocklin resident Dave Martin was fishing on Miner Slough adjacent to the island on Saturday, Nov. 17, when he saw thousands of dead fish near the outlets discharging water from the island.

"There were a lot of fish in there, still alive with their tails cut off, but they couldn't go anywhere. They couldn't swim," he said. "It was really sad. I got home and kept thinking about it and I thought, 'This just isn't right.' "

He called Fish and Game's crime tip hotline the next day to report what he saw.

Fish and Game last week launched a criminal investigation into the stranding of the Prospect Island fish. On Monday, spokesman Steve Martarano declined to reveal likely targets of the investigation or what charges they might face.

The Reclamation Bureau consulted both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service before starting the levee repairs, to see if the fish required special accommodation. Both agencies said no, believing no endangered fish were affected.

Both McCracken and Martarano said the state Department of Fish and Game was not consulted specifically about the fish before levee repairs began. The agency enforces the state Endangered Species Act and state Fish and Game Code, which prohibits the "wanton waste" of sport fish.

Fish and Game did, however, consult with the Reclamation Bureau about whether a streambed alteration permit was required, both men said. Again, the answer was no.

For most property owners, Martarano said, such a permit includes provisions for managing fish affected by the project, and restoration work afterward.

But Martarano said rules are different when dealing with the federal government.

"There's a lot of legal complexities there," he said. "We have an ongoing investigation, so we're really not able to comment any further than that."

Since at least 1994, Prospect Island has been targeted for restoration to help Delta fish, which have been declining for years. The plan was to intentionally breach the levees to create shallow fish habitat. But Congress never appropriated money for restoration, and the island has lain fallow ever since.

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