I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4408

To protect and restore the anadromous fish habitat in the Russian River

of Northern California and its tributaries, and to provide for a pilot

project to test and demonstrate the benefits of main stem river channel

restoration.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 12, 1994

Mr. HAMBURG (for himself and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred jointly to the Committees on Merchant Marine and

Fisheries and Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To protect and restore the anadromous fish habitat in the

Russian River of Northern California and its tributaries,

and to provide for a pilot project to test and demonstrate

the benefits of main stem river channel restoration.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Russian River Fish5 eries and Riverbed Restoration Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) California’s Russian River and its tribu2 taries contain anadromous fish resources that are an

3 important component of the local, regional, and

4 State commercial and sport recreational fisheries.

5 The commercial and recreational harvest of Russian

6 River salmon and steelhead has historically made an

7 important contribution to local economies.

8 (2) The Russian River supported one of the

9 most productive steelhead fisheries in North America

10 as recently as 1940.

11 (3) In the recent past, the Russian River sup12 ported an abundant population of coho salmon and

13 still contains a remnant population of this species,

14 which has been proposed for listing under the En15 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et

16 seq.).

17 (4) The Russian River provides numerous other

18 beneficial uses to the many people who inhabit its

19 basin. The River is a source of drinking and irriga20 tion water, a popular destination for recreational

21 water sports enthusiasts, the soil source for prime

22 agricultural bottom lands, the primary local source

23 of aggregate resources, and the source of hydro24 electric power generated by 2 major dams.
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1 (5) Development of the Russian River for bene2 ficial uses has resulted in the degradation of the

3 river system’s riparian areas, streambed, water qual4 ity and stream flows. The net result of construction

5 and operation of dams and agricultural water diver6 sions, water conveyance from the Eel River, past

7 gravel mining, timber harvest practices, road build8 ing activities, and residential and agricultural devel9 opment of flood plains has been a substantial deg10 radation of fish habitat in the River. These environ11 mental alterations have caused a major decline in

12 salmon and steelhead fish populations in the River,

13 and have also had a negative impact on several other

14 beneficial uses.

15 (6) The Federal Government, through the con16 struction of Coyote Dam in Mendocino County and

17 Warm Springs Dam in Sonoma County and the

18 Russian River Flood Control Project, is substantially

19 responsible for the loss and degradation of fish habi20 tat in the River.

21 (7) Overlapping Federal, State, and local juris22 dictions have historically hampered fishery conserva23 tion efforts and prevented the Federal Government

24 and the State of California from fulfilling their re-
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1 sponsibilities to protect the River’s anadromous fish2 ery resources.

3 (8) The California Department of Fish and

4 Game has authority under State law to direct the

5 restoration of the State’s anadromous fishery re6 sources in accordance with comprehensive river basin

7 anadromous fisheries restoration plans. The depart8 ment is in the process of developing a basin plan for

9 the Russian River.

10 (9) The California State Coastal Conservancy is

11 in the process of producing a resource enhancement

12 and restoration plan for the main stem of the Rus13 sian River.

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

15 The purposes of this Act are the following:

16 (1) To protect and restore the River’s anad17 romous fish habitat for the purpose of optimizing

18 production of salmon and steelhead.

19 (2) To foster cooperation between Federal,

20 State, and local agencies in protecting, restoring,

21 and enhancing the River’s anadromous fishery re22 sources.

23 (3) To construct a pilot project for the purpose

24 of testing and demonstrating the benefits of large
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1 scale main stem river channel restoration and

2 stream corridor management.

3 (4) To review the operation of Federal dam and

4 flood control projects and assess the environmental

5 impacts of their operation on the River.

6 (5) To provide matching funds, if necessary, for

7 the development of the Program Plan, and to pro8 vide funds to begin implementation of the Program

9 Plan and for monitoring and evaluating implementa10 tion of the program.

11 SEC. 4. PILOT PROJECT TO REESTABLISH RIVER CHANNEL

12 AND FLOODWAY; FISH HABITAT RESTORA13 TION PROJECTS.

14 (a) RIVER CHANNEL AND FLOODWAY PROJECT.—

15 The Administrator shall conduct 1 or more pilot projects

16 on the main channel of the River which may be identified

17 in the Resource Plan, to demonstrate measures to reestab18 lish a channel and floodway in dynamic equilibrium with

19 the River and to prevent the down cutting of the River

20 bed. The goals of the pilot projects shall be to create in21 stream fish and wildlife habitat, reduce bank erosion and

22 loss of riparian vegetation, and accommodate high flows

23 without accompanying damage to land or property. To the

24 extent practicable, activities on the main river channel

25 under the pilot project shall be integrated with projects
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1 on tributaries and basin-wide water management, and

2 shall account for the physical and ecological

3 interdependency within the watershed. This project will

4 only be completed with willing landowners. The Adminis5 trator may contract with the California State Coastal Con6 servancy to carry out the pilot projects.

7 (b) FISH HABITAT RESTORATION PROJECT.—The

8 Chief, working through the Resource Conservation Dis9 tricts and with the California Department of Fish and

10 Game, shall carry out high priority fish habitat restoration

11 projects on the River’s tributaries or watershed restoration

12 projects that are identified in and are consistent with the

13 objectives of the Program Plan.

14 (c) COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—The

15 Administrator and the Chief shall work with the United

16 States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fish17 eries Service, Army Corps of Engineers, and the State of

18 California in carrying out activities under this section.

19 (d) GRANTS TO STATES.—The Administrator and the

20 Chief shall use their existing authorities to award grants

21 or contracts (or both) to State or local agencies (or both)

22 to carry out this section and for monitoring activities

23 under this section.

24 (e) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 1996,

25 the Administrator and the Chief shall each report to the
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1 Congress on progress made toward implementing this sec2 tion.

3 (f) REVIEW OF COYOTE DAM AND WARM SPRINGS

4 DAM.—

5 (1) REVIEW.—The Secretary in consultation

6 with the Director of the United States Fish and

7 Wildlife Service shall review the effects of the oper8 ation and water release schedule of the Coyote Dam

9 in Mendocino County on bank erosion problems,

10 river channel down cutting, decreases in ground

11 water supplies and scour of riparian habitat. The

12 Secretary shall identify alternative release schedules

13 which will reduce adverse impacts along the River

14 and provide fisheries habitat benefits. The Secretary

15 shall also review channel clearing and maintenance

16 measures currently required along the Alexander

17 Valley reach of the River channel as part of the Rus18 sian River Flood Control project for their adverse

19 environmental effects on fisheries habitat in the

20 River. The Secretary shall identify alternative meas21 ures which reduce bank erosion problems and pro22 mote riparian and fisheries habitat restoration while

23 providing the same or higher level of flood water

24 channel capacity as the original 1955 Federal

25 project. Further, the Secretary shall review the ef-
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1 fects that operation of Warm Springs dam will have

2 on fish habitat in Dry Creek and downstream

3 reaches of the River, including potential effects that

4 the project will have on the middle reach of the

5 River when fully operational.

6 (2) REPORT.—Not later than September 30,

7 1996, the Secretary shall report to the Congress the

8 results of the reviews under this subsection.

9 SEC. 5. RUSSIAN RIVER BASIN ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an advi11 sory committee which shall be composed of not more than

12 20 people selected by the Chief in consultation with the

13 Administrator. The committee shall be representative of

14 the various groups with an interest in the Russian River

15 and shall be selected according to the following guidelines:

16 (1) Members of the Russian River Enhance17 ment Plan Technical Advisory Committees estab18 lished by the California State Coastal Conservancy

19 shall be considered if they choose to serve.

20 (2) Membership shall include representatives of

21 organized fishery groups even if not presently on the

22 Russian River Enhancement Plan Technical Advi23 sory Committees.

24 (3) Membership shall be balanced geographi25 cally between Mendocino and Sonoma Counties.
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1 (4) Membership shall include representatives of

2 State and Federal agencies involved in managing

3 river natural resources but there shall be no more

4 than 6 such members.

5 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The advisory group shall advise

6 and assist the Administrator and the Chief regarding the

7 implementation and monitoring of the activities authorized

8 by this Act.

9 (c) CHAIRMAN; MEETINGS.—The chairman of the ad10 visory committee shall be a representative of a river fish11 ery group who is chosen by majority vote of the advisory

12 committee. The term of an individual as chairman shall

13 be 2 years. The chairman shall call meetings of the advi14 sory committee at least 4 times each year. The advisory

15 committee, in consultation with the Administrator and the

16 Chief, may establish its own order of business.

17 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means Adminis20 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, act21 ing through the Regional Administrator for the

22 ninth region.

23 (2) The term ‘‘Chief’’ means the Chief of the

24 Soil Conservation Service.
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1 (3) The term ‘‘Program Plan’’ means the Rus2 sian River Basin Andromous Fisheries Restoration

3 Plan being developed by the California Department

4 of Fish and Game.

5 (4) The term ‘‘Resource Plan’’ means the Rus6 sian River Resource Enhancement Plan being devel7 oped by the California State Coastal Conservancy.

8 (5) The term ‘‘River’’ means the Russian River

9 in California.

10 (6) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

11 of the Army.

12 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 There is authorized to be appropriated $7,000,000

14 for carrying out this Act for fiscal years beginning after

15 September 30, 1993. $4,000,000 shall be allocated for the

16 tributary restoration which shall include a maximum of

17 $500,000 for completion of the Program Plan and a maxi18 mum of $100,000 for support services for the Basin Advi19 sory Committee. $3,000,000 shall be allocated for the riv20 erbed restoration pursuant to the Resource Plan. Such

21 sums shall remain available until expended. A portion of

22 the funding shall be used for Federal staff for accomplish23 ing the goals.

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