There are thousands of fish out there, but I don't expect we'll be able to recover the smaller fish. Creekside residents say this isn't the first time water has been sucked out of the creek to the detriment of wildlife. When salmon swam up Los Gatos Creek to Willow Glen to spawn last Christmas, Frank Cucuzza and his wife, Margaret Newbold, squatted beside their creekside home with a camcorder and watched lady fish build their nests and lay their eggs. Soon after, excited male salmon wriggled upstream to fertilize the eggs. We went down and checked every day.
Critics say it was a convenient time for the accident to happen.
Cucuzza suspects that the water district has been trying to rid the stream of fish for some time, so as to avoid keeping up with Fish and Game requirements. Water district spokesman DiMarco strongly denies these allegations, insisting that it's necessary to let the creek run dry in the summer to save water. Deputy DA Richmond says he plans to discuss with the district ways to conserve water without killing wildlife. Mike DiMarco still denies that the district has violated any law, arguing that the code in question is open to interpretation, because many streams, including Los Gatos Creek, often dry up naturally during the summer. There has never been a clear interpretation.