Outdoor Notes / Rich Roberts : Lower Owens Project Suffering From Lack of Water

The Lower Owens River Project was implemented in June of 1986 to release water from the Los Angeles Aqueduct and enhance the wetlands leading to long-dry Owens Lake. Edith Turner wonders what went wrong.

“Before the project began, it was nothing to catch a limit of nice bass in a couple of hours,” she wrote to the Inyo Register. “Now I can go weeks without even a hit.”

The letter was signed by 60 of her neighbors in Aberdeen and anglers she encountered along the ditches near the aqueduct on the east side of U.S. 395. Most were finding old fishing holes strangled by overgrown tules, moss and algae.

“I didn’t have to ask anybody if they wanted to sign,” she said. “They’d just read it and say, ‘Give me a pen.’ ”

In the original project, spearheaded by the late Inyo County Supervisor Johnny Johnson, the L.A. Department of Water and Power agreed to release certain amounts of water from the aqueduct to maintain the wetlands. But then something unforeseen happened--a water shortage.

Russ Rawson of the DWP office in Bishop said: “This is the third year of a drought, and we didn’t have a reliable water source in the first place for the project. We’ve been trying to skimp along with about half the water commitment we made.”

The second, brighter phase of the Lower Owens River Project is a plan approved by the DWP and Inyo County to dump significantly more water into the wetlands north of Independence, then pump it back into the aqueduct near Lone Pine before Los Angeles would even miss it. But the required Environmental Impact Reports take time, and it’s estimated it will take three years more to build a pump-back station, meaning five years or more before the project starts up.

“I can’t wait that long,” Turner said. “I’m 72.”

Aberdeen is a mobile home settlement of about 60 people, a mile west of 395 between Independence and Big Pine. Most are retirees from big cities, with limited incomes. Most moved there for the fresh air and quiet outdoor life.

Another resident, Wanda Bealer, said: “I know people here that sold (aluminum) cans to get their fishing licenses.”

Turner and her husband Jess moved there in 1977 from El Monte. They went fishing almost every day.

Turner said: “When we first moved up here there were coyote, elk, skunk, rabbit. You hardly see anything anymore.”

Bealer said she used to fish, too--”when there was something to fish for. You can’t believe how beautiful it was . . . the birds. It was just a symphony out there.”

The music stopped three years ago. Jess Turner, apparently in good health, died suddenly while taking a nap after an afternoon of fishing. Bealer said that since then Edith Turner has survived her grief by fishing, but the fishing has been lousy. She still fishes several days a week but has caught only seven bass this year.

“This was our favorite spot,” Turner said during a tour of the wetlands. “See how it’s grown up in here? You’re taking a chance on losing your lure to throw it into something like that. And with all the tules, you can’t cast out, anyway.”

The area is miles above that which suffered a massive fish kill last month when the DWP had to divert a sudden surge of floodwater into the river to save the aqueduct.

Rawson said: “The upper reach of the channel hasn’t received any water since last winter. We were having some fish losses before the flood hit us because of lack of oxygen and hot weather.”

He said a DWP crew is dispatched each fall to clean out the ditches, but Turner said that doesn’t keep up with the growth. Until the pump-back project is completed, the prospects aren’t good, especially in light of recent court rulings requiring the DWP to maintain Mono Lake at a minimum level, further reducing downstream flows.

“I realize the project isn’t feasible,” Turner said. “The only complaint I have is that they don’t let enough water through to keep it flushed out.”

Briefly

TROUT REGULATIONS--The Department of Fish and Game has proposed a statewide cut in the daily trout limit from 10 to five. The Fish and Game Commission will hold public hearings on the proposal Oct. 6 in San Diego and Nov. 7 in Redding, then announce the 1990 regulations Dec. 1 in Long Beach. Five is already the limit in some waters, but the general limit has been at 10 since a cut from 15 in 1960. Private hatcheries have been planting bigger fish than the DFG in recent years.

The DFG says that if the cut goes through, it will adjust the size of its planted fish from an average of four per pound to two per pound. . . . The commission put an end to “loophole” fishing in Mono County by closing the waters to fishing for all species when the trout season ends Nov. 1. Fly anglers campaigning for year-round fishing near Mammoth Lakes were catching and releasing trout, but could claim they were fishing for perch or other species

FLY FISHING--The Sequoia Athletic Club, 7530 Orangethorpe Ave. in Buena Park, will hold a free, public evening on “The Wonderful World of Fly Fishing” Sept. 20, at 6:30 p.m. There will be fly tying and casting demonstrations and slide presentations. For details, call (714) 525-1827. . . . Bob Marriott of the fly fishing store has organized a trip to northern Siberia for himself and five others this month. They will be seeking the giant Taimen, a freshwater cousin of the trout which are said to exceed 100 pounds.

The Streamborn Fly Fishing Club of Rowland Heights will conduct free beginners’ fly tying classes on six consecutive Mondays starting Sept. 11, 7 p.m., in the Community Room of the Pomona First Federal building, 18220 Colima Road. Details: (213) 698-6611 or (818) 964-7485 . . . Charlene Hansen is teaching fly tying at Marriott’s in Fullerton each Monday, 7-10 p.m. . . . Dick Thies of Long Beach was reelected senior vice president, communications of the Federation of Fly Fishers at its August conclave in West Yellowstone, Mont.

NOTEWORTHY--The fifth round and finals of the Kahuna Western Winter championship Jet Ski series will be run Saturday and Sunday at Long Beach Marine Stadium, featuring two-time world champions Jeff Jacobs and David Gordon. Competition starts at 10 a.m. Admission is $5 (under 10 free). . . . Phil Ershler, 38, of Bellevue, Wash., completed his 300th climb of 14,410-foot Mt. Rainier. Ershler also has climbed Everest--the first American to do the North Wall in Tibet--as well as the world’s third-highest mountain, Kangchenjunga.

“Fish Fest,” an exhibit documenting the history of Southern California sportfishing in text and pictures, will be presented by the Newport Beach Nautical Museum, 1714 W. Balboa Blvd., from Sept. 18, through Nov. 11.