Reclamation District 108 works to protect local wildlife

Reclamation District 108 was originally formed in 1870 primarily to build levees and “reclaim” land that was subject to periodic overflow from neighboring rivers and water bodies, but it has since emerged as a pioneer in wildlife protection.

During a tour of RD 108, General Manager Lewis Bair spoke to how the district has evolved over the years.

The rural district is located along the western edge of the Sacramento River and delivers water to nearly 48,000 acres of farmland within southern Colusa and northern Yolo counties and on an overcast day, all was quiet and peaceful save for the squawks of numerous resident shorebirds and waterfowl.

RD 108 receives its water from the Sacramento River under riparian water rights, licenses for appropriation of surface water, and a Settlement Contract with the US Bureau of Reclamation.

According to Bair, the district has long cooperated with environmental groups and, for the past two decades, has actively initiated projects aimed at protecting endangered and threatened fish species in the Sacramento River, including the fall-, spring-, and winter Chinook salmon and the Sacramento splittail.

RD 108 was one of the first irrigation districts to invest and install a fish screen on its primary river diversions in 1997, when it entered into a written agreement with the state Department of Fish and Game, NOAA-Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to cooperatively develop and fund these projects, shared Bair.

The team completed projects at RD 108’s Wilkins Slough Pumping Plant and merged three pre existing plants into the Emery Poundstone Pumping Plant.

The Wilkins Slough Positive Barrier Fish Screen was created at the Wilkins Slough Pumping Plant after eight years of intensive planning, agency coordination, testing of alternative barriers, feasibility studies, design and construction.

The screen was designed to prevent fish from swimming or being drawn into aqueducts, cooling water intakes, dams or other diversions on a river, lake, or waterway where water is taken for human use. They are also intended to supply water free from significant debris to prevent fish from being harmed.

Starting in March 1999, the screen was put into operation, with the intent of minimizing the impact of water diversions on winter-run chinook salmon.

The group successfully accomplished their key goal of constructing the screen and without interrupting irrigation water deliveries or interfering with fish migrations in the Sacramento River.

The Wilkins project is one of the largest fish screening facilities in the Sacramento River Basin and has a design flow capacity of 700 cubic feet per second with continuous cleaning by a single-arm mechanical brush mechanism that sweeps across the entire screen surface every 5 minutes.

Despite the improvements made to the plant, the original Wilkins Slough building still stands along the river, its historical charm left intact.

RD 108 also consolidated three of its river diversion pumping plants into a single facility with a state-of-the-art fish screen called the Emery Poundstone Pumping Plant.

Replacing the three pre existing plants with a single plant and fish screen was more cost efficient and would have less environmental impact on protected fish species, explained Bair.

In addition to several such fish barrier projects, the district has also teamed up with The Nature Conservancy to increase biodiversity in the district’s human-dominated ecosystem and to provide habitat for shorebirds.

“RD 108 has always been progressive, always asking what can we be doing better,” Bair asserted.

The shorebird program paid district rice farmers to flood fields in early Spring 2014 which lasted 12 to 30 days and provided critical habitat for shorebirds.

These efforts were made in order to increase the number of shorebirds that stop in the Sacramento Valley and the program’s success has led to its expansion into fall shorebird habitat.

According to Bair, this increased focus on efficiency and wildlife protection has permeated into the everyday life of district workers and residents.

The district also participates in a cooperative effort with the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor giant gartersnakes, who are on the endangered species list.

“We have a ton of giant gartersnakes in our district, more than 1000...the San Joaquin Valley has all but eliminated giant gartersnakes,” said Bair.

These projects have been noticed by district locals.

Bair estimated that in the past year or so high numbers of local landowners have begun sitting in on the district’s board meetings to participate in its efforts and to voice their opinions on district matters.

“It’s exciting,” Bair said with a smile, “We are getting all these people coming in that are interested because they think they can do something to make a difference in the environment, for birds, for fish, for their farms-and believe that it can all be done at once.”