This Friday at 9 am, the State agency responsible for protecting water quality will hold its monthly hearing in Eureka. The North Coast Regional Water Board's agenda includes an update on the latest chapter in a decades-long struggle to protect and restore the Elk River, one of the best remaining salmon streams in the Humboldt Bay watershed.Photo: Coho salmon by Mike Dean, CDFW. The subject is the Humboldt Redwood Company's current permit to log in the Elk River watershed, including harvest limits in high-risk areas and riparian zones to protect Elk River from sediment. The company's permit ("Waste Discharge Requirements" or WDR) limits the amount of sediment that can be added to Upper Elk River without further harming salmon or increasing flooding. This sediment (soil) is caused by logging in “high risk” areas, such as steep slopes or too close to streams. Between 1997 and 2008, when there was a moratorium on logging following by low harvest rates in the Elk River watershed, suspended sediment concentrations in the river's South Fork not explained by previous land use impacts diminished by 59 percent, according to monitoring the Water Board required the timber company (Maxxam at that time) to conduct.The permit was recently been suspended due to HRC’s persistent failure to maintain its roads, a chief contributor of sediment. Yet the Water Board staff recommends that these timber harvest plans proceed, based on HRC’s hiring a new road manager.This recommendation ignores clear evidence that the permit is not working. According to the Friends of Elk River, who have been following this issue closely for decades, the Water Board allowed 547 acres to be logged from 2019-2025 in Railroad Gulch. They plan to allow another 1,000+ acres of logging in Railroad Gulch and other steep tributaries during the next five years. Recovery is taking longer than projected, and is now based on restoration plans that have only begun to be funded.When: August 16 at 9 a.m. Where: Eureka City Hall, City Council Chambers, 531 K Street in Eureka
The meeting will be broadcast live on the CalEPA Live Webcast site.Oral comments will be limited to five minutes. No action will be taken at the meeting, but it is important that people attend who are concerned about salmon and flooding in Elk River, or how the Regional Water Board implements permits that are meant to protect and restore water quality and riparian habitat.
