Four environmental groups can claim victory in their lawsuit against San Luis Obispo County over claims of insufficient flows from Lopez Dam into Arroyo Grande Creek for steelhead trout.
On Dec. 3, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a preliminary injunction requiring SLO County to alter operations at Lopez Dam to better protect threatened South-Central California Coast (SCCC) steelhead trout, according to Ben Pitterle, Los Padres ForestWatch director of advocacy and field operations.
Los Padres ForestWatch, California Coastkeeper Alliance, San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, and The Ecological Rights Foundation sued on Aug. 13, alleging that several federally endangered and threatened species in the Arroyo Grande Creek watershed were in jeopardy due to dam mismanagement and degraded habitat.
Specifically, the lawsuit mentioned SCCC steelhead trout, the California reg-legged frog, the tidewater goby, and the Bell’s vireo.
“The county has long known that it needs to change its Lopez Dam operations to better protect steelhead in Arroyo Grande Creek,” the groups’ lawyer, Christopher Sproul, said via email.
When steelhead mature, they leave their freshwater homes and journey out to the ocean before coming back to streams to lay eggs. Unlike other fish species, they don’t die after one breeding trip and tend to make several journeys throughout their lifetime, according to previous New Times reporting.
The lawsuit claims that the county failed to release enough water from Lopez Dam to create healthy steelhead habitat in Arroyo Grande Creek.
“This victory means the county will finally have to take long-overdue action to provide additional flows and other immediate relief for steelhead, while also giving serious consideration to important long-term actions, such as enabling steelhead to migrate past Lopez Dam to their historic spawning grounds in the upper watershed,” Sproul said.
According to the preliminary injunction, the county needs to propose a plan for releasing sufficient flows from Lopez Dam into the lower Arroyo Grande Creek area, monitor those new plans and their impacts on steelhead passage conditions, and develop a habitat conservation plan.
“The county is disappointed in the decision,” SLO County Public Works Public Information Officer Shelly Cone told New Times via email. “While the county shares the goal of protection of endangered and protected species within the Arroyo Grande Creek and watershed, it is disappointing that the individuals who filed this lawsuit chose to use the judicial system as a means of hijacking the regulatory process the county was already going through with the various resource agencies at the expense of the South County community.”
In previous reporting, Mark Capelli, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries recovery coordinator for SCCC steelhead, told New Times that the county was working on a habitat conservation plan for Arroyo Grande Creek and that the plan would provide a framework for people and agencies to complete projects while conserving at-risk plant and animal species.
“The California Department of Parks and Recreation does annual monitoring in the Lower Arroyo Grande Creek [as well],” he said.
Sproul said while exact deadlines for the county to implement changes are being worked out and will come as part of another order from the court, he anticipates some of the measures will take effect almost immediately.
“[That] includes measures to provide additional flows during the upcoming rainy season to ensure steelhead have an adequate opportunity to migrate and spawn this year,” he said. “Other measures take effect over the next two years.” Δ
This article appears in Dec 5-15, 2024.
This is welcome news! I applaud the efforts of the four environmental groups who sued the County. Creating a safe environment for steelhead habitat and migration is critically important. The County neglected to act; the court’s decision will help to implement stream flows to establish a healthy steelhead habitat, as well as for the red-legged frog, tidewater goby and Bell’s vireo. This is an environmental justice win, for the creatures who can’t speak for themselves!