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Pete Thomas, L.A. Times
6/6/03
Members of the Southern California Bass Council are rejoicing after the settlement last week of a nine-year-old lawsuit stemming from a Department of Water Resources construction project that involved the near-draining of Lake Silverwood and its impact on the fishery.
The lawsuit charged that the DWR had not complied with the California Environmental Quality Act when, in 1994, it lowered the lake to construct a new intake tower. Pressure maintained by environmental lawyer Patrick J. Marley resulted in some fishery-improvement mitigation measures over the years at the San Bernardino County reservoir.
They included the building of rock piles for habitat, planting of trees and brush, the stocking of thousands of bass and the removal of thousands of carp, a heartier species that had overrun the lake after a bass die-off.
The SCBC kept up the court battle, however, saying the measures weren't enough. Finally, a settlement was reached in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Under its terms, the DWR must pay for the construction and placement of additional habitat modules over a three-year period, finance a more expansive carp-removal program, pay the Department of Fish and Game $20,000 a year for three years for a monitoring project involving largemouth bass, and keep the lake level stable during the spawning period from April 1 to June 30 each year.
6/6/03
Members of the Southern California Bass Council are rejoicing after the settlement last week of a nine-year-old lawsuit stemming from a Department of Water Resources construction project that involved the near-draining of Lake Silverwood and its impact on the fishery.
The lawsuit charged that the DWR had not complied with the California Environmental Quality Act when, in 1994, it lowered the lake to construct a new intake tower. Pressure maintained by environmental lawyer Patrick J. Marley resulted in some fishery-improvement mitigation measures over the years at the San Bernardino County reservoir.
They included the building of rock piles for habitat, planting of trees and brush, the stocking of thousands of bass and the removal of thousands of carp, a heartier species that had overrun the lake after a bass die-off.
The SCBC kept up the court battle, however, saying the measures weren't enough. Finally, a settlement was reached in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Under its terms, the DWR must pay for the construction and placement of additional habitat modules over a three-year period, finance a more expansive carp-removal program, pay the Department of Fish and Game $20,000 a year for three years for a monitoring project involving largemouth bass, and keep the lake level stable during the spawning period from April 1 to June 30 each year.
