KR3 MAKES ANGLING UNENJOYABLE

ISSUE: KR3 takes so much water out of the North Fork Kern that it makes angling unenjoyable.

OUR TAKE: Edison should be required to leave much more water in the river.

SPECIFICS:

• Nature almost always (more than 98% of the time) provides at least 125 cfs of natural flow in the North Fork Kern at Fairview Dam.

• KR3’s diversion of water out of the river at Fairview Dam pushes flows below 125 cfs one-third of the time.

• Fish flows below Fairview Dam are 100 cfs or less 10 months a year, every year — and only 40 cfs for one-third of each year.

• These artificially low flows have devastating consequences for the fishery and riverine ecosystem below Fairview Dam.

• The Kern River Fly Fishers (KRFF) is the oldest organization based around fishing on the Kern.

• KRFF members unanimously agree that fishing below Fairview Dam is generally unenjoyable.

• KRFF blogger Rich Arner — a past president of the organization and its most technical analyst — has repeatedly explained that fishing below Fairview Dam is unenjoyable at flows under 100 cfs due to stagnant water, decreased pool depths, and predation.

Our Proposal: Conduct an “Enjoyable Angling” Flow Study along the lines proposed in Flows and Recreation: A Guide to Studies for River Professionals.

Edison’s Response: “There is no evidnce of a problem. Angling flows have not been raised as an issue, and KR3 is a run-of-river project that has a variable flow regime.”

How to Help: Tell FERC and USFS (click the links for instructions),

1. Who you are and how much you care about the North Fork Kern;

2. That fishing below Fairview Dam is unenjoyable at the unnaturally low flows caused by the KR3 hydroproject; and

3. You support the Enjoyable Angling Flows Study Proposal, submitted by the Kern River Fly Fishers’ Council and Kern River Boaters.

Go Deeper: Read the Enjoyable Angling Flows Study Proposal.