Sandbar breached as estuary plan unfolds

JENNER — The sandbar blocking the mouth of the Russian River
apparently breached on its own last Sunday afternoon, draining the
freshwater estuary that was supposed to remain intact for the rest
of the summer.
“It opened about seven o’clock on Sunday evening,” said Sonoma
County Water Agency spokeswoman Ann DuBay.
The breach occurred just hours before the Water Agency had
planned to continue work on a controversial “perched outlet” to
contain fresh water in the River estuary as a means to improve
habitat for native salmon.
When the sandbar closed off the River’s mouth last Thursday it
set the stage for the Water Agency to begin using heavy equipment
to create the perched outlet that, at least in theory, will
maintain a freshwater lagoon and allow the Water Agency to control
the water’s depth to prevent flooding of low-lying structures in
Jenner.
Normally the sandbar is breached by crews with a bulldozer when
the estuary’s depth threatens to flood the town. This summer it
would be different, at least according to the federally-mandated
estuary management plan that has drawn criticism from advocates of
the harbor seal colony that hauls out on the sandbar to rest.
Members of Seal Watch, the environmental watchdog group that
monitors the seal population in cooperation with state park
rangers, fear the more frequent use of heavy equipment on the
sandbar this summer will harass the seal colony and may cause it to
move. More than 200 seals could be seen hauled out on the sandbar
Monday after the breach occurred.
The Water Agency’s estuary management plan was mandated by a
National Marine Fisheries Service “Biological Opinion” (BO) two
years ago that calls for changes in Water Agency and U.S. Army
corps of Engineers operations in the Russian River in order to
improve habitat for native salmon and steelhead trout.
Seal Watchers say the estuary management plan has not adequately
taken into account the habitat needs of species other than the
native fish that are protected under the federal Endangered Species
Act.
Seal Watch, which is part of the Stewards of the Coast and
Redwoods program whose volunteers work with the state parks system,
and the Water Agency have a cooperative monitoring plan in place
this summer to track the estuary management progress.
The sandbar was very narrow on Sunday where the breach occurred,
said DuBay. The spontaneous breach drained the estuary, putting the
management plan back to square one.
“What we’ll do now is wait for it to close again,” said DuBay.
“We’ll just have to wait and try it again.”