“They said that the law only allowed for them to operate for the purpose of flood control and not to provide for endangered fish.” They argued that they lacked the power to make those changes based on an old law from the creation of Twitchell Dam,” she said. “At the district court, the Bureau of Reclamation argued they didn’t have legal authority to make the changes we requested. By restricting the water that can flow into the Santa Maria, ForestWatch claimed that fish get stranded and aren’t able to access their spawning habitat, Hall said. Steelhead rely on river flows to swim upstream to spawning grounds in the Sisquoc River during the rainy season. “Since the dam was constructed in the 1950s, we’ve seen this decline in the steelhead population.” Historically, the Santa Maria River had the second largest populations in Santa Barbara County,” Hall said. “We have known for a long time that Twitchell Dam, located on the Cuyama River, blocks and holds water from getting into the Santa Maria River. Supreme Court denied hearing the case, upholding the U.S. STEELHEAD SAFETY: Twitchell Dam operators will be required to release water in order for steelhead trout to migrate to their spawning grounds after the U.S.
