South Central Coast Regional 
Fish Advisory Group

Background 

The State of California Resources Agency has been active in promoting fishery restoration in response to recent listings of certain fish species as threatened or endangered, and in obtaining grant funding for fishery and fishery habitat restoration projects. In order to develop a coordinated and locally supported restoration effort, the agency has encouraged the creation of Regional Fish Advisory Groups. Such groups have already been established in several parts of the state and have been successful in obtaining grant funding for restoration efforts. In order to facilitate the creation of such a group in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties, the agency has proposed to grant State funds in the amount of $80,000 to pay start-up costs.

The Cachuma Conservation and Release Board (CCRB) and the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District, Improvement District #1 have been working for several years on fishery issues along the Santa Ynez River and, in conjunction with the Santa Ynez River Technical Advisory Committee have published a Draft Fish Management Plan for the lower Santa Ynez River. The Resource Agency has proposed that Santa Barbara County, together with Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, be the recipient of the start-up grant. The State requires that such funds be granted to a fiscal agent that is a city or county. Because of the city of Santa Barbara's close involvement with fishery issues on the Santa Ynez River, staff has proposed to have the City function as the fiscal agent for the grant to satisfy State requirements. CCRB will act as the administrator of the grant work program due to extensive related fishery work being conducted by CCRB in preparation for State Water Resources Control Board hearings on the Cachuma Project water rights.

As a part of negotiating the start-up grant with the State, CCRB has solicited a scope of work from Entrix, Inc., an environmental consulting firm involved with the development of the Lower Santa Ynez River Fish Management Plan. Entrix has also participated in efforts to date to develop a regional fishery restoration effort.

The Focus

The primary focus of the regional groups is to develop a comprehensive list of potential restoration projects within each county, including such projects as removal of fish passage impediments, habitat restoration, watershed planning studies, feasibility studies, habitat protection, water quality improvements, and public education and outreach.

Once the program is underway, details of restoration/enhancement projects slated for construction by the South Coast Fish Advisory Group will be discussed on a county-by-county basis. Included in the discussions will be the decision-making process as to why a particular project was chosen, and the likely improvements to steelhead habitats, (or their overall population) the project will have.

Advisory Team

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will be the chair of the committee. The committee will consist of a representative from each of the following: the Resources Agency, a DFG habitat expert, National Marine Fisheries Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, California Department of Conservation, California Coastal Conservancy, State Water Resources Control Board, 5 North County Group, one representative among the remaining counties (Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo), California Farm Bureau, member of the timber community, Citizens Advisory Committee on Salmonid and Steelhead, fishery restoration community, and the chair of the SB 271 committee.