Salmon Creek Marijuana Grows Hit by MET This Week
Dammed up Salmon Creek with bump in creek diverting 90 percent of waterflow. Juvenile salmonoids located in pool. [Photo from MET]
We’ve broken each watershed into its own post. For previous posts see:
- Overview of This Weeks Humboldt County MET Operation Plus Look at Redwood Creek
- MET Marijuana Raids This Week in the Steelhead/Powers Creek Watershed in the Fort Seward/Harris Area
A subsequent post about raids in northeastern Humboldt County is found here:
This is a press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:
3. Salmon Creek Watershed
On July 21, 2021, teams served four warrants on parcels in the Salmon Creek Watershed. During the service of the warrants, deputies eradicated approximately 2,205 growing cannabis plants.
Assisting agencies found the following violations:
- Six (6) water diversion violations (up to $8,000 fine per day, per violation);
- Two (2) water pollution violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation);
- Four (4) depositing trash in or near a waterway violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation).
Ninety percent of waterflow being diverted from waterway.
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WTF they deserve to be busted with the water diversion alone! Come on people! grrr
El Dorado County and Tri County (Nevada?) Must be some federal funds getting allocated, lol. Good work helping the little fishies.
Do the fines go back to fixing the creek or even restoring it? How are these fines allocated or effective to fixing the problem exactly?
Seriously?
🤔🧐The pictures don’t fit the narrative.
Is that too harsh to say?
Can anybody acknowledge this?
Where’s the scenes?
I never though I would say this, but,
🤔🧐What your seeing, and what your hearing, isn’t what’s happening.
Salmon Creek doesn’t reach the Eel now , it’s gone under the gravel. Like last September, except earlier this year. Just too hot and dry. And not enough water for all of us to pursue what we want, unless we store it from winter rains. You idiots pumping water in July, get with the program, or leave!
You can thank the Army Corps of Engineers for that, Gail.
Have you been around long enough to remember that? Or are you a newbie?
The Eel River’s natural course use to be firmly set right along the west side of the channel and very near the road, and the connection to Salmon Creek was never a problem. Ever.
But, it caused the road to constantly settle in the area of where northbound Maple Hills Road turns west where it meets Salmon Creek.
So,in their infinite wisdom, they altered the river channel, same as they did north of Phillipsville at the sweeping turn, also to prevent erosion and road subsidence.
When they did it at Salmon Creek, the creek began to be disconnected from the river when the river was low.
Actually, it disconnected the creek from the river whenever the river was not “up”.
It also created a great distance over the river bar from the old true mouth of the creek, for the creek and the juvenile fish to have to cover before those fish or the creek could even reach the river or vice versa if the adult fish we’re trying to reach the creek from the river.
It also makes the fish, adults or juveniles easy prey, easy pickings going both ways of that extra distance.
In water conditions when the creek disconnects, it is impossible, and that is happening more and more often, and as the river bar fills with gravel, it happens regularly, every year, closing off earlier and earlier each spring, and opening later and later each fall.
This has been happening for many, many years.
I believe it is what is truly responsible for the decimation of the spawning return on Salmon Creek.
Does no one else see it or remember, or care?
People mess themselves over the water.
But it has nowhere to go.
Fix it.
The river must be returned to it’s previous course along the west side of the channel, if the Salmon Creek run is to have any hope of returning.
I truly think it is possible to ressurect the spawning run if it is done immediately.
If it’s not , the run could be doomed.
The little bit of water they squabble over becomes meaningless if the creek and the river do not stay connected.
They are pissing in the wind trying to maintain flow in that watershed without addressing the issues at the mouth of the creek to ensure the connection to the river for the fish is maintained.
It ain’t rocket science.
Altering the river channel is killing Salmon Creek. If it hasn’t killed it already.
Between that and the squawfish, maybe pikeminnow is the PC term, and the drought, the return of spawning run is not looking good.
It’s disingenuous of the department of fish and wildlife to ignore the issues associated with the mouth of the Creek and only focus on the sources.
All the sources of Salmon Creek wont overcome the obstacle at the mouth the Army Corps of Engineers has created.
Both issues need to be tackled at once.
And by that I mean at the same time, and I also mean it must be done immediately.
If it would succeed, it must be done.
A creek channel to the river must be dug and maintained, until the river can be returned to it’s previous, natural course, by the Army Corps of Engineers, the ones that altered it in the first place.
Mark my words, If the river is returned to it’s natural course, the Salmon Creek spawning run will return.
If it is not, it will not return.
It simply cannot.
The fish can’t get out and walk, it’s that simple.
What killed Salmon Creek was over 300 new homesteads with veggie gardens and massive grows. 50 years ago the fish were thriving now they are almost extinct except a few stragglers.
2,000 plants? No! That’s not cool in this drought, people, you have nieghbors to think of too, is that to much to ask?
What ever happened to forfeiture of the land proceedings?
This is getting, no is and has been, out of hand for a long time!! It is just now that we are noticing and making noise since it is a drought.
If the drought was not happening the community that loves marijuana and thinks it is great to have around would not be saying a peep.
People, this is an all season, every year type of issue, it is time we paid more attention to it and continue to send our letters, opposition to this continued misuse of our resources, specifically allowing growing in our hills and Oak woodlands and the sensitive habitat that we have.
Please continue your efforts everyone when you see illegal diversions, grows, etc. Let the LEO know!!
so infuriating. such abject disrespect of the land and beauty just to make a quick dollar only to just leave town post grow season