With Lake Cachuma water levels plunging to historic lows, the Bureau of Reclamation began releasing 320 acre-feet of water down the Santa Ynez River a day and will continue doing so until 7,800 acre-feet have been let go as part of a legally mandated program to replenish the groundwater basins of downstream cities and water providers.
With this release, the bathtub ring surrounding the lake will become much more visually dramatic. For those trying to maintain struggling populations of federally endangered steelhead trout: “We’re afraid we’re witnessing an extinction-level event,” said Scott Engblom, a biologist with the Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board. Engblom and researchers working for an alphabet soup of other governmental wildlife agencies went wading into the Santa Ynez River this week armed with electric stun devices, which they use as “e-fishing” rods to catch juvenile steelhead in the main stem of the Santa Ynez.
When steelhead are zapped with the low-level currents emitted by the stun guns, they flap over on their sides, making them more reflective of the sunlight. This makes them easier to spot, catch, and relocate into deeper, cooler pools located in Hilton Creek, an artificially watered tributary of the river. In addition, these biologists are catching nonnative predator fish that made it downstream past Lake Cachuma.