By Lois Henry, SJV Water
Plans to keep dwindling Kern River rainbow trout populations from dipping into endangered species territory are detailed and exacting.
They are also more than a decade, if not decades, old and, for the most part, inert.
When the first “Upper Kern Basin Fishery Management” plan was written in 1995, its goal was to avoid the Kern River rainbow having to be listed as threatened or endangered after it became a candidate for listing under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Since then, the fish has, in fact, become listed as a “species of concern” by the U.S. Forest service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
Still, there has been little to no headway made on actions described in that 1995 management plan, nor an updated and comprehensive 2014 conservation checklist by CDFW, the state’s top agency tasked with managing its fish populations.
Area 51
The urgency to protect this unique and colorful fish, endemic to the north fork of the Kern River, has been frustratingly underwhelming to locals, river advocates, boaters, anglers and conservation groups.
“The state treats that place like Area 51, everything is a damn secret,” said one river advocate of CDFW’s communication about its rainbow conservation plans.
Even information on a much balleyhooed search for a strain of pure Kern River rainbow trout DNA that involved a weeks-long trek into the upper Kern River watershed seemed permanently stalled with no information released over the past three years.
There has been movement. However, with just one CDFW lab and a backlog of work, it has been slow.
“The analyses of these samples are ongoing, I hope to have some results from the Kern River Rainbow Trout samples in the next few weeks,” wrote Gabriel Singer, CDFW’s native and threatened trout coordinator, in an email to SJV Water.
Singer said his team’s major priority right now is working on the California Golden Trout, another species endemic to the Kern watershed.
Diluting the pool
Kern River rainbow trout were once plentiful in the north fork and were a prized catch among anglers.
So much so, that as its numbers diminished, the state began stocking the river with non-native rainbows, unaware until the late 1980s that the Kern River rainbow was genetically unique.
Only sterile nonnative rainbows are stocked in the Kern these days, but the hybridization damage was done, which is why CDFW scientists are on the hunt for pure Kern River rainbow DNA.
Meanwhile, the various plans to monitor native populations and restore habitat along the river, among other actions, remain in limbo.
“There are a lot of plans,” said Jessica Strickland, the inland trout program director for Trout Unlimited, for restoring the Kern River rainbow. “But some folks are frustrated with a seeming lack of follow-through.”
$7 million siphon
For its part, the CDFW said it hasn’t received consistent funding to tackle all of its rainbow goals laid out over the years.
And now it needs a key piece of infrastructure, its Kernville hatchery, back up and running, to initiate its Kern River rainbow plans. The hatchery was shut down in 2020. Then the already problematic siphon and pipeline that had brought it water from Southern California Edison’s Kern River 3 (KR3) power plant were torn apart in the 2023 floods.
Replacing the siphon and the 0.7-mile-long pipeline will cost $7 million, according to Gerald Hatler, CDFW’s central region program manager. It’s unclear how much it will cost to rehabilitate the rest of the facility, now overgrown with vegetation.
“But we need that hatchery,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to collect sourcing that’s from a pure strain, create broodstock at the Kernville hatchery and then introduce those fish to the Kern River.”
He anticipated construction to begin on the new siphon by the end of this year. He also expected to have results from the DNA hunt as well as an updated rainbow management plan by that time as well.
“They’ve been saying they’re gonna rewrite those plans for 20 years. I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Jim Ahrens with the Kern River Fly Fisher’s, who has been a vocal critic of the state’s actions, or “inaction” as he sees it.
Star fish
Though conservation actions geared toward the Kern River rainbow are stymied, the fish has become an unwitting star in the ongoing relicensing process for Edison’s KR3 plant now before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
FERC has already stated the plant will be relicensed so decommissioning is off the table.
But river advocates want Edison to take less water out of the river at Fairview Dam for its turbines. That water is taken from the river and run through pipes 16 miles downriver, dropped through penstocks into Edison’s plant and then released back into the river.
Running more water down the river would lower temperatures, making better habitat for the rainbows, according to advocates. The CDFW, however, doesn’t believe that section of river is prime rainbow habitat, so is fine with Edison’s flow plan.
Besides, Hatler has said, once the siphon is rebuilt, it will bring that cooler upstream water directly into the hatchery, which is crucial for the department’s broodstock plans.
Strickland, with Trout Unlimited, didn’t dispute CDFW’s focus on its hatchery noting that, “…there are a lot of waterways on the North Kern so I think there’s room for them to thrive as transplant efforts continue. But plans need investment and action to actually deliver conservation success. I think local stakeholders could be willing partners in helping to make that happen.”
Outcome not good
Local fishermen questioned Hatler’s contention that Kern River rainbows don’t do well below Fairview Dam.
“This is their habitat,” said Eric Wolf on a recent visit to the Kern River Fly Shop in Kernville. “They’re also in the lake. Not as many, but this is their habitat.”
He argued that setting minimum river flows based on the calendar is foolish.
“They should be checking the river’s vitals, its oxygen levels, temperatures, as it occurs in real time under different hydrologic conditions and make decisions based on that information,” he said. “It’s a balance.”
Dan Ocampo, who works at the shop and also guides river rafting trips, said it’s myopic to focus solely on the Kern River rainbow.
“More water is good for the entire fishery, the whole river system,” he said.
The stretch of river below Fairview is highly accessible so more water would also benefit recreation, Ocampo said.
That’s also one of the key reasons the CDFW wants to focus on growing natives in Kernville but stocking them above Fairview, Hatler said. The greatest threat to Kern River rainbows isn’t water levels, it’s people – overfishing and habitat loss, he added.
“People are focusing on the wrong thing,” he said of the effort to get higher flows below Fairview Dam. “There’s a bigger picture and below Fairview isn’t where it’s at. If something isn’t done, the long term outcome for Kern River rainbow trout is not good.”
