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Water vital to bird habitats

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As published in Caller-Times.

Phyllis Yochem: Water vital to bird habitats

water vital to bird habitat

Phyllis Yochem
5:52 PM, Aug 3, 2014
phyllis yochem | columnists

 

CORPUS CHRISTI – August arrived with a welcome companion — a morning of summer rain.

Water has been on the collective South Texas mind, with city restrictions going into effect as landscapes look increasingly parched. Water woes also affect the many species of birds that spend all or part of their year living on the Texas coast, including our famous winter visitors — whooping cranes.

In the words of Tom Stehn, retired Whooping Crane Coordinator at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, “Water issues are of great concern for whooping cranes. Data show that the health and survival of the endangered whooping crane flock is directly related to freshwater inflows from the Guadalupe and San Antonio rivers.”

Stehn’s editorial discussing the recent ruling of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals appeared July 3 in the Caller-Times. The court overturned an earlier ruling holding the state liable for whooper deaths during the winter of 2008-09.

Responsible water management is at the heart of the issue. When salinity rises in bays and estuaries, the availability of the food and water resources the cranes depend on is diminished. Combined with challenges posed by additional habitat and environmental changes, the whooping crane’s inspiring return from the brink of extinction could face undesired setbacks.

What can you do to ensure that your grandchildren, and theirs, will have a chance one distant winter to see these stately and magnificent birds? Not in a zoo, but wading Texas coastal ponds, feasting on blue crab and wolfberry?

Do your homework, and speak up about what you learn. The International Crane Foundation  and The Aransas Project are excellent resources. Volunteer to educate others. Donate time or money.

Most of all, be conscious of water usage; treat it like the precious and finite resource that it is. Replace a section of lawn with a xeriscape garden featuring plants that attract butterflies and birds. Fix a leaky faucet; install a drip irrigation system; turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. Make water conservation a habit for the present and the future.

The Hawk Watch got an early start this season, as watchers began manning the platform Friday at Hazel Bazemore Park.

Swallow-tailed kites usually are seen early in the season, and there are hopes for a record year for this species. Considered one of the most thrilling sights of birding, I’ll visit as often as possible to search the sky for this exquisitely graceful raptor. Slender Mississippi kites, tastefully colored in understated gray, have been reported over the prairies of Lavaca County and can be expected to pass through in greater numbers soon.

Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi resident, has studied birds in Texas since 1960.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

***** FOTWW’s mission is to protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population
of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

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Colorado River advocacy groups squaring off in water fight

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From the DailyTrib.com

Posted on 25 July 2014. Tags: , ,

CONNIE SWINNEY • PICAYUNE STAFF

As drought conditions continue. The Lower Colorado River Basin Coalition, has assembled advocates from agriculture, environmental, hunting and wildlife interests from Bastrop County to the Matagorda Bay. Colorado River Advocacy Groups
As drought conditions continue to take a toll on communities in the Highland Lakes, including the Spicewood Beach area, a new downstream coalition has formed to advocate for more water for rice farmers, wildlife entities, environmentalists, fisheries and other interests from Bastrop County to Matagorda Bay. File photo

AUSTIN — As drought conditions continue, the battle over water from the Colorado River heats up between advocacy groups fighting to get their messages across to state agencies with the power to halt supplies.

The Lower Colorado River Basin Coalition, a newly formed group, has assembled advocates from agriculture, environmental, hunting and wildlife interests from Bastrop County to the Matagorda Bay.

“We wanted to make sure the messaging being heard by the public, being heard by our agencies, is a balanced messaging, so that they do hear from everyone who is impacted below Longhorn Dam, Lady Bird Lake in Austin,” coalition chairman Kirby Brown said.

Brown also works as a conservation biologist for Ducks Unlimited, a national organization that focuses on sportsman activities and waterfowl and wetlands conservation.

Other entities that comprise the coalition are the Coastal Conservation Association, the Rice Belt Warehouse, the Red Bluff Hunting Club, Bastrop County, the Sierra Club, Audubon Texas and the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative.

“It’s been one of those things where we felt like we needed to tell the other story. Our entire economies, our businesses are being impacted — not just rice farmers,” Brown said.

The organization formed in June shortly after the Central Texas Water Coalition scored a victory regarding reservoir storage requirements and water-release triggers recommended by the Lower Colorado River Authority and approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The two entities agreed on setting a 1.1 million acre-feet of combined storage requirement for lakes Buchanan and Travis — the previous trigger point was 850,000 acre-feet — citing historic low levels, minimal inflows from rain runoff and persistent drought conditions.

While the reservoirs are currently about 38 percent full, for three years in a row, TCEQ has approved cutting off water releases for the rice farming industry downstream to try to maintain water levels upstream that supply water for domestic use for about a million people in the Highland Lakes from Lake Buchanan to the city of Austin.

To read the complete article, click here.

 

***** FOTWW’s mission is to protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population
of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

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Whooping Cranes’ Fate in Hands of Texas

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Liz Smith, International Crane Foundation wrote a powerful article “Forum: Fate of the whooping crane falls into hands of the state …”. The article is in “Caller-Times” and Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) received permission to place it on our web site for your convenience.

FOTWW would like to commend Liz Smith, a whooping crane conservation biologist with the International Crane Foundation, on her excellent editorial in today’s Caller.com. We agree 100% with Liz when she states that the “Fate of the whooping crane falls into the hands of the state”.

Liz also writes, “As a coastal scientist working with other professionals to deliver scientifically sound information to guide environmental decisions, I will continue to increase awareness that our system is at a tipping point. It is up to the citizens of Texas to ensure we don’t lose this coastal treasure.

Please let your representatives know that we need a change of attitude about water. Let’s keep this initiative at the forefront of our efforts to save our beautiful Texas coast for future Texans.”

FOTWW agrees, it is up to us, concerned citizens and lovers of these magnificent whooping cranes to keep this initiative at the forefront. Texas citizens, please write to your elected officials. Write op-eds or letters to the editors of newspapers in Texas. Let’s keep this in the forefront and be the voices of those who cannot speak for themselves, our beloved whooping cranes.

Below is Liz’s article as posted on Caller.com.

Forum: Fate of the whooping crane falls into hands of the state
POSTED: 3:04 AM, Jul 25, 2014
TAG: forums (/topic/forums)

The recent ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals does not hold the state of Texas responsible for the fate of whooping cranes in the San Antonio Bay system. As Texans, we should insist that the state take that responsibility seriously. The future of our bays and estuaries hinges on responsible water management that values life and all water users throughout the river basin.

Whooping crane hunting for blue crab. Whooping cranes' fate in Texas' hand.
Whooping crane at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photo courtesy of Kevin Sims

The whooping crane is a flagship for how we manage our waters. Whooping cranes number only about 300 individuals on their wintering grounds in Texas, and after 70 years of recovery from very near extinction their future remains completely dependent on the future of our coasts. The health of our San Antonio Bay system is intricately tied to both the return of Gulf waters through Cedar Bayou and the predictability of freshwater inflows from the Guadalupe and San Antonio river basin. Further misappropriations of flows, which resulted in the death of 8.5 percent of the crane’s population in 2008-2009, could result in the extinction of this
last remaining wild flock.

This places a huge responsibility on maintaining that estuarine system, not only for whooping cranes, but for the bounty of recreational fisheries, tourism and coastal enterprise it sustains.

The International Crane Foundation is one of the many organizations seriously concerned about the mismanagement of fresh water flowing into our coastal systems. We continue to work with all interested partners to find alternatives and viable solutions in our world of finite water availability, especially during drought conditions. Our efforts will not save our bays and estuaries, however, unless the state of Texas recognizes that the ultimate leadership on water management must come from the state.

As a coastal scientist working with other professionals to deliver scientifically sound information to guide environmental decisions, I will continue to increase awareness that our system is at a tipping point. It is up to the citizens of Texas to ensure we don’t lose this coastal treasure. Please let your representatives know that we need a change of attitude about water. Let’s keep this initiative at the forefront of our efforts to save our beautiful Texas coast for future Texans.

Elizabeth H. Smith, Ph.D. is a whooping crane conservation biologist with the International Crane Foundation.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

***** FOTWW’s mission is to protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population
of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

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The Aransas Project Comments on Court Ruling

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The Aransas Project Logo

Friends of the Wild Whoopers is disappointed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversal of the district court’s decision. Yet, it is important to recognize that TAP did win some key aspects of the case. And hopefully TCEQ will seriously reconsider their use of water permits in order to keep the freshwater inflows at a healthy level for the whooping cranes.

July 1, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Charles Irvine, 713-533-1704
charles@irvineconner.com

Federal court of appeals decision offers roadmap for future cases

Today, The Aransas Project (TAP) announces its analysis of the ruling from the appeals court decision regarding TAP’s legal battle to protect the last naturally migrating flock of endangered whooping cranes. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a narrowly-tailored decision, held that the federal district judge misapplied certain legal theories when it found that the TCEQ was liable for the deaths of 23 endangered and federally-protected Whooping Cranes in 2008-2009. TAP is considering its full range of options including further appellate review.

In a 34-page opinion, a panel of three judges of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the district court misapplied certain legal standards related to causation in its decision.

TAP prevailed on several aspects of the appeal. First, TAP had legal standing to bring the case. Second, TAP presented compelling evidence that up to twenty-three endangered, federally-protected Whooping cranes actually died in 2008-2009. Third, that federal data supporting TAP’s allegations of deaths by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Tom Stehn was reliable. Fourth, that TAP presented evidence that the crane deaths were related to lack of essential food, water and other essential habitat requirements. And finally, there was no basis for the district court to abstain to a non-existent and ineffectual state of Texas process.

To read TAP’s entire statement click here.

 ***** FOTWW’s mission is to protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population
of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

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