Trout Restocked in Lake That State Poisoned

PORTOLA, Calif. —  Nearly a year after state wildlife officials poisoned Lake Davis--killing the predatory northern pike and all other animal life in it--50,000 wriggling rainbow trout were reintroduced Thursday into the formerly pristine sport-fishing site.

Nearly 1 million trout, ranging from trophy-sized 5-pounders to the tiniest fingerlings, will be planted in the lake over the next several days, in what is hoped will be a boon to struggling businesses here.

Local officials figure that the tourism economy has taken more than a 30% hit since the state Department of Fish and Game treated the lake last fall to protect California’s endangered salmon population downstream.

Although the alpine body of water has been judged safe enough for trout--and the trout safe enough to eat--traces of a cancer-causing chemical are still found in the depths of this small town’s major drinking water supply.

As a result, tiny Portola’s 2,000 residents are forced to ration their water use in the middle of one of the wettest years in the 20th century. Lawns here 50 miles northwest of Reno may only be watered on alternate days and during restricted hours, and this Eastern Sierra community is poised to enforce even stricter rationing in the days ahead.

“It’s pretty devastating,” said James Murphy, city administrator. “People know there’s so much water around. You look outside and see the snowcapped mountains. And you know there’s water rationing.”

More devastating, however, has been the lack of fish. No fish means no tourists--no tourists, no revenues. The city budget is being prepared based on a projected 17% drop in sales taxes. Business owners have reached deep into their savings to stay afloat until this day. Now that the trout have returned, residents pray that the anglers will follow.

“It feels like I’ve been awake since Oct. 15 worrying about this project,” said Portola City Councilman Bill Powers, referring to the day that he chained himself to a buoy in frigid Lake Davis in an unsuccessful effort to stop the application of a piscicide called rotenone. “I’m really hoping for everyone in Portola that we are taking the first step into recovery.”

That prospective first step came at 11:50 a.m. Thursday, when seven tanker trucks filled with the replacement trout pulled up at the Lake Davis dam and proceeded to disgorge their shiny cargo through a long white tube poised just above the water’s surface.

Just after noon, a stream of churning white water laced with jumping black fish was released into the lake as a small group of local residents watched. A little stunned with their sudden freedom, the trout hesitated and then made their leaping way across the water.

“They’re part sedated, part traumatized. I don’t think they know how to act,” said one summer resident named Vern as he watched the trout’s splashy progress and mulled his city’s future. “I think we’ll get back to normal, but it’ll take a while.”

The problems began for this struggling railroad and logging region in 1994, when, state wildlife officials believe, a rogue angler planted northern pike in the renowned trout lake.

The voracious, sharp-toothed predator is not native west of the Mississippi River, and wildlife officials feared that the pike would escape from Lake Davis and end up in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 130 miles away, threatening California’s aquatic industry.

After nearly two years of local protest, the Department of Fish and Game went ahead with a $2-million poisoning effort in October. The treatment received national attention as white-suited agents on small barges applied the smelly chemical under the protective eye of law enforcement and the watchful eye of demonstrators and the media.

Then the situation took a turn for the worse. State officials had promised that all chemical traces would be gone within weeks, that they would restock the lake before it iced over and that it would be back on tap for local consumption when water demand increased in early spring.

The rotenone dissipated within five weeks, state scientists said. Trichlorethylene, a carcinogen that is a byproduct of rotenone’s manufacture, was gone within two weeks. But a chemical called piperonyl butoxide, which is used to increase the toxicity of pesticides, is still present in trace amounts.

Since the end of May, 24 of 25 sites in the lake have tested clean of all chemicals, said Patrick Foy, a Fish and Game spokesman. According to twice-a-week testing, the final holdout is at the deepest point in the lake, about 80 feet down, near a gate in the dam that should allow water to circulate but has been broken several years. Early Thursday, divers repaired the gate.

“The things that cause the chemicals to degrade are water movement, sunlight and increased temperature,” said Foy, as the fish-filled tankers rumbled up. “There won’t be more sunlight or higher temperatures for a while, but the water movement now will increase. Hopefully it will make a difference.”

In a letter dated Friday, Mike Genest, assistant deputy director of the Department of Health Services, told the state resources agency that his scientists “believe there is no evidence of health risk to individuals who may consume restocked fish from PBO [piperonyl butoxide] at levels that are currently detected in Lake Davis.”

In addition, the site where the trace chemical has been found is believed to be too deep for fish habitat.

Earlier this week, state and local officials decided to restock the lake with fish, answering a longtime business demand, and opened it up for water sports Wednesday.

State officials promised not to certify the lake’s water as safe to drink until all chemical residue is gone. On Thursday, they noted that the Lake Davis water is being held to a higher standard than the general state supply.

As long as the lake’s water supply is off-limits, the Department of Fish and Game is trucking 100,000 gallons of water daily to help ease the pinch in Portola.

If wildlife agents had waited much longer, they would not have been able to restock the lake until fall, said Plumas County Supervisor Fran Roudebush, making an already “traumatic” year even worse for local businesses.

“The lake is 72 degrees,” Roudebush said Thursday. “At 75 degrees, they can’t plant. If that had happened, we wouldn’t make it through next winter. This is a critical time for us.”

The city is hoping that a fishing derby scheduled for the July 18 weekend will begin to draw tourists back and help the sporting goods stores, groceries, motels and campgrounds rebound. One fish planted in the lake will be tagged with a $20,000 prize, one with a $5,000 prize and 10 with $500 prizes.

“We’re going to make sure that our bait is stocked up, and our ice, so that if we do get the big crowd . . . we’ll be ready for them,” said Tammy Milby, owner of Gold Rush Sporting Goods. “Our Fourth of July weekend should have been our biggest weekend of the year. We did one-quarter of what we should have. If it weren’t for our personal savings to get us through the winter, we never would have made it. We would have gone bankrupt.”

Criminal charges are still pending against the state for poisoning Lake Davis. State Sen. Tim Leslie (R-Carnelian Bay) and local officials are negotiating a settlement with the state to help ease some of the economic pain felt by local business and property owners. So far, 145 residents have filed claims with the state to compensate them for their losses.

On Thursday, a sort of jaundiced optimism reigned on the shores of Lake Davis. Residents and officials crowded around to watch the biggest rainbow trout released three or four at a time into the rapidly warming lake.

Bright in cobalt head scarf and pink bikini top, Linda Denenberg, a member of the Restore Lake Davis Coalition, waded into the churned-up water shouting encouragement at the sluggish fish, as home video cameras rolled and residents sipped ice water--bottled, of course.

“Come on, babies,” she cried, as anxious as any mother. “Get out there and swim.”