Tippets: Lead Ban Proposed in California, SkeenaWild App, Soda Butte Cutthroats, Colorado’s Groundbreaking Water Law

October 3, 2015 By: Erin Block

  • California anglers may be facing a lead ban, which would make putting split-shot and lead-eyed flies illegal. The drafted proposition by California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control cites environmental damage and harm to bird populations as causes for concern. Via The Sacramento Bee.
  • A fishing app from SkeenaWild offers anglers a new fishing tool, including water levels and species identification, as well as information about conserving wild salmon and steelhead populations.
  • Reintroduction of Yellowstone cutthroat trout into Soda Butte Creek requires elimination of non-native brook trout. As Mike Koshmrl writes, “It takes just two brook trout to bring down a cutthroat trout fishery.” Read more about the project via The Jackson Hole News & Guide.
  • As opposed to the “use it or lose it” status quo, a 2013 Colorado law provides flexibility to water rights owners to allocate water to a river during times of critical low flow. Sandra Postel looks at how the new law is playing out in a recent article on National Geographic. “Although a small step for the restoration of the state’s rivers, Colorado’s new law breaks important new ground,” she writes. “And it may just inspire other western states to add flexibility to their systems of water rights so that more rivers can keep flowing.”