As the water wars rage in California, Alert Underground Reader Sully sent along this bit of actual good news — a story about the head of an irrigation district in Montana who decided fish and irrigators needed to co-exist, and spent a great deal of time and effort
His name is Roger Muggli, and while you can read snippets below, I’d suggest you read the whole story to get a sense for what he’s really accomplished. From the Caspar Star-Tribune:
Muggli, 58, will be honored today for his dogged persistence that culminated in the construction this summer of a fish-passage channel around the Twelve Mile Dam south of here. The dam has blocked upstream migration of fish since it was built in 1885. Today’s celebration, to be attended by Gov. Brian Schweitzer, will formally dedicate the 660-foot Muggli Fish Passage, bringing to an end 122 years of a fish-spawning dead end.
The Trout Underground hopes our close, personal friends at Westlands are taking notes about this next part:
”There aren’t too many people who have been lucky enough, or unlucky enough, to be in a position to make this work,” Muggli said. ”But if you have an opportunity to do something positive for the environment, you flat need to do it.
”Irrigation has been one of the toughest things on the fisheries,” he said. ”We as irrigators and water users need to look out for other uses of the water. The less intrusive we can be on the resource, the better.”
Amen, Mr Muggli. Amen.
You can read the whole story at: Man’s persistence pays off for fish
[tags]roger muggli[/tags]
{ 0 comments… add one now }