IFTo the Editor,
Well it was inevitable. It has finally happened in the backyards.  The Drought of 2013 hath cometh. There is little if any water in the neighborhood ditches this morning of the lucky homeowners served by the Bishop Creek Water Association, no sarcasm implied.  The Drought, Sabrina and South Lakes having been emptied for maintenance and anticipated snow pack , the confusing and not fully understood dynamic of the SC Edison, LADWP ,the 1922 Chandler Decree and the lack of apparent, effective and visionary management and regulatory supervision has resulted in environmental impacts you can see from the kitchen window. Someone once posted about my elitist bent. So true ,so lucky to have a view of a pond in the backyard . So lucky to see the Mallard family waddle in a row past your view all year as they grew . Ain’t no love and attention like a mother duck as the gift of the waters flows through . The cascade, not of waters, but of the symphony of the frog rivet and the comfort of that rhythm for old ears really not so worthy. The shadow of a fish, is that a brown , can we catch em, can we eat em , you better have a backyard fish fry cause it’s illegal to save a fish?   WHAT?  Got a license? OK throw that line out there in your own backyard. The wonder of the 2 foot cast,  making fly fishing history. Catch and Eat ,Catch and Freeze, Catch and Dehydrate , Catch and kill the perfect end to a brown or rainbow trout who just happened to find it’s fate, to spend some time in a backyard pool to have no way out legally of the frying pan.
Have to say the efforts made today at the  Fish and Wildlife , at DWP ,  with folks who are really  sympathetic yet unable to deal with at the very least, the catch 22 effected fish in the ponds of Bishop the proud center of all that is Administrative of the environment of the Eastern Sierra where  there is no mitigation , no solution , no help what’s so ever for the fish.
Here’s some ideas from  limited knowledge and expertise that should be applied to this problem.
The fish in the pond will benefit from oxygen. The best method learned today would be to pump the existing water in your pond through a hose and a nozzle back into the pond capturing air into the water.
The next best thing would be to turn on your hose with a nozzle from your domestic water source . IT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE STREAM OF WATER  IS ABOVE THE POND, IT CAPTURES AIR AS IT HITS THE WATER SURFACE AND PROVIDES OXYGEN THAT THEY NEED. IT IS VITAL TO THE SAFETY OF YOUR WATER SYSTEM AND THE OXYGENATION OF THE POND TO KEEP THE STREAM OF WATER ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE POND.  JUST ADDING WATER TO YOUR POND WITH THE HOSE IN THE WATER  WILL NOT HELP THE FISH (unless of course Your Pond Is nearly empty)   THE POND WATER COULD GET BACK INTO THE WATER SYSTEM AND THEN  YOU AND OTHERS WILL THEN BE DRINKING, POND WATER.    We are all a bunch of elitists when it comes to our water needs and the quality of water and the pathogens there within.
Now This is the best part, the part where  I can finally stand straight up and tall about what always proves to be the measure of individual choice .
We can not oxygenate fish forever. If an Agency or a Department cannot demonstrate or offer a solution or alternative  to dead fish in this very particular never before difficulty of a drought, then individuals have the right and the responsibility to maintain the ability for fish to survive and don’t forget the habitat for ducks and frogs  This means you might think about capturing the fish in your pond and  putting them into waters where they will survive. There is no program to rescue trout in this 2nd Drought year .There is no solution or permission to give life.  Laws when inadequate to the problem, well,  my 2 trout, those darn illegal aliens are going to survive. I am going to figure out how to get them into the river, Regs not withstanding . Have to admit to a elitist newly arrived want to change some stuff I aaaaaaaaaaaain’t going to let my backyard trout into the frying pan kind of mentality because I did spend the day asking for the lives of some fish, to responsible, effective solution, capable bureaucratic institutional entities and the answers were insufficient for the mortality of the trout. Their answers were not for the solution for the existence of a few trout nor was I given any alternative but to find my own solution and to share this solution with anyone saving transient trout in our own backyards.
Philip Anaya, Bishop

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