Another example of environmental policy being conducted in the courts,
Fish breathing easier in Catawba River:
Trout in the upper Catawba River have gotten a boost from a Burke County judge.
The state's top environmental board was wrong when it rejected a trout-water designation for an 11-mile stretch of the river downstream from Lake James, the judge ruled. The designation would ensure that the water stays clean, cold and oxygen-rich for trout.
A local chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation and American Rivers had sought the designation.
Despite evidence that trout thrive there, the state Environmental Management Commission had rejected the petition last summer.
State water-quality staff and Duke Energy, which owns the dam, had urged the EMC to delay a decision until studies connected to Duke's renewal of its Catawba hydro license were finished. Those studies are now done, said Duke's Jason Walls. Negotiators hope to agree on terms of a new hydro license, including dam operations that could affect the trout, in November.
I'll repeat the line that got me in such trouble with the whales: somebody should estimate the costs and benefits of the trout-water designation. It might help inform the policy debate.
Note: I'll be going on my first trout fishing trip very soon. I'll be sure to report back with a monetary estimate of the benefits of the trip.
