SAN FRANCISCO — The EPA and U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement has been made with Anchordoguy ranch’s owners for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA), according to a press release.
Ranch owners have agreed to pay $795,000 for wetlands preservation and $300,000 in penalties after the suspected violations destroyed more than 80 acres of rare vernal pool wetlands and streams in Tehama County, Calif., stated the release.
Coyote Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, crosses the 1,036-acre ranch owned and operated by Matthew Anchordoguy, John Barlow and Anchordoguy and Company LP, where vernal pools, other wetlands and small seasonal streams could be found, noted the release.
"California's vernal pools are home to native plants and animals found nowhere else on earth, and we've lost more than 90 percent over the last century,” said EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest, Jared Blumenfeld. “They deserve our protection as sentinels of drought and climate change, and vital resources for the state’s biodiversity and the Pacific migratory bird flyway.”
Read the entire release here.
