Dams: release of water: fish populations.

Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to examine all dams in all rivers and streams in the state naturally frequented by fish. If, in the opinion of the Fish and Game Commission, there is not free passage for fish over or around any dam, existing law requires the department to cause plans to be furnished for a suitable fishway, and to order in writing the owner of the dam to provide the dam with a durable and efficient fishway. Existing law requires the owner of a dam to allow sufficient water at all times to pass through a fishway, or in the absence of a fishway, allow sufficient water to pass over, around or through the dam, to keep in good condition any fish that may be planted or exist below the dam. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding any other law, the release of water from a dam shall only be regulated based on actual fish populations and not based on approximate fish populations.