Some species rebound, but more become endangered

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 3, 2009 at 6:35 am

From the Scientific American:

The global crisis for endangered species is more serious than the financial meltdown, with numbers of imperiled animals and plants rising at record rates, scientists are warning in a report released today.

In its latest four-year assessment of endangered species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has added several new entries to the Red List of Threatened Species. Judging from the list’s expansion, the report warns, the world is unlikely to meet a goal of reversing a trend toward species depletion by 2010.

The report, “Wildlife in a Changing World,” estimates that 22 percent of known mammals are either facing the threat of extinction or are already extinct. It also found great stress for amphibians, with more than 30 percent classified as threatened or extinct.

“We now know that nearly one quarter of the world’s mammals, nearly one third of amphibians and more than 1 in 8 of all bird species are at risk of extinction,” IUCN warns. “This allows us to come to the stark conclusion that wildlife … is in trouble.”

Read more from the Scientific American by clicking here.

July 3, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Carl Pope: Wild America creeps back

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 3, 2009 at 6:33 am

From Carl Pope at the Huffington Post:

For eight years under George Bush, America’s wilderness faced a systematic assault from the federal government. By the end of the first Bush term, more than 100 million acres that previously enjoyed federal protection had lost it.

Since last November’s election, the Bush legacy has been unraveling, and the progress on this front has been encouragingly swift. Last month the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a biological function that will require fundamental changes in how the government operates California’s water system. The biologists concluded that salmon, steelhead, green sturgeon, and killer whales all would be at risk unless the amount of water that remains in the rivers and deltaic systems is increased — which means less diversion for irrigation.

“What is at stake here is not just the survival of species but the health of entire ecosystems,” said Rod Mcinnis, administrator of the NMFS Southwest Regional Office. In addition to mandating a reduction in irrigation supplies by another five to seven percent a year, NMFS made other suggestions: The boldest is to open up the Red Bluff Diversion Dam on the Sacramento River to allow Chinook salmon and sturgeon unimpeded passage upriver.

Read more from Carl Pope at the Huffington Post by clicking here.

July 3, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Thursday afternoon update: Pumps bring water, but for how long? Efforts to protect Delta smelt cut water by 660,000 acre feet last year

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2009 at 2:14 pm

From the Capital Press:

Federal government pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta started moving much-needed irrigation water to farms Wednesday, July 1, but questions remain about how long those pumps will continue running.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the audience of a town hall meeting in Fresno Sunday, June 28, that the Central Valley Project pumps would run through the end of the year, facilitating 70 approved water transfers totaling 245,000 acre feet. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor, who also spoke at the town hall meeting, said the agency is working to make the most of this year’s water supplies.

However, there was some skepticism. West side farmer Bob Diedrich said growers already knew the pumps would resume moving water south on July 1, but questioned how long they would remain on considering the latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency biological opinion on salmon recovery. That biological opinion has focused all fish recovery efforts on reducing the amount of pumping from the Delta.

It is unknown how much the opinion would affect pumping, said Sarah Woolf of Westlands Water District. The Bureau of Reclamation told the district they would phase in the restrictions, Woolf said, but there is no guarantee the pumps will remain on.

Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here.

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Thursday’s top of the scroll: Water pumping restrictions to protect Delta smelt end

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2009 at 8:07 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

Federal officials on Tuesday ended seasonal water pumping restrictions intended to protect the threatened Delta smelt.

The end of the water flow limits came in accordance with a biological opinion that governs Delta water export pumping only through June 30. Tuesday’s action means water exports this summer no longer will be restricted specifically to protect smelt. The pumping rules don’t resume again until winter.

Read more of this brief story from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Mixing socialist and capitalist approaches to fishery management

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 1, 2009 at 6:43 am

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Last week, the New England Fishery Management Council approved 19 community-based sectors to be run by fishermen. In New England, 12 of the 19 ground fish stocks – bottom-dwelling fish such as cod and haddock – are overfished. Sectors are supposed to help end the overfishing.

Sectors are a kind of catch-share system. That means fishermen get a percentage of the year’s total allowable catch (TAC). If scientists set the TAC at 100 tons, say, and you own 10 percent, you can catch 10 tons that year. But in sectors, that allotment – the 10 percent – goes to a group rather than an individual. The group then breaks it up among members.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has yet to approve the sectors, and the proposed sectors, which would go live in 2010, are voluntary. (The Magnuson-Stevens Act says overfishing must end by 2010.) Beginning in 2012, boats that choose to remain outside the sectors will also operate under total allowable catch, to keep things fair.

Here’s what’s so interesting about the sector idea: It mixes socialist and capitalist approaches to fishery management. The fishermen now “own” a share of the sea, a solidly corporate proposition. That theoretically is an incentive for stewardship. If fishermen can tread lightly and fish in ways that continue to grow the stock, that 10 percent allocation will be worth more fish next year. Greed, or at least self-interest, becomes the impetus for conservation.

Read more from the Christian Science Monitor by clicking here.

July 1, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

California group pushes for Endangered Species activation

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 1, 2009 at 6:15 am

From The Packer:

Less than 24 hours after a top Obama administration official rejected the idea of convening Endangered Species Committee to resolve California’s water woes, Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation launched a campaign to force the committee’s activation. The foundation sent letters to President Barack Obama and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger requesting they act to convene the committee, also known as the God Squad, said Rob Rivett, the foundation’s president.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar rejected the idea at a news conference in Fresno June 28. “That would be admitting failure. I am not about failure,” Salazar said.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the special committee may be formed and empowered to override the law when it causes excessive destruction of jobs and the economy. “There’s a reason to have it in the statute,” Rivett said, “and there isn’t a better reason or circumstance than right now when we have an economy that is being devastated by the implementation of the Endangered Species Act.”

Salazar should take a step back to see what can be done that would modify “the Draconian measures that are being taken to try to save some of our farmworkers’ jobs and our farms,” he said.

Read more from The Packer by clicking here.

July 1, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt, Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Pacific Legal Foundation launches “Save Our Water” petition to Obama and Schwarzenegger; Federal “God Squad’s” help sought for California’s crisis

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 4:36 pm

From the Pacific Legal Foundation, this press release:

Pacific Legal Foundation today launched an emergency “Save our Water” petition campaign, urging President Barack Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to act to convene a special federal panel, nicknamed the “God Squad,” to address California’s water emergency caused by harsh federal environmental restrictions.

PLF’s petition is online at www.pacificlegal.org. It allows members of the general public to ask President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger to act to convene the “God Squad.”

“Water cutbacks caused by draconian federal environmental regulations have already caused devastation for San Joaquin Valley farmers, farmworkers, rural communities, and cities,” said PLF President Rob Rivett. “Now, new federal restrictions have been proposed that will exacerbate the water crisis in California. The Endangered Species Committee – the ‘God Squad’ – must be convened to save the California economy from an even more destructive government-caused water crisis.”

The Endangered Species Committee is a panel of cabinet officials that can countermand Endangered Species Act restrictions that cause excessive destruction to jobs and the economy.

A governor may formally petition for the convening of the Committee. PLF’s “Save our Water” petition urges Governor Schwarzenegger to submit such a request, and urges President Obama to make sure his administration acts favorably on it.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has imposed devastating cutbacks on water pumping into California’s main water system as part of a regulatory scheme to protect the delta smelt.

Now, federal officials are proposing sweeping new reductions in water supplies as part of a “biological opinion” relating to several species, including chinook salmon and steelhead. These further cuts in pumping and water supplies are estimated to remove an additional 500,000 acre-feet of water, the amount that is required to serve two million people annually.

“Without relief from the God Squad, the harsh enforcement of rigid environmental rules will inflict more pain and suffering in a state that is already enduring its worst unemployment in more than 60 years,” said PLF’s Rivett. “PLF’s emergency petition asks that the God Squad be convened as quickly as possible.”

About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation (www.pacificlegal.org) is the leading legal watchdog for limited government, property rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulation.

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Salazar underwhelms Fresno; federal and state officials must act to convene God Squad

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 4:34 pm

From the Pacific Legal Foundation’s PLF on ESA blog:

There is plenty of coverage of yesterday’s visit by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to Fresno. Aquafornia has a nice roundup of the news stories — the problem with these stories, however, is that they fail to portray how truly uninspiring Salazar’s visit was.

While the Secretary’s visit was a nice gesture to those who have been hurt by California’s water crisis, it was disappointing to hear how infrequently he uttered the words “Endangered Species Act” or “pumps.” Salazar and his officials offered quite a bit when it came to long-term solutions (which are no doubt important), but little regarding what to do given the current crisis.

One official suggested monetary relief as a short-term remedy. To say the crowd was not pleased with this proposal is an understatement — “We don’t want welfare, we want water” responded one attendee to loud applause.

Indeed, only Washington would solve the water problem with more money, rather than the common sense solution of more water. Money is not the solution to the regulatory drought. As Rep. George Radanovich stated at yesterday’s forum, “We need action now.” (h/t: Merced Sun-Star)

That is where Pacific Legal Foundation comes in. We have formally requested both President Barack Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to act to convene a special federal panel – nicknamed the “God Squad” – to address California’s water emergency caused by harsh federal environmental restrictions that dramatically reduce the flow of water to millions of agricultural and urban water users.

Read more from the PLF on ESA blog by clicking here.

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Pacific Legal Foundation asks Obama, Salazar, and Schwarzenegger for action to convene federal “God Squad” to address California’s water emergency; Destructive environmental regs are starving farms and communities of water, sinking California’s economy deeper into crisis; Federal “God Squad” panel is needed to stop scheme for even more draconian water cutbacks

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 7:30 am

From the Pacific Legal Foundation:

ON JUNE 28, PLF WILL LAUNCH ONLINE SIGNATURE-GATHERING DRIVE TO PETITION OBAMA, SALAZAR AND SCHWARZENEGGER

Sacramento, CA; June 26, 2009: Pacific Legal Foundation announced today that it has formally requested both President Barack Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to act to convene a special federal panel – nicknamed the “God Squad” – to address California’s water emergency caused by harsh federal environmental restrictions that dramatically reduce the flow of water to millions of agricultural and urban water users.

On Monday, June 28, PLF’s online petition will go “live” at www.pacificlegal.org, allowing members of the general public to add their signatures to a call for President Obama, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and Governor Schwarzenegger to act to convene the “God Squad.”

“Water cutbacks caused by draconian federal environmental regulations have already caused devastation for San Joaquin Valley farmers, farmworkers, rural communities, and cities,” said PLF President Rob Rivett. “Now, new federal restrictions have been proposed that will exacerbate the water crisis in California. The Endangered Species Committee – informally know as the ‘God Squad’ – must be convened to save the California economy from an even more destructive government-caused water crisis.”

The Endangered Species Committee, nicknamed the “God Squad,” is a panel of cabinet officials that can be convened by the Secretary of the Interior, with power, in essence, to countermand Endangered Species Act (ESA) restrictions that cause excessive destruction to jobs and the economy.

The governor of an affected state may formally petition for the convening of the Committee. For this reason, PLF has sent a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, urging him to submit a petition to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. PLF’s letter to President Obama urges him to make sure that his administration – including Secretary Salazar – acts favorably on a petition from Governor Schwarzenegger, and, indeed, that all available steps are taken to convene the Committee, to address California’s water emergency.

Over the past year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has imposed devastating cutbacks on water pumping into California’s main water system – idling farmland, causing urban communities to consider rationing, and driving up unemployment in San Joaquin Valley’s rural areas – as part of a regulatory scheme to protect the delta smelt, a small fish listed as “threatened” under the ESA. Now, federal officials are proposing sweeping new reductions in water supplies to agricultural and urban areas, as part of a “biological opinion” relating to several species, including chinook salmon and steelhead. These further cuts in pumping and water supplies are estimated to remove an additional 500,000 acre-feet of water, the amount that is required to serve two million people annually.

“Without relief from the God Squad, the harsh enforcement of rigid environmental rules will inflict more pain and suffering in a state that is already enduring its worst unemployment in more than 60 years,” said PLF’s Rivett. “PLF calls on Governor Schwarzenegger and on the president to immediately do all in their power to ensure that the God Squad is convened as quickly as possible. California’s water emergency and economic crisis make it imperative that the God Squad be convened and responsible action be taken.”

About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation (www.pacificlegal.org) is the leading legal watchdog for limited government, property rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulation. On May 21, 2009, PLF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Central Valley farmers against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, challenging federal authority to regulate for the Delta smelt, which has led to sharply reduced pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In 2001, PLF, representing two irrigation districts in the Klamath Basin, petitioned Interior Secretary Gale Norton to convene the God Squad to alleviate severe problems stemming from water cutbacks for endangered fish.

A brief video about PLF’s history and mission, including comments by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin J. Meese III, can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnBSlRQwxKU.

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt, Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Saving species no longer a beauty contest; Homely creatures receiving more help

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 7:25 am

From the Washington Post:

MENDOTA, Calif. — Are we ready to start saving ugly species?

When it began compiling lists of threatened and endangered animals and plants more than 35 years ago, the U.S. government gave itself the same mandate as Noah’s Ark: Save everything. But in practice, the effort has often worked more like a velvet-rope nightclub: Glamour rules.

The furry, the feathered, the famous and the edible have dominated government funding for protected species, to the point that one subpopulation of threatened salmon gets more money than 956 other plants and animals combined. Now, though, scientists say they’re noticing a little more love for the unlovely. They say plain-Jane plants, birds with fluorescent goiters and beetles that meet their mates at rat corpses are getting new money and respect — finally valued as homely canaries inside treasured ecosystems.

But it still can be a hard sell. That’s obvious here in California’s Central Valley, where farmers are locked in a bitter fight with a glassy-eyed smelt.

“Over a stupid fish,” said Mendota Mayor Robert Silva.

“A worthless little worm,” Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.) called the fish, “that needs to go the way of the dinosaur.”

Read more from the Washington Post by clicking here.

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

It’s not only fish vs. people, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 6:53 am

From the Sacramento Bee, this editorial:

The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a wake-up call on the dangers facing the Central Valley’s salmon and, ultimately, the water system they depend on. It should be mulled and acted upon.

The wake-up call came in the form of a “biological opinion” that the fisheries service filed earlier this month. Prompted by a federal court ruling on a lawsuit by environmentalists and fishermen, it found that the ways the state and federal water projects operate threaten the survival of endangered chinook salmon and steelhead, and it required that they change their policies.

The changes the agency envisions include finding ways to get the fish around the dams and other barriers that currently stop them as they migrate upstream to spawn. With immense structures like Shasta Dam spanning the Sacramento River, and Folsom Dam the American, this will not be a simple task. It will require the construction of fish ladders, or elevators, or perhaps truck-and-haul operations. Experts aren’t sure if any are feasible. The estimated price tag starts at $1 billion.

The price of not acting, however, will likely be steeper.

Read the rest of this editorial from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Restrictions placed on catch-and-release salmon fishing

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 28, 2009 at 6:25 pm

From the Sun Herald:

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has begun enforcing new recreational salmon fishing regulations for the Central Valley Basin.

In a May 28 press release, the DFG announced that catch-and-release fishing that intentionally targets salmon is now illegal in any river or stream closed to salmon fishing. DFG staff will be notifying anglers and posting information about the new regulations in the area. Violators are subject to a fine of up to $1,000.

“These changes were necessary to increase protection for Sacramento River fall run Chinook populations, which have drastically decreased in the last few years,” said Neil Manji, DFG Fisheries branch chief.

“The Sacramento River fall run Chinook are projected to just meet minimum escapement levels for 2009. We need this new measure to ensure that the stock will continue to recover,” Manji said.

Read the rest of this story from the Sun Herald by clicking here.

June 28, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

The SARSAS plan for saving anadromous fishes in California and in the Pacific marine fishery

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 28, 2009 at 6:08 pm

From My Auburn:

The salmon of California are nearing extinction for many possible reasons: global warming, pollution, upwelling of ocean currents, lack of fish passage and spawning areas. Whatever the reasons, a clear, simple plan is necessary to save them. The SARSAS Plan, formulated for the Auburn Ravine, is the simplest way to save the fish and should be implemented on all streams in California. What is the SARSAS Plan?

SARSAS believes if every stream in California has a volunteer group working to do what SARSAS is doing with the Auburn Ravine, that is, to return salmon and steelhead to its entire length and secure fish passage, adequate water and spawning grounds, then salmon will not go extinct. The line from the movie Field of Dreams, “If you built it, they will come” can be applied to anadromous fish with a slight twist: “If you clear it, they will come”; that is, SARSAS with the cooperation of Governor Schwarzenegger can encourage other groups to do with other streams, what SARSAS (www.sarsas.org) is doing with the Auburn Ravine. By providing fish passage on all the tributaries to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, the anadromous fishes will have many spawning grounds currently denied them. Will the Governor help? SARSAS is working with his staff urging him to help. Only the Governor with his sweeping influence over California agencies can coordinate this program and create an incentive program to encourage other organizations to take ownership of particular streams and retrofit them completely to create fish passage so that citizens become the instruments of the salmon salvation. Only the Governor can fast track the 501C3 process, necessary for fundraising, and connect each group to the right agencies quickly and efficiently.

Read more from My Auburn by clicking here.

June 28, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Friday’s top of the scroll: State declares longfin smelt a threatened species

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 7:32 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

The longfin smelt today was declared a threatened species in California, officially adding another imperiled fish to the long list of problems affecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The California Fish and Game Commission in March declared there was enough evidence to protect the longfin under the state Endangered Species Act. That kicked off a review period, which concluded today with a formal vote by the commission to list the fish as threatened.

“It disappoints me for the conflict that it will create,” Commissioner Daniel Richards said after the unanimous vote in Woodland. “It speaks to the failure of our state government that this has occurred.”

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

June 26, 2009 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Valley lawmakers can’t block water legislation (bi-op); Democratic leaders block vote on Nunes water amendment

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 7:14 am

From the Fresno Bee:

San Joaquin Valley lawmakers have failed again in their effort to block the environmental rules steering irrigation water toward the protection of endangered species.

With Interior Secretary Ken Salazar now planning a Fresno town hall meeting for Sunday, a powerful House panel decided to quietly bury the controversial San Joaquin Valley amendment. Unlike a similar effort last week, this latest amendment never reached the House floor.

The proposed amendment to a $32 billion Interior Department funding bill would have blocked spending on two so-called “biological opinions” governing crucial California water flow. These biological opinions amount to federal water management rules that protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and species including salmon and the delta smelt.

“For the San Joaquin Valley, the majority in this House has chosen fish over working families,” Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, declared Thursday.

Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

Congressman Nunes issued this statement on his website:

“The hypocrisy of this situation is that the Democratic majority champions the working family but backs the radical environmentalists instead. For the San Joaquin Valley, the majority in this House has chosen fish over working families,” said Nunes.

“What we are witnessing, is the greatest elected assembly in the history of the world starving its own citizens of water, acting like a despot, who tortures the innocent just to stay in power. And make no mistake, raw power is what we are witnessing. Power that injures and wounds, exercised at highest levels of government, straight from the Obama White House and the Democratic leadership in the Congress. They will say and do anything to keep hold of the reins of power. And their victims are my constituents, the people of the San Joaquin Valley, who have done nothing to deserve such cruelty at the hands of the government,” said Nunes.

June 26, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

1 Comment

Surprise: Fish in acidic waters grow bigger ears

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 6:13 am

From the Associated Press:

Listen up! Carbon dioxide being absorbed by the oceans is having a puzzling effect on fish — their ears get bigger.

Now, that doesn’t mean you’re going to reel in the Mr. Spock of the sea. Fish ears are inside their bodies. But, as in humans, their ears perform a major role in sensing movement and whether the animal is upright — abilities that are important for survival.

“It was a surprise,” biological oceanographer David M. Checkley of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, said of the discovery. “The assumption is that anything that departs significantly from normality is an abnormality, and abnormalities at least have the potential for having deleterious effects,” Checkley said.

Read more from the Associated Press by clicking here. Even more from the Scientific American by clicking here.

June 26, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

California Proposes Logging Rules That Would Exterminate Coho Salmon Inadequate Regulations Proposed in Critical Watersheds as Coho Salmon Spiral Toward Extinction

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 25, 2009 at 8:13 am

From the Center for Biological Diversity, this press release:

The California Board of Forestry this week is considering proposed state timber-harvest regulations that would continue harmful logging adjacent to critical salmon streams, prevent recovery of key salmon watersheds, and essentially guarantee extinction of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) from California. The Center for Biological Diversity sent comments to the Board this week regarding the failure of the proposed rules to protect coho and other salmon; the Center warned of the likelihood for illegal take of salmon species listed under the federal and state Endangered Species Acts if the rules are adopted. The Board will hold hearings today and tomorrow in Sacramento on the proposed rules.

“For a decade, the Board of Forestry has avoided taking the steps that are necessary to protect California’s salmon from the impacts of logging activities, and meanwhile coho salmon have spiraled toward extinction,“ said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “These unacceptable rules would continue business-as-usual logging practices and facilitate the dismantling of the last shaded, cold-water forest refuges for fish.”

The Board is updating its “threatened or impaired watershed” logging rules, state forest practice rules originally adopted in 2000 that regulate commercial timber harvesting on private land in watersheds harboring threatened or endangered salmon species and in water bodies listed as impaired under the federal Clean Water Act. Most remaining coho salmon streams in northern and central California are within private forestlands subject to California’s Forest Practice Rules.

The Board has proposed a smorgasbord of options for riparian timber-harvest rule changes, almost all of which reduce critical riparian protection. The rules would also: allow excessive road densities, near-stream roads and road stream crossings that will result in degradation of salmon habitat with sediment; approve logging and road building on unstable slopes and soils; allow logging of critical headwaters refugia; and prevent previously logged watersheds from adequately recovering.

“The Board of Forestry should adopt stronger timber harvest regulations to protect all salmon streams and should prohibit logging in key watersheds in order to allow impaired areas to recover,” said Justin Augustine, a Center attorney. “The Board’s proposed approach would likely result in timber-harvest plans violating the Endangered Species Act, causing illegal take of salmon, and undermining the recovery of listed salmonids.”

June 25, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

2 Comments

Biodiversit: Keeping more species around may dilute disease threat; A study on hantavirus and Panama rats suggests another and less obvious benefit to biodiversity — it may diminish the threat humans face from zoonotic diseases

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 24, 2009 at 8:01 am

From Miller & McCune:

Biodiversity provides humanity with many benefits, including clean air and water, climate stability and renewable natural resources.

But a groundbreaking experimental study has shown that species diversity is good for something else: It protects people from dangerous zoonotic (animal-borne) diseases.

Scientists investigating an outbreak of hantavirus among farmers in Panama’s Azuero Peninsula discovered the disease was harbored in two particular rodent species that thrived in areas where tropical forest had recently been cleared for cattle pasture. In their experiment, researchers mimicked human-caused habitat degradation by removing all the native rodent species from selected plots of land at the forest-pastureland interface except for the two hantavirus-linked species, the pygmy rice rat and the cane rat. Without competition from other species, their numbers exploded — and more of the rodents became infected with hantavirus.

The study, titled “Experimental Evidence for Reduced Rodent Diversity Causing Increased Hantavirus Prevalence” and published online at PLoS One, was the first controlled test of a theoretical disease transmission mechanism known the “dilution effect,” said its lead author, Gerado Suzán.

Read more from Miller & McCune by clicking here.

June 24, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Peter Gleick: Rainbow waters and fishing for hope

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2009 at 12:19 pm

From Peter Gleick’s City Brights blog:

I flyfish. Infrequently and badly. But as any unsuccessful fisherman will try to tell you, it isn’t catching fish that’s important; it is the action of fishing. I was just reminded of the reality behind that jest. I had the opportunity recently to spend four days on the Slocan and Upper Columbia rivers in British Columbia, tossing a line and, occasionally, catching and releasing rainbow trout. And while the monster fish lurking in these rivers mocked my efforts to trick them into striking my flies, it was still time well spent as it reminded me of the importance of fresh water. Healthy rivers are a sign of a healthy society. Sick, contaminated, overtapped rivers are a sign of a sick society.

We began to realize this when massive dams began to store water for droughts, to generate electricity, and to stop floods, and along with this, also began to destroy free-flowing rivers, wipe out massive populations of fish, and change the character of our wild lands.

Read more from Peter Gleick’s City Brights blog by clicking here.

June 23, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Fish prevail over Californians again, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2009 at 8:00 am

From the Western Farm Press:

The latest fish-saving biological opinion from the National Marine Fisheries Service reaches far beyond the infamous Delta pumps where most of the focus lately has been in the “save the minnow (smelt)” melodrama.

It would dramatically alter the way the California federal and state water projects are operated to better benefit salmon, sturgeon, Southern Resident killer whale, and steelhead. It would reduce the water supply to 25 million Californians by another 300,000 to 500,000 acre feet annually.

Yep, you read correctly. Killer whales. Shamu. Those big black and white things you pay to see leap out of the water at Sea World. You know, the fish you see swimming in the California Aqueduct; the ones that can grow to 32 feet and weigh as much as 18,000 pounds.

No kidding, the National Marine Fisheries Service says the decline in salmon can be blamed on the operation of the California state and federal water projects and they threaten Orcas since killer whales eat salmon.

Specifically Resident Southern killer whales, which according to the Marine Fisheries Web site, live much of the year in the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest. It’s more than 600 miles by road from the Sacramento Delta to Puget Sound and an even longer trip by sea. It seems a bit of a stretch to say these whales are threatened by the reduction of salmon due to the California water projects.

Read more of this editorial from the Western Farm Press by clicking here.

June 23, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

1 Comment

Monday’s top of the scroll: Huge hurdles ahead for effort to restore fisheries above Folsom, Shasta dams

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2009 at 7:56 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

The American River once hosted thousands of steelhead migrating upstream from the ocean in three separate runs. Today it’s down to just two runs of a few hundred fish. The Sacramento was the only river in western North America with four salmon runs. They numbered in the millions – so numerous that American Indians and settlers could catch a salmon dinner with their bare hands. Now one run is gone, and two are endangered. The fourth could join them soon.

Restoring a fragment of that spectacle to the Central Valley is the goal of rules proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The service wants, among other things, restoration of winter- and spring-run salmon above Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River, and steelhead above Folsom Dam on the American River.

Combined, the fish transit order is considered the biggest of its kind in U.S. history. Making it happen presents huge financial and engineering challenges. Costs could exceed $1 billion at a minimum – more than 10 times the original construction cost of both dams.

“It’s pretty substantial, the amount of work that’s required,” said Mike Chotkowski, regional environmental officer at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the dams. “We still haven’t even determined whether it’s feasible.”

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

June 22, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

South county habit plan aims to balance needs of species, growth

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2009 at 7:52 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

The South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan – in the works for more than a dozen years – is about to get wider public exposure.

Sacramento County has released a partial draft of a plan to govern habitat and development over vast acreage south of the American River. If approved in two years, the habitat conservation plan is expected to become California’s latest blueprint for balancing the demands of growth over 50 years with the needs of resource conservation.

A habitat conservation plan requires support from unlikely bedfellows – federal and state regulatory agencies, environmentalists, developers, property owners and local jurisdictions.

“It seems to me that everybody is on board, at least with the process,” said Senior Planner Richard Radmacher, project manager for the Sacramento County Planning and Community Development Department. “The cliché is, it’s like herding cats.”

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

June 22, 2009 · Filed Under Sacramento, Water & Wildlife, Water & the Environment

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

SalmonAid organizes to fight threat of extinction

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2009 at 7:26 am

From the Oakland Tribune:

The plight of declining salmon populations and the commercial fishers they support up and down the West Coast drew hundreds of people to Jack London Square on Saturday and Sunday for the second annual SalmonAid Festival, organizers said.

The festival featured food, music and a message of conservation. Some salmon populations around the Central Valley are down 90 percent over the past eight years, SalmonAid Foundation President Jonathan Rosenfield said.

The issues facing wild salmon throughout California and as far north as Alaska involve many local interests represented by more than 2,000 small nonprofit organizations. The foundation first put together the event last year to unite their voices and help consumers, politicians and the media understand the enormity of the issue, Rosenfield said.

“One of the major issues we’re asking the state and federal governments to tackle is water management in the state of California,” Rosenfield said. “We have huge amounts of water being diverted from the greater Bay Area into the Central Valley for big agricultural corporations to grow crops out there that don’t make sense. For example, you’re seeing a lot of water used to grow grapes, which need a constant water supply to grow,” he said. “We don’t need to be growing grapes in the desert during a drought.”

Read more from the Oakland Tribune by clicking here.

June 22, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Fish or families? Comedian Paul Rodriguez on Hannity

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 21, 2009 at 10:28 am

Posted on YouTube, here’s a Sean Hannity segment featuring comedian Paul Rodriguez:

June 21, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt, Drought, Weather & Snowpack

1 Comment

Dan Bacher: Schwarzenegger amps up canal campaign, war on fish

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 21, 2009 at 10:05 am

From Dan Bacher, this commentary:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, after protesters in Fresno Thursday accused him of not doing enough to support San Joaquin Valley growers in their battle to export more water from the imperiled California Delta, yesterday amped up his campaign to build the peripheral canal and more dams and affirmed his opposition to increased protections for salmon and other fish.

“We need to rethink the Delta, fix the Delta, and build a canal around the Delta,” said Schwarzenegger, in pushing a project that would cost an estimated $12 to $24 billion at a time when the state budget deficit is the largest in California history and thousands of teachers, health care workers and game wardens face layoffs.

Schwarzenegger, who appeared at a meeting and press conference Friday in Mendota, also emphasized the necessity to build Temperance Flat Reservoir on the San Joaquin River and Sites Reservoir on the west side of the Sacramento Valley. “Dams need to be built,” he stated. “We need above ground storage, below ground storage, new infrastructure.”

In a similiar vein, the Governor stated, “We urgently need a clean, reliable water supply, and I am committed to getting comprehensive water reform done once and for all. We must invest in our future, protect our precious resources and protect the state of California.”

He also again slammed the court ordered federal biological opinion, released on June 4, that directed the state and federal governments to change export pumping operations out of the Delta to avoid jeopardizing the continued survival of Sacramento winter run and spring run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon and the southern resident population of killer whales.

“I think the judge’s decision is wrong,” said Schwarzenegger. “If you start choosing species, and the smelt and salmon over people, I think you’re wrong. I think it’s a mistake when you see the impacts that it has.”

Schwarzenegger yet again parrotted the false claim by Westlands Water District and corporate agribusiness giants that the biological opinion chooses “fish over people.” In fact, the conflict is in reality a conflict between restoring salmon and other fish populations and the thousands of jobs they support and keeping in production drainage-impaired land in the west side of the San Joaquin, land laced with selenium that should have never been irrigated.

June 21, 2009 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack, Peripheral Canal, Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Morro Bay fishery charts bold course

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 21, 2009 at 7:36 am

From the Property & Environment Research Center:

Morro Bay is a picturesque coastal community in central California. The town’s most prominent physical feature is Morro Rock, the remnant of an ancient volcano, which stands at the entrance to the bay that gives the town its name. This small bay is home to a fleet of trawlers that target petrale sole, sand dabs, sablefish, and other groundfish. With an overcapitalized fleet and declining fish stocks, Morro Bay’s commercial fishing industry has suffered economically over the past two decades. This is a part of a widespread trend—between 1987 and 2003 gross revenues from Pacific groundfish trawling fell by two-thirds.

Worsening the situation, commercial trawling has come under increasing criticism for its negative environmental effects. Bottom trawling involves dragging large, weighted nets across the seafloor, which can harm corals and rocky bottom structures. Avoiding sensitive habitats or using different gear can minimize these damages, but existing regulations provide no incentives to practice such safeguards.

Bycatch, the incidental take of non-commercial species, is an additional environmental concern in this fishery and in trawl fisheries in general due to the nonselective nature of commercial trawling. By one estimate, 26 percent of the world’s entire commercial catch is discarded each year. Fortunately, bycatch is far less severe in the area in question and there are abundant stocks of many of the target species. The main problem is to catch target stocks more selectively, so as to avoid a few overfished species such as canary and yelloweye rockfish, and cowcod. Under existing regulations, the entire fishery is closed if incidental catch of a depleted species exceeds a regulatory limit. Unfortunately, the same regulations provide no reason for individual fishers to minimize bycatch, so bycatch-induced closures have been common.

Read more about how collaboration has helped to restore Morro Bay’s fishery from the Property & Environment Research Center by clicking here. Hat tip to the Parkway Blog!

Photo credit: Picture of Morro Bay by flickr photographer Mike Baird.

June 21, 2009 · Filed Under Oceans and Beaches (all), Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

If only briefly, lawmakers shine light on water issue: Vote to block more water for habitat is closer than most estimates

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 20, 2009 at 7:38 am

From the Merced Sun-Star:

Central Valley lawmakers this week briefly summoned House attention to the region’s water shortages, challenging the environmental rules that have curtailed irrigation deliveries. Legislatively, the Valley lawmakers failed. By a 218-208 vote Thursday afternoon, the House rejected an amendment by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, that would have blocked a federal decision steering more irrigation water into fish habitat protection.

Rhetorically, Nunes and his allies insist they put a useful spotlight on a region they believe has been ignored too long. “It’s OK to value fish, that’s OK,” Nunes said during House debate, “but understand you’re starving families while you value fish.” The vote Thursday was closer than some expected, with 37 Democrats joining all but two Republicans in supporting Nunes.

Democratic Reps. Jim Costa of Fresno, Dennis Cardoza of Merced and Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton voted for the amendment, with Cardoza using his House Rules Committee position to ensure the amendment got a vote on the floor. Republican Rep. George Radanovich of Mariposa also voted for the amendment.

The amendment offered to a $65 billion spending bill would have prohibited federal funds from paying for a set of rules issued June 4 called a “biological opinion.” The National Marine Fisheries Service rules in question cut Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water diversions by up to 7 percent to protect endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead.

Read more from the Merced Sun-Star by clicking here.

June 20, 2009 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Stop putting fish before man, says commentary: “Californians don’t have a lack of water. They have an overabundance of environmentalists.”

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 20, 2009 at 7:35 am

From the Bakersfield Californian, this commentary by Inga Barks:

In a congressional report, a Kern County representative warned that if we didn’t act soon, the most fertile land on the planet would be in peril. We need to balance environmental protection and our very livelihood in the Central Valley, the report said. And it stressed we’re on a collision course between fish and mankind — and mankind is losing.

That report was presented in 1993 by then-Kern County Supervisor Mary K. Shell. Her words 16 years ago about the worst-case scenario are an uncanny description of California’s modern-day man-made drought.

Today, some farmers are receiving zero allocations of water, and I’m told workers are taking their families to Central Valley homeless shelters for food. News reports estimate as many as 60,000 jobs will be lost due to this man-made drought. I stress “man-made” because it doesn’t have to be this way. Californians don’t have a lack of water. They have an overabundance of environmentalists.

Read more of this commentary from the Bakersfield Californian by clicking here.

June 20, 2009 · Filed Under General Water Issues, Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Stockton East Water District sues feds over Stanislaus rules in the salmon biological opinion

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 20, 2009 at 7:31 am

From Stockton’s Record:

Concerned over what may be a “drastic” reduction in this region’s water supply, the Stockton East Water District filed suit Friday against the federal government challenging new rules to protect fish. The lawsuit alleges that the rules, published by the National Marine Fisheries Service on June 4, are in violation of the Endangered Species Act because they do not rely on the best available science.

The rules require greater flows down the Stanislaus River for steelhead. Stockton East relies on diversions from the Stanislaus - and storage at New Melones Lake - for about half its surface water supply. That water can be treated and sent to city taps, which takes pressure off the county’s diminished underground aquifer.

Water from the Stanislaus has never been completely reliable, but officials have said the new rules mean even less will be available. “There will be virtually no water to the contractors except in a very few circumstances,” said Jennifer Spaletta, an attorney representing Stockton East. “It’s predicted that the reservoir is going to go bust very often.”

Read more from The Record by clicking here.

June 20, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon, San Joaquin Valley

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Friday’s top of the scroll: House narrowly rejects bid to nullify salmon protection rules

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 19, 2009 at 8:08 am

From the Silicon Valley Mercury News:

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly rejected an attempt Thursday by a San Joaquin Valley congressman to set aside regulations adopted this month to protect salmon and killer whales from the operations of dams and pumps in California.

The move was an attempt to strike back at increasingly tough rules that are cutting into farmers’ water supplies after nearly a decade of relatively unfettered access to Delta water. As water deliveries from the Delta increased, fish populations collapsed and courts have since found that regulators were not doing their jobs.

Introduced by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, the measure would have prevented the National Marine Fisheries Service from spending money to enforce its sweeping new rules issued earlier this month. It failed by a vote of 218-208.

“Environmentalists are tripping over themselves to preserve every species that crawls, squirms, swims or flies, but they are content to let humans die. And now they have a government that agrees with them,” Nunes said on the eve of Thursday’s narrow vote.

From the Fresno Bee:

Still, Nunes and his allies insist they put a useful spotlight on a region they believe has been ignored too long.

“It’s OK to value fish, that’s OK,” Nunes said during House debate, “but understand you’re starving families while you value fish.”

The vote Thursday was closer than some expected, with 37 Democrats joining most Republicans in supporting Nunes. Democratic Reps. Jim Costa of Fresno and Dennis Cardoza of Merced voted for the amendment, with Cardoza using his House Rules Committee position to ensure the amendment got a vote on the floor.

From Doug Obegi of the NRDC Switchboard blog:

Today’s action in Washington is a reminder of the failures and costs of our current water practices in California, and the need for real solutions, particularly as our third year of drought continues to cause water reductions across the state, which have particularly hurt farmers in the Central Valley. As drought continues to cause low water supplies across the state, this highlights just how important it is to develop long term water solutions that benefit all Californians. Scientifically sound decisions like the salmon biological opinion that this amendment targeted must be part of the foundation for that solution. And while California has made some significant investments in alternative water supplies and win-win solutions, including federal investments from the stimulus bill, it’s time for a new, better, smart-water solutions for the 21st century that will help all Californians get the water they need for drinking, fishing and growing our food supply into the future.

Congressman Devin Nunes responds on his website:

“Environmentalists are tripping over themselves to preserve every species that crawls, squirms, swims or flys but they are content to let humans die. And now they have a government that agrees with them. This Congress and our President have chosen fish over people in my state,” said Rep. Devin Nunes.

It has been 629 days since Congressman Nunes first asked Democrat Congressional leaders to respond to the water crisis facing California. Despite the clear evidence of suffering, un-paralleled unemployment rates and the looming destruction of San Joaquin Valley communities, no assistance has been offered. Indeed, in a recent trip to California the Secretary of Interior specifically avoided visiting the impacted region.

“It’s time to ask the Speaker ‘how many studies do you need? How many starving families and devastated communities will it take to get your attention?’ We need Congress to do its job. This government is failing to uphold its Constitutional oath to the people and I will not stop fighting until the voices of my constituents are heard,” said Rep. Nunes.

For more information:

June 19, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon, Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Tightening the tap: Feds order state to cut water-project flows to Southern California

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 18, 2009 at 7:50 am

From the Sacramento News & Review, this article by Dan Bacher:

In a court-ordered plan released on June 4, scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded that current water-pumping operations of the federal Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project should be changed to ensure survival of four imperiled fish species and one orca population.

The “biological opinion” lists a number of steps the state and federal governments must take to protect winter- and spring-run chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, southern green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales from going over the abyss of extinction. The whales, now numbering only 85 individuals along the coast from Puget Sound to California, rely on Sacramento River salmon for food.

Changing water operations will impact an estimated 5 to 7 percent of the water exported annually to San Joaquin Valley water contractors and Southern California by the federal and state pumps. That’s 330,000 acre feet per year, according to Maria Rea, the NMFS area supervisor.

The opinion also calls for pilot passage programs at Folsom, Nimbus and Shasta dams to reintroduce salmon and steelhead to historic cold-water habitat above the dams. “We want to get winter-run chinook back to habitat in the McCloud River and steelhead back to habitat in the upper American River,” said Rea.

Read more from the Sacramento News & Review by clicking here.

June 18, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

The San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority charges ‘pseudo science’ in salmon biological opinion

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 18, 2009 at 7:45 am

From the Western Farm Press:

The San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority has filed suit in federal court over the issuance of a biological opinion by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The lawsuit contends that the federal agency failed to conduct required environmental review and that it used “pseudo science” to develop measures meant to protect fish.

“Federal laws governing environmental review apply to everyone,” said Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority. “The National Marine Fisheries Service needs to follow the rules like everyone else when they make decisions that have such enormous impacts.”

In addition to demanding that NMFS publish an Environmental Impact Statement, the suit also claims that there was inadequate public review of the science the agency used to support its decision.

“The public has a right to know how agencies like NMFS makes decisions and that was completely inadequate in this instance,” said Nelson. “Decisions that affect the water supply for 3 million acres of farmland and 25 million people can’t be made in secret, as this one was. The law requires a specific public review process in cases like this and NMFS didn’t do that.”

Read more from the Western Farm Press by clicking here.

June 18, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

The EDF on NMFS’s new salmon biological opinion: Beyond operations

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 16, 2009 at 4:27 pm

From the Environmental Defense Fund’s On the Water Front blog, this post by Rod Fujita, Senior Scientist and Director, Ocean Innovations, for EDF:

Salmon and steelhead are in jeopardy. That is no surprise to many of us, especially fishermen and coastal communities who have suffered through the closure of the salmon fishery. But thanks to NRDC’s successful lawsuit, it’s official. The lawsuit forced NMFS to take another look at the effects of the state and federal water projects on salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon, resulting in a new Biological Opinion. This new Biological Opinion (B.O.), released two weeks ago, confirms our fears that the water projects have been and are likely to continue to jeopardize the continued existence of winter run, spring run, steelhead, and green sturgeon if nothing additional is done to protect these iconic and valuable species. The recommended actions in the B.O. are also consistent with the research and conclusions of many others: these fish need more water, cooler temperatures, better passage past dams, and improved habitat.

To save these fish, the B.O. goes beyond short-term band-aids toward a holistic health model. When salmon populations are this low, it is time to pull out all possible stops to save them which means supporting the survival of ALL life stages comprehensively, which is what the B.O. attempts to do. It acknowledges that just altering project operations is not sufficient; rather, the full range of Reclamation and DWR authorities (especially those provided by CVPIA) to reduce stressors and compensate for them must be brought to bear if these species and the fisheries and ecosystem values that depend on them are to survive, never mind recover.

Read more from the EDF’s On The Water Front blog by clicking here.

June 16, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Tuesday’s top of the scroll: Westlands sues over salmon plan

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 16, 2009 at 8:19 am

From the Fresno Business Journal:

The Westlands Water District announced today it is joining 29 other public water agencies in a lawsuit against the federal government over its latest plan to curb water deliveries.

The plan released June 4 by the National Marine Fisheries Service recommends a list of actions it estimates would cut current state and federal water exports south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by 5-7 percent, or 330,000 acre-feet, a year.

This cut is in addition to a curtailment made last year to protect the Delta smelt. Agricultural water users south of the Delta currently receive about 10 percent of their average deliveries.

The suit argues fisheries service should have prepared an environmental impact statement before adopting the salmon recovery plan.

Read more from the Fresno Business Journal by clicking here.

June 16, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

California Water Districts sue to force Federal fish agencies to obey environmental laws

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 16, 2009 at 8:17 am

From Westlands Water District, this press release:

“Environmental laws apply equally to all,” said Tom Birmingham, General Manager of the Westlands Water District, in announcing a lawsuit aimed at the federal government’s latest plan for cutting back even further on California’s water supplies.

Westlands is joining with 29 other public water agencies who argue that the National Marine Fisheries Service should have prepared an environmental impact statement before adopting a salmon recovery plan that will divert hundreds of thousands of acre feet of California’s freshwater supplies into the ocean.

“Denying this much water to California is going to do obvious, serious and enduring damage to habitat, to wetlands, and to other endangered species. It will reduce water quality and drive up the costs of water treatment for millions of people. It will reduce the opportunities for recycling, conjunctive use, and water transfers, which are all vitally important to the state’s efforts to conserve water and improve efficiency. And it will put tens of thousands of people out of work, which affects public health and safety in myriad ways,” Birmingham said.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California recently granted a preliminary injunction in connection with a similar lawsuit that pointed to the failure of another federal agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service, to prepare an environmental assessment before imposing a set of restrictions on behalf of the Delta Smelt that cut California’s water supply by nearly one third. Hearings on the merits of those challenges will be conducted later this year.

“The Obama Administration’s salmon plan mimics the smelt proposal and it suffers from the same defects,” Birmingham pointed out. In both the smelt and salmon proceedings, Westlands filed its lawsuit jointly with the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.

The smelt cutbacks have cost California more than 660,000 acre feet of water last year and they have reduced water supplies by another 480,000 acre feet so far this year. The federal plan for salmon would continue all of those reductions and could take as much as another 500,000 acre feet of water out of the water system, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Those combined losses add up to enough water to serve nine million people for a year.

“The federal agencies pushing this plan have refused to estimate what the total loss of water will be. And they won’t say what it is going to cost taxpayers either,” Birmingham said. “But the Department of Water Resources reports that the smelt and salmon restrictions will add $500 million a year to the cost for public agencies to continue delivering water. And that doesn’t include the much larger capital costs for the changes that these federal agencies are demanding in existing dams and other water facilities.”

In announcing the salmon plan, the regional commissioner for the federal Bureau of Reclamation acknowledged that its implementation would mean that there will no longer be reliable water supplies for California agriculture and that there will not be any additional water available for cities that are growing.

“It is simply outrageous that federal authorities would seek to force these restrictions on California without conducting a single public hearing, without any public review or comment, and without any consideration of the harm they are doing,” Birmingham said.

June 16, 2009 · Filed Under Salmon, Westlands Water District

1 Comment