Water Education Foundation

Never-before seen video from Wildlands Inc. confirms strategy to save endangered species while securing Sacramento from flood

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 18, 2008 at 6:03 am

From Business Wire, this press release from Wildlands, Inc.:

When local, State and Federal agencies joined forces to improve Folsom Dam to protect California’s capital against the potential for a 200-year flood, an environmental issue stood in the way: a handsome but tiny (1/2-1 inch) beetle so rare even biologists who study it rarely see one. As a federally-listed threatened species living in vanishing shrubland along riverbanks, the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle stood to lose one of its last refuges if the engineering work proceeded.

Enter Wildlands and its private conservation bank, a preserve for endangered species habitat developed in cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Since 1991, the Rocklin, CA, company has provided public agencies and private companies with a third option when the need to preserve threatened wildlife habitat stands in the way of their projects. By establishing replacement habitat in advance of disruptive development and providing mitigation credits approved under State and Federal law, Wildlands’ habitat banks ensure both the future of development and of numerous endangered species.

Between fall 2007 and spring 2008, Wildlands transplanted 245 elderberry shrubs (many known to host larval-stage Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetles) from the construction site of a new Folsom Dam spillway to Wildlands’ 5,000-acre Sacramento River Ranch habitat bank. Recently, Wildlands biologists confirmed the success of the mitigation strategy, documented in dramatic video footage of the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetles active in their new home.

Read more from Business Wire by clicking here. View the video by clicking here.

November 18, 2008 · Filed Under Endangered Species & Wildlife

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San Joaquin River restoration bill postponed until 2009

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 17, 2008 at 2:15 pm

From the McClatchy News Service:

The Senate will postpone until early next year action on a big public lands bill that includes efforts to restore the San Joaquin River, lawmakers decided Monday. While not entirely unexpected, the delay disappoints those who had hoped to resolve the long-simmering river restoration issue sooner rather than later. It also gives supporters and opponents more time to maneuver.

“It’s unfortunate that the Senate could not move on this bill,” said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, adding that “it is my hope that the House will move quickly” in January.

The ambitious San Joaquin River plan is one of about 150 bills folded into an omnibus public lands package that’s designed to attract widespread political support. Other California elements include a Madera County groundwater bank project and a John Krebs Wilderness designation in the Sierra Nevada.

Lawmakers once spoke of moving the massive legislation during the lame-duck congressional session this week, but that schedule proved too ambitious amid ongoing negotiations over an economic stimulus deal and an auto industry bailout.

“Rather than move forward on the lands package, which is … so important to a lot of senators and certainly a lot of people around the country, we’re better off waiting until we come back,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced early Monday afternoon.

Read more from McClatchy News Service by clicking here.

November 17, 2008 · Filed Under San Joaquin River Restoration

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Fish debate: UWCD reports history of stocking streams

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 17, 2008 at 6:21 am

From the Ventura County Star, this commentary written by Kimberly Bowers, a historian working for United Water Conservation District, which disputes the claim that steelhead trout naturally populated the Santa Clara River. At issue is whether UWCD must fix or rebuild the fish ladders around the Vern Freeman Diversion:

When United Water Conservation District hired me in 2007 to compile a history of steelhead trout in Ventura County, I thought it would be a three-month project. Yet, here I am, more than a year later, still finding materials relating to steelhead and other types of trout. I’ve gathered volumes of information about steelhead trout, and I’m pleased to present to Ventura County residents important information about this endangered species.

I have prepared a report that provides a fascinating look at how people at the turn of the century managed the fish and game resources in Ventura County. My report is posted on United Water’s Web site.

One hundred years ago, trout fishing in local streams was considered phenomenal, but there is a part of the story that has not been widely told. Local streams were being systematically stocked because of declining fish populations. The decline can be attributed to overfishing, droughts, water use, forest fires and oil pollution.

Read more from the Ventura County Star by clicking here.

November 17, 2008 · Filed Under Endangered Species & Wildlife

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More restrictions on Delta water pumping adopted as Department of Fish & Game passes regulations to protect longfin smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 16, 2008 at 6:47 am

From Mike Taugher of the Contra Costa Times:

The reliability of California’s water supply took another huge hit Friday when state regulators adopted more restrictions on Delta water pumping to protect yet another fish species whose population is sinking fast. Water agencies portrayed Friday’s decision by the California Fish and Game Commission to protect longfin smelt from Delta pumps this winter as potentially crippling to water supplies on San Joaquin Valley farms and elsewhere.

Regulators acknowledged that the new regulations, which could go into effect as early as Dec. 1, could lead to major water supply cuts but said the rules probably would not be activated at all.

Perry Hergesell, a water policy analyst for the Fish and Game Department, told commissioners that if the new rules had been in place they would have been needed in just two of the past 17 years.

Still, Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow, the state’s top water official, said that if additional cutbacks were ordered, it “could create a water supply and delivery crisis the likes of which Californians have not seen in decades.”

Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.

From the Central Valley Business Times:

The commission, meeting in Huntington Beach, approved a six-month emergency regulation to protect the longfin smelt. A cousin of that fish, the Delta smelt, is already protected by federal court order lowering the amount of water that can be pumped from the Delta to the Central Valley, Bay Area and Southern California. The Delta is California’s main source of fresh water.

DWR estimates the emergency regulations have the potential to reduce state and federal water project deliveries up to 1.1 million acre feet, or an additional 17 percent in an average water year. This is in addition to the existing export restrictions already in place as a result of a federal court decision to protect Delta smelt.

DWR had asked the commission to extend incidental take authority of the longfin smelt adopted under the California Endangered Species Act and include proposed revisions to help assure that DWR would only be required to mitigate impacts caused by the State Water Project.

The commission instead adopted the regulation that authorizes take but includes additional measures for the protection of adult, larval, and juvenile longfin smelt.

Click here to read the rest of this article in The Central Valley Business Times, which includes an audio clip of an interview with DWR spokesperson Don Strickland about the decision, as well as a link to the action passed on Friday.

November 16, 2008 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

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Water supplies may drop for California cities & farms as state extends protections for longfin smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2008 at 7:51 am

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

California fish and wildlife managers on Friday approved new rules that could severely restrict pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect a native fish, triggering protests from farmers and cities reeling already from water shortages.

The Fish and Game Commission voted 3-0 to enact emergency regulations that may scale back water pumping from December through February to safeguard the longfin smelt, considered a bellwether species for the estuary.

“Clearly as a society we haven’t erred on the side of the fish in the past; we’ve erred on the side of the water supply,” said Commissioner Michael Sutton. “We have to come down on the side of the fish. If we don’t take care of these ecosystems, they’re not going to yield us the services for much longer.”

Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.

The Stockton Record puts it into perspective:

This is how severe California’s water and fish crises have become: If surveyors find as few as six longfin smelt near the Delta export pumps this winter, water deliveries to farms and cities throughout the state could be cut by 1.1 million acre-feet - enough water to serve more than 1 million families for a year.

That was said to be the worst-case scenario Friday after the California Fish and Game Commission voted to extend protections for the longfin smelt. Combined with drought and court-imposed water restrictions, the action could lead to “a water supply and delivery crisis the likes of which Californians have not seen in decades,” said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources.

But Fish and Game officials said the 1.1 million acre-foot cut cited by Water Resources is unlikely. “Nothing is automatic,” said Fish and Game attorney Ann Malcolm. The plan “requires the exercise an informed judgment after dealing with both science and policymakers.”

The debate illustrates how close some fish species are to extinction - every single longfin smelt is significant, one Fish and Game expert said Friday - and how close the state’s water system is to buckling under the weight of the finger-length longfin smelt and its close cousin, the Delta smelt.

Read more from Stockton’s Record by clicking here.

November 15, 2008 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

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Dam removal ‘off-ramps’ ahead

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2008 at 7:42 am

From the Eureka Times-Standard, this commentary by Greg King, executive director of the Northcoast Environmental Center:

The recently signed “Agreement in Principle” (AIP) to remove dams on the Klamath River may result in dam decommissioning, but it’s not likely.

Instead, the fragile deal between the states of Oregon and California, the Bush Administration and dam owner PacifiCorp — but no other Klamath River stakeholders — could mean that dams will remain in place for a number of years before PacifiCorp takes one of the legal “off-ramps” built into the deal and abandons dam removal altogether.

One of the most dangerous off-ramps is spelled out in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s own press release lauding the AIP: “The United States will make a final determination by March 31, 2012, whether the benefits of dam removal will justify the costs. … At that point, the United States shall designate a non-federal dam removal entity (DRE) to remove the dams or decline to remove the dams at which point PacifiCorp will return to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for relicensing.”

That is, economic considerations, as defined solely by the federal government, could once again trump the needs of the Klamath River’s endangered fish species, at least three of which — Coho salmon, spring run Chinook salmon, and green sturgeon — are close to extinction. Klamath River chum and pink salmon populations are already extinct.

Read more of this commentary in the Eureka Times-Standard by clicking here.

November 15, 2008 · Filed Under Salmon

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Radio implants to track salmon through Delta

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2008 at 7:26 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

State and federal researchers Friday released hundreds of tiny, transmitter-equipped salmon into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta as part of California’s largest effort to track movements of the pink fish through an estuary that has grown increasingly hostile to salmon and other species.

Using underwater listening devices, scientists will follow the fate of more than 6,000 juvenile chinook salmon - or smolt - over the next several months, gathering data on how fish behavior may be tied to factors such as tidal action and salinity, as well as the operations of the state and federal agencies that pump water through the delta to 25 million Californians.

“What we want to know as a department is how to modify our operations to meet the needs of the salmon, so that we can transport water south through the delta and also protect the salmon run,” said Jim Wilde, senior engineer at the Department of Water resources and lead coordinator of the study.

Read the rest of this article from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

From the Sacramento Bee:

The first 300 salmon were released Friday into the Sacramento River just downstream of the Tower Bridge in Old Sacramento. The U.S. Geological Survey, which is leading the study, has installed more than 50 sensors in the river between Sacramento and Pittsburg to pick up signals from the fish. “This is pretty bleeding-edge stuff,” said Jon Burau, USGS project chief.

Data from the study may also be used to show how a proposed water canal around the Delta might affect salmon. The canal is similar to one rejected by voters in 1982. It is being sought by statewide water interests to protect another native fish, Delta smelt, which are killed by water deliveries from the Delta.

But a new canal’s intake would be located somewhere south of Sacramento, potentially harming salmon instead.

“The data could be used for that, and I’m sure will be,” said Jim Wilde, the study’s coordinator at the California Department of Water Resources, which is funding the research. “What we want to get out of this is management tools.”

For a in-depth description of how the scientists will be tracking the salmon, check out Matt Weiser’s detailed coverage in the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

November 15, 2008 · Filed Under Salmon

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In a another study, scientists are learning about salmon habits

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2008 at 7:25 am

From the Union Democrat:

California Department of Fish and Game researcher Kevin Saeteurn hacks off the forehead of a salmon carcass, like a butcher chopping chicken, along the banks of the Stanislaus River near Knights Ferry Wednesday morning. It’s a coarse scene, but is actually a fairly precise exercise done in the name of science, not dinner.

Saeteurn is attempting to study the fish’s otolith — a calcified structure found in the salmon’s inner-ear. The otolith grows in different layers, incorporating water chemistry within each layer, said Tim Heyne, senior environmental scientist with the DFG. Because the different bodies of water — the Stanislaus River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, San Francisco Bay, and Pacific Ocean — have different water chemistry, it can be determined when the fish traveled into each waterway. “It’s like tree rings,” said Crystal Sinclair, a fisheries biologist with the DFG.

“We’re trying to figure out how long the fish stayed in the river,” Sinclair explained. “How high and low flows affect them. And how many are returning.”

Read more of this story from the Union Democrat by clicking here.

November 15, 2008 · Filed Under Salmon

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Congress has fast-track power to kill Bush rules

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2008 at 7:13 am

From the Ag Capital Press:

President-elect Barack Obama will have limited authority to overturn federal regulations approved in the waning months of the Bush administration. But a little-used power offers the new Democratic Congress an early test of how aggressively lawmakers might unravel such rules pushed through by Republicans.

Under a special fast-track authority, Congress could repeal current rules from as far back as May. Many are related to the environment and health. Aside from congressional action, such changes involve a laborious rule-making process that can take years.

The Congressional Review Act of 1996, used just once in the past 12 years, could become a sweeping tool for Democrats against late regulations from the Bush presidency. Environmental activists are compiling lists of regulations they believe Congress should target, including ones covering water pollution at huge farms, pollution control equipment at older power plants and hazardous waste restrictions.

“One of the things to watch is whether there are actions in Congress that reflect a new philosophy that is a different direction than the Bush administration, which has been a pro-industry approach to governing,” said Rick Melberth, an expert at the Washington-based OMB Watch, a nonprofit watchdog organization.

Read more from the Capital Ag Press by clicking here.

November 15, 2008 · Filed Under Endangered Species & Wildlife

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DWR Director Lester Snow responds to longfin smelt decision

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 14, 2008 at 2:15 pm

dwr-logobig_thumb.gifFrom the Department of Water Resources:

SACRAMENTO – Department of Water Resources (DWR) Director Lester A. Snow released the following statement after the California Fish and Game Commission implemented take regulations to protect longfin smelt:

“Following two years of extreme drought, additional pumping cutbacks are possible as a result of today’s Fish and Game Commission’s action and could create a water supply and delivery crisis the likes of which Californians have not seen in decades. This situation further underscores the state’s urgent need to invest in our water systems, including more storage, improved conveyance, conservation and a long term strategy for the Delta. The time for action is now.”

DWR estimates the emergency regulations have the potential to reduce state and federal water project deliveries up to 1.1 million acre feet, or an additional 17 percent in an average water year. This is in addition to the existing export restrictions already in place as a result of a federal court decision to protect Delta smelt.

DWR had asked the commission to extend incidental take authority of the longfin smelt adopted under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and include proposed revisions to help assure that DWR would only be required to mitigate impacts caused by the State Water Project. The commission rejected this proposal and instead adopted the regulation that authorizes take but includes additional measures for the protection of adult, larval, and juvenile longfin smelt.

Longfin Smelt
Longfin smelt are pelagic, estuarine fish that range from Monterey Bay northward to Alaska. In California, they have been commonly collected from San Francisco Bay, the Eel River, Humboldt Bay and the Klamath River. Presently, the only California collections made in the 1990s have been from the Klamath River and San Francisco Bay. Longfin smelt reach a maximum size of about 150 mm and comprise a small portion of the “whitebait” fishery in San Francisco Bay. They have no sport fishery value.

Maturity is reached toward the end of their second year. As they mature in the fall, adults found throughout San Francisco Bay migrate to brackish or freshwater in Suisun Bay, Montezuma Slough, and the lower reaches of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Spawning probably takes place in freshwater.

In April and May, juveniles are believed to migrate downstream to San Pablo Bay. Juvenile longfin smelt are collected throughout the Bay during the late spring, summer and fall.

Longfin smelt have been listed as a candidate species under the CESA by the Fish and Game Commission. Candidate species receive take protection until a decision is made by the commission to list them as endangered or threatened or to not list them. The commission is expected to make a final listing decision in March 2009.

Longfin smelt are not a protected species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs.

November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

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California water supply problems worsen: State commission issues new regulations likely to further restrict Delta pumping

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 14, 2008 at 2:13 pm

From the Long Beach Water Department, this press release:

The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners is again urging increased attention to extraordinary water conservation measures after the California Fish and Game Commission today, issued new, emergency regulations for protecting the longfin smelt, a candidate species for listing under the California Endangered Species Act, from operations related to moving water through the State Water Project. The new regulations, expected to take effect next month, are likely to further reduce the supplies of imported water southern California receives from the Bay Delta.

“As with the Delta Smelt decision last year, it is not possible to specifically state what this means for our water supply, as the week-to-week decisions are somewhat arbitrary and unpredictable,” according to Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department. “However, it is certain that this decision has a significant, negative impact on the water supply of the State Water Project, and the areas of the state that depend on it.”

Existing delivery restrictions to protect the Delta smelt, as ordered by a Fresno federal district court in September 2007, reduced imported water deliveries from the Bay Delta nearly 30 percent. Upon the federal district court ruling in September 2007, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners issued a declaration of imminent water supply shortage and implemented mandatory prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water in the City of Long Beach. Long Beach has set historical, 10-year record lows for water consumption in 10 of the last 13 months.

The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California retail water supply agency and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.

Ryan J. Alsop
Director of Government & Public Affairs
Long Beach Water
Brennan S. Thomas Administration Building

November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

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Jason Peltier of the Westlands Water District addresses CA Fish &Game Commission meeting today regarding proposed 1 Million Acre feet cut to California water supplies

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 14, 2008 at 2:10 pm

From the Westlands Water District:

Jason Peltier of the Westlands Water District is addressing the CA Fish & Game Commission today in opposition to a proposed regulation that would cut one million acre feet to California water supplies. He will be speaking on behalf of the Westlands Water District and other public water agencies that serve more than 25 million Californians.

Today, the California Fish and Game Commission will consider adopting a proposed regulation for longfin smelt that could cut as much as one million acre feet additional water supplies that two-thirds of California’s population depends on.Those cutbacks would comeon top of the 760,000 acre feet of water that California lost in 2008 under court-ordered reductions intended to protect another species the smelt.

This on top of one of the worst droughts in the state’s history, the implementation of these new restrictions could mean water rationing for communities throughout Southern California and the Bay Area plus billions of dollars in losses to the state’s economy due to lost jobs, ruined crops and failed agricultural businesses throughout California.

November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

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DWR and USGS Begin Salmon Tracking Study in Delta; Scientists to release thousands of tagged salmon, track migration

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 14, 2008 at 2:04 pm

dwr-logobig_thumb.gifFrom the Department of Water Resources:

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists today began a comprehensive three-month study of salmon migration through the Delta. Data gathered from the study will help agencies better manage the Delta ecosystem while enhancing habitat for salmon and other protected species and providing a scientific foundation for water policy, ecosystem, and salmon fishery decision makers.

”Ultimately, with the data collected from this study, we hope to find ways to improve Delta water quality and water supply reliability for the State Water Project while protecting the salmon out-migrant population,” said Jim Wilde, DWR Senior Engineer coordinating the study for DWR.

Over the course of the study, scientists will release 6,000 tagged juvenile salmon into the Sacramento River to track their migration to the ocean. Released salmon are implanted with acoustic transmitters that allow scientists to monitor their movements at junctions of waterways and throughout the Delta. The transmitters are uniquely programmed for immediate detection and identification by an array of unmanned, robotic boats and electronic gear. The high-tech experiment continues for the next three months between Sacramento and Pittsburg and will gather data on route selection and survival of the Sacramento River winter run of juvenile salmon.

Every year thousands of juvenile Chinook salmon migrate out of streams in the Central Valley and move through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on their way to the Pacific Ocean. How young salmon move through the Delta, however, is not well understood.

“This is an evolving story. We don’t have the answers, but we are using the latest science and technology to find them,” said USGS hydrologist Jon Burau, one of the study’s lead scientists. “This is an example of interagency cooperation across many scientific disciplines and offices. Scientists will be putting in thousands of hours over the next few months to understand how juvenile salmon migrate through the Delta.”

Collected data will be used to develop management tools capable of estimating how current operations and potential new projects may impact out-migrating juvenile salmon. The field experiment will involve many scientific disciplines and the use of emerging technologies in fisheries science and hydrodynamic measurement.

November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Salmon

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Coverage wrap up: Federal and state officials sign nonbinding deal to remove Klamath River dams

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 14, 2008 at 8:01 am

From the Associated Press:

An agreement signed Thursday lays the groundwork for removing four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River to help one of the West Coast’s most beleaguered salmon runs and end a longstanding environmental dispute.

Removal of the PacifiCorp dams is expected to begin by 2020. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in a conference call that President George W. Bush had told officials “to find a collaborative solution” that doesn’t pit one interest group against another.

The Bush administration had strongly backed farmers in 2001 after the Endangered Species Act forced the shut-off of irrigation water to thousands of acres of farms to leave enough for threatened salmon.

When the administration restored irrigation in 2002 over the objections of tribes and conservation groups, low water conditions in the Klamath River led to the deaths of 70,000 adult salmon returning to spawn.

“We were motivated to find a solution because we’ve seen how bad it can be,” Kempthorne said. “Nobody wanted to say, ‘It’s beyond our abilities to solve this.’”

The nonbinding agreement signed by Kempthorne, PacifiCorp and the governors of Oregon and California calls for a final agreement by June 30, 2009, and gives the federal government until 2012 to figure out whether removing the dams is feasible. It sets 2020 as the deadline for starting to remove the dams but does not include a deadline for finishing the job.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

“This is a huge milestone toward what would be the largest river-restoration effort ever undertaken,” said Steve Rothert, California director of American Rivers, a national nonprofit river conservation group. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, but PacifiCorp went on record in front of the world and said this is a good deal and good policy.”

It has taken several years for the stakeholders to reach an agreement. Talks of removing the dams began in 2002 after a federally ordered change in water flow led to the die-off of 33,000 salmon.

But negotiations between PacifiCorp, California, Oregon, the federal government, fishermen and various Indian tribes became more serious as the problems with the salmon fisheries came to a head this year. There have been devastating declines in the number of spawning salmon in both the Klamath and Sacramento River basins. The paltry numbers forced regulators for the first time to ban all ocean fishing of Chinook salmon this year in California and Oregon.

From the New York Times:

In a conference call Thursday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, a longtime opponent of dam removal in his native Idaho, hailed the provisional agreement as ending a bitter struggle among conservationists, Indian tribes and fishermen in the Klamath basin on one side and farmers and local communities on the other.

All the parties had coped with worst-case situations in the past decade. In 2001, irrigators had their water shut off, crippling agricultural production. In the dry year of 2002, the Interior Department ordered water distributed to irrigators and tens of thousands of salmon in the Klamath died; in 2007, low salmon populations in the Klamath led to sharply curtailed commercial fishing.

“After living through moments that would tax the character of most anyone, the good people of the basin came together,” Mr. Kempthorne said.

Gov. Theodore R. Kulongoski of Oregon, a Democrat, said the provisional agreement would be “a model not only for the West but the rest of the country of how the federal and state governments and private industry can work together.”

But not everyone is happy, says the Los Angeles Times:

But the deal, which could require fiscally strapped California to finance $250 million of the demolition costs, came under immediate attack from foes who called it a scheme riddled with loopholes that favor farmers and other allies of the outgoing president.

The Los Angeles Times explains:

Foes of the agreement said it makes no sense to strike a deal weeks before Barack Obama becomes president. “It’s just nutty to commit to this with Bush heading out the door,” said Tom Schlosser, an attorney for the Hoopa tribe of Northern California.

He and other foes say PacifiCorp might exploit the agreement as a delaying tactic, arguing that the deal has loopholes that allow the company to back out as late as 2012.

In the meantime, they said, the agreement will essentially shut down California’s water quality hearings on the Klamath dams.

Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild said the deal also links dam removal to the $1-billion restoration package he believes favors farmers over fish. “This has been a well-orchestrated campaign by the Bush administration taking advantage of a desire for dam removal to sell another package that’s actually bad for salmon and wildlife,” he said.

The deal is seen as good news for efforts towards restoration of salmon on the Snake and Columbia rivers, says the Idaho Statesman:

In the past two weeks, the political dynamics of the Columbia and Snake River salmon debate changed dramatically. The election of new U.S. senators in Idaho and Oregon - one a Republican and the other a Democrat - may signal the coming of expanded talks on salmon and dams.

And Thursday, the Bush administration put its weight behind a plan to remove four dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California - a major shift in the government’s position on dams in the West.

The Klamath plan not only helps salmon but also allows irrigators enough water to continue their farming operations. The issues surrounding the dams, salmon and water are remarkably similar to those faced on the Snake River. “This shakes the foundation of salmon recovery,” said Bill Sedivy, executive director of Idaho Rivers United. “It shows that even conservatives are willing, when it makes sense, to take dams down.”

At the least, it signals a newfound willingness for all sides to come back to the table on an issue that has pitted them in a deadlock as solid as the dams themselves.

Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org covers the mixed response from environmental groups:

In a statement issued today, Malena Marvin of the Klamath Riverkeeper said the organization is “cautiously optimistic” about a tentative, non-binding Agreement in Principle to remove four of PacifiCorp’s Klamath dams. “While the Agreement in Principle does provide a path toward dam removal, a Final Agreement has not yet been signed and several important issues have not been resolved,” said Marvin.

Klamath Riverkeeper has served as a watchdog over PacifiCorp’s water quality and environmental justice issues over the last several years, and will continue pressuring PacifiCorp to comply with clean water laws until the dams are removed. “After all the work we’ve put in advocating for removal of these dams, it feels good to hear the words ‘dam removal’ come out of PacifiCorp headquarters, and we applaud the bold stance stakeholders and policy makers have taken,” Marvin said. “However, we won’t throw our party until we see the Final Agreement, and we’re satisfied the terms of that agreement will keep fish alive until 2020 on the Klamath River. Tribal members, fishermen, conservationists, and local people have logged a lot of miles fighting for this river. We’re not about to stop until we see the water flowing free again,” added Marvin.

California Trout, a conservation organization that has been involved in talks among conservationists, farmers, Tribes, and other stakeholders for several years over the potential removal of the PacifiCorp dams, also praised the agreement. “Today’s announcement of an Agreement in Principle among the federal government, the California and Oregon state governments, and PacifiCorp lays the groundwork for the eventual removal of these dams and the return of the fish to their historic spawning and rearing grounds,” said Brian Stranko, CEO of California Trout. “California Trout is very pleased to see that an Agreement in Principle has been reached between the governments and PacifiCorp. PacifiCorp acknowledgement that dam removal is in the best interest of their shareholders and ratepayers makes this a win-win situation for the fish and the company.”

Not all environmental groups and Indian Tribes are supporting the agreement. Oregon Wild is opposing the deal because they believes it shifts away the responsibility from PacifiCorp and provides no guarantees for dam removal. Other conservation organizations are now also reviewing the document.

“Everyone wants dam removal, but why are we letting the Bush administration dictate Klamath Basin policy?” said Sean Stevens, spokesman for Oregon Wild, a group that was kicked out of settlement negotiations. “This is the same administration that caused the worst fish kill in U.S. history. Now the administration is setting up a deal with all sorts of ‘off ramps’ and lets PacifiCorp off the hook. We already have processes like the 401 Clean Water Permit process and the FERC licensing that have found that removing the dams would be less expensive than installing fish ladders.”

Clifford Lyle Marshall, Chairperson of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, criticized the agreement for its non-binding status - and questioned why there was a rush to sign the pact in the final days of the Bush administration. “While many are applauding the AIP as a first step towards dam removal, it’s essentially a gentleman’s agreement that doesn’t bind any of the parties and provides lots of ‘off ramps’ for PacifiCorp,” said Marshall. “It is not an agreement to take down the dams.

Marshall was also concerned about the timelines in the agreement. The pact states that the federal government will not have to finish their analysis of whether the dams should be removed until March 31, 2012 - and then wouldn’t initiate dam removal until 2020. Although there are some interim measures to help fish in the agreement, he feels that they are probably insufficient for fish survival through the time dam removal is completed. In addition, he criticized the agreement for circumventing the FERC relicensing process, as well as the Clean Water Act 401 permitting process required for relicensing dams.

“How will requiring no change on the Klamath Dam’s operations until 2020 impact the salmon?” asked Marshall. “Keeping the water in the current quality and quantity on the river will have a severe impact upon Klamath salmon.”

He also noted that the agreement will require legislation by the state and federal governments authorizing the money to remove the dams, as well as legislative approval by the state of Oregon to set the power rates to offset the costs of dam removal to PacifiCorp. “This agreement is turning into a billion dollar bailout by the taxpayers without really addressing salmon restoration,” Marshall concluded. “This whole process is a manipulation of what is now a lame duck administration and I would as soon wait until the next administration takes a fresh look at the Klamath issue.”

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November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Salmon

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Public agencies oppose new threat to statewide water supply; California Fish & Game Commission’s proposed restrictions to address fish decline called “major threat” and “without merit”

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 14, 2008 at 7:36 am

From the State Water Contractors, this press release:

Sacramento, CA – The State Water Contractors, a statewide organization of 27 public water agencies, voiced serious concern today regarding California Fish & Game Commission proposed regulations that could impose drastic new restrictions on pumping out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) to protect longfin smelt, a small fish species that is found in several estuaries along the northern Pacific Coast. The Commission will consider these proposed regulations, which public water agencies consider a major potential threat to statewide water supply, in a hearing this Friday.

The California Department of Water Resources estimates these restrictions could reduce water supplies by approximately one (1) million acre-feet in wet and average year conditions and by 600,000 acre-feet in dry conditions from both the State Water Project (SWP) and federal Central Valley Project (CVP). In average year conditions, these constraints represent approximately 17% of anticipated supply for the two projects, which serve as California’s primary water delivery systems.

These proposed restrictions are in addition to severe cutbacks already imposed to address the decline of another similar fish species, the Delta smelt. Last year, a federal judge cut 660,000 acre-feet from the water system, a 31% reduction that could have served 5.3 million Californians for one year. In a worst case scenario, restrictions to protect both Delta smelt and longfin smelt in 2009 could amount to nearly a 50% slash in water deliveries from the state’s primary water delivery systems.

“If the Fish and Game Commission adopts these draconian proposals, we’ll be looking at a scary situation,” said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors.  “The significant drawbacks of this proposal are way out of proportion to its benefits — there’s no guarantee that these restrictions will even protect the fish. We are in the midst of a governor-declared drought and the worst economic downturn in recent memory. This is the wrong time to propose regulations that could have severe impacts on California’s economy while offering little, if any, help to the longfin smelt.”

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November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

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Dept of Fish & Game discovers record size Chinook salmon on survey of Lower Battle Creek

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 13, 2008 at 6:35 am

From Dan Bacher of FishSniffer.com:

In a year when the Central Valley fall Chinook salmon population has reached a record low level, one of the largest salmon ever recorded in California was found dead of natural causes in lower Battle Creek near Red Bluff last month by a Department of Fish and Game (DFG) survey crew.

The fish was discovered a time when fishing and environmental groups are alarmed that an executive order by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued earlier this year could further threaten imperiled populations of Central Valley and Klamath River salmon by cutting the staff needed to conduct surveys of spawning salmon. The order, made during the budget impasse between the Governor and Legislature, terminated temporary help positions from the states payroll.

According to today’s news release from the DFG, the biologists measured the dead fish to estimate what the live weight of it would have been. They used a standard size-to-weight formula to determine the approximate live weight.

Based on measurements of the fish (51 inches long), it could have surpassed the current state angling record for a Chinook salmon of 88 pounds. Biologists estimated the fish to have been between five and six years of age.

I have counted tens of thousands of salmon during my career and this is the biggest I have ever seen, said Doug Killam, DFG Associate Fisheries Biologist. When alive, it could have weighed more than the largest Chinook officially recorded in California, an 88-pound fish caught in the Sacramento River.

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November 13, 2008 · Filed Under Endangered Species & Wildlife, Salmon

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Dan Bacher commentary: Could Army Corps wetlands project imperil Bay/Delta fisheries?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 12, 2008 at 2:29 pm

From Dan Bacher of the Fish Sniffer:

Keith Fraser, owner of Loch Lomond Bait and Tackle in San Rafael, and other anglers and conservationists are very very worried that an “aquatic transfer facility” for dredge spoils proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers could be a disaster for the fisheries of San Pablo Bay. Here’s an excellent article about this issue by Nels Johnson of the Marin Independent Journal, followed by a post about tonight’s hearing on the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance website.

“The Bureaucrats call it an ‘aquatic transfer facility,’ but it’s really a plan to dig a huge hole in the middle of San Pablo Bay and dump dredge spoils there, then pump the material to Hamilton Field where a 2,500-acre wetland restoration project is under way,” said Johnson.

The Bay-Delta Estuary is in its greatest environmental crisis ever. Four pelagic (open water) fish species - Delta smelt, longfin smelt, threadfin shad and juvenile striped bass - and Central Valley salmon have collapsed to record low population levels, thanks to record Delta water exports and other factors.

Can we afford to implement a controversial project that, although designed to provide long term benefits for fish and wildlife through wetlands restoration, could be a potential disaster for already imperiled fish populations?

A public meeting will be held regarding this issue today, November 12, 2008 from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at the Bay Model Visitor Center, Multi-Purpose Room, 2100 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA.

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November 12, 2008 · Filed Under Endangered Species & Wildlife

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Court considers interim measures to protect California’s sensitive native fish and amphibians from fish stocking

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 12, 2008 at 2:26 pm

From YubaNet.com:

The Sacramento Superior Court has ordered the California Department of Fish and Game into talks with Pacific Rivers Council and the Center for Biological Diversity to develop interim measures to limit harm to native species caused by fish stocking. The intent is to minimize the adverse effect that hatchery-raised fish inflict on sensitive native fish and amphibian species while the Department prepares an Environmental Impact Report under the California Environmental Quality Act.

“Interim measures limiting stocking are needed to help save California’s native fish and frogs from extinction,” said Noah Greenwald, biodiversity program director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “Fish and Game should still be able to stock hatchery fish, but in places where they won’t harm native species.”

The court ruled in May 2007 that fish stocking has “significant environmental impacts” on “aquatic ecosystems” and “in particular, on native species of fish, amphibians and insects, some of which are threatened or endangered.” The court ordered the Department to analyze and mitigate the impacts of the stocking program in an Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, by the end of 2008. The Department returned to court last month to ask for a one-year extension, to January 2010, because the agency has made little progress on the EIR.

More from YubaNet.com by clicking here.

November 12, 2008 · Filed Under Endangered Species & Wildlife

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Jean P. Sagouspe commentary: New water proposal for longfin smelt makes no sense at all

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 12, 2008 at 6:27 am

From the Fresno Bee, this commentary by Jean P. Sagouspe, a farmer on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley and the president of Westlands Water District:

The state Department of Fish and Game is proposing a new set of regulations to protect the longfin smelt. If fully implemented, the Department of Water Resources estimates that the proposed regulations could cut off as much as 1 million acre-feet of water deliveries to the two-thirds of California that depends on water pumped through the Delta.

That’s on top of the 760,000 acre feet we have already lost because of court-ordered restrictions on pumping intended to benefit another species of smelt. And it comes in the middle of one of the worst droughts in history.

The restrictions probably won’t do any good, because the longfin rarely go anywhere near the pumps. But the department proposes no action at all to protect the longfin from ammonia pollution and the extensive list of other stressors that are impacting the fish.

The good news is that even if the new regulations are adopted by the Fish and Game Commission at its meeting Nov. 14, they may never trigger any cutbacks in actual water deliveries, because they address a problem that will probably never arise. So long as the longfin don’t move close to the pumps, presumably no additional reductions in pumping will be ordered.

The bad news is that this proposal is being raised at all. It points up some serious deficiencies in the way the state is approaching our water crisis.

Read more of this commentary in the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

November 12, 2008 · Filed Under Longfin Smelt

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San Joaquin River restoration bill nears passage

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 12, 2008 at 6:24 am

From the Fresno Bee:

The San Joaquin River restoration effort, which has had many near-death experiences amid federal budget concerns and farmer worries, now appears poised for congressional approval as early as next week. Seemingly endless rounds of negotiations were capped this week when negotiators resolved the lingering concerns of Los Banos area farmers on the San Joaquin Valley’s west side.

This isn’t the first time negotiators have congratulated themselves, but the latest Capitol Hill progress sounds final. “I think it should satisfy all concerned,” Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday. “As far as I’m concerned, this is it.”

The negotiations answered the lingering concerns of the “exchange contractors,” who are Los Banos-area farmers irrigating about 200,000 acres on the San Joaquin Valley’s west side. Exchange contractors agreed to give up their historic share of San Joaquin River water in exchange for delta water via the Delta-Mendota Canal, but they reserved the right to reclaim their river allocation.

With these farmers mollified about future water supplies, the stage is set for the river restoration bill to be passed as part of an omnibus public lands package.

The public lands bill contains upward of 140 separate parks, wilderness and environmental provisions. Feinstein said “the odds are even” the Senate will take up the package during a brief lame-duck session next week; if it doesn’t, Congress will consider the legislation next year.

“I think this thing is ready to go,” Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, said Tuesday.

Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

An editorial by the Fresno Bee says the deal is the best agricultural interests could get, and is better than any alternatives:

The settlement requires federal approval and funding. The money was the hang-up over the past two years, as many in Congress balked over the $250 million price tag.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who sponsored the Senate version of the legislation and worked to sort out the knotty details, rewrote the bill to provide $88 million in guaranteed river restoration funding. That helped break the logjam, but it means the balance of restoration funds must be sought in future years.

This has been a difficult two-decade passage. It might have saved everyone a great deal of costly litigation if Friant Dam hadn’t been built and water diverted from the river. But then a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy wouldn’t have grown up and down the east side of the Valley. Dozens of small communities rely on the farms that are supplied by water from behind Friant Dam, and there are plenty of anxieties about what will happen if that water is restored to the river.

In this case the law was clearly on the side of the environmentalists, and there was every indication that the courts would have ordered even more water restored to the river if the case had proceeded. It is galling to many in agriculture, but the settlement is almost certainly the best deal they could get.

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

San Joaquin County farmers and others have generally supported the settlement, hoping additional flows in the San Joaquin River would boost water quality in the Delta:

However, it’s not clear how much extra water will actually reach the area, Manteca farmer Alex Hildebrand said. The portion of the river covered by the settlement extends north only as far as the mouth of the Merced River; any extra water may be pumped back upstream to be used again by farmers, he said.

More from Stockton’s Record by clicking here.

November 12, 2008 · Filed Under San Joaquin River Restoration

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