The Yurok Tribe, the largest Indian Tribe in California, is urging Yurok Citizens and Allies to voice their support for a plan to manage the Trinity River, the largest tributary of the Klamath River, in a “more holistic manner.” By Dan Bacher In a statement issued yesterday, the Tribe said it “fully supports the Trinity River Winter Flow Variability […]
Yesterday, the national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch released “Big Ag, Big Oil and California’s Big Water Problem,” a report detailing for the first time California’s most egregious corporate water misuses. By Dan Bacher “The piece pinpoints industrial agriculture as among the worst offenders, swallowing large portions of California’s water resources and exporting billions […]
Yesterday, Save California Salmon released its first episode of the Western Water Justice podcast, “Envisioning Justice on the Klamath River with Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy”. The first episode of the podcast was released today in honor of indigenous People’s Day, according to Save California Salmon. By Dan Bacher “The Western Water Justice podcast aims to highlight […]
Sejal Choksi-Chugh, Executive Director of the San Francisco Baykeeper, believes that “it’s nuts” to ask California’s urban water users to voluntarily reduce water use while allowing almond, walnut, and pistachio growers to use big amounts of water during a record drought. By Dan Bacher On July 15, Governor Gavin Newsom added nine counties to the regional drought state of emergency and […]
I have been eager to bring this week’s guest to the show to talk about how hunters and anglers feel about climate change. In the end, we talked about so much more. Welcome to the show this week our old friend Rob Sisson. By Chelsea Henderson EcoRight News/ RepublicEN He’s a Michigander. He’s a Montanan. He’s […]
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, resigned in protest Friday from the Stakeholder Engagement Committee (SCE), for the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCDCA). By Dan Bacher “When our good faith efforts produce no results and are met with resistance, Restore the Delta will shift and move into a new direction to […]
As we stated in our Sunday newsletter, the Newsom Administration is trying to move forward with disingenuous Delta watershed restoration bills that replace water with habitat (instead of doing both). This is part of their full court press to create “voluntary agreements” to fill the Delta tunnel. By Dan Bacher (Updated Action Alert from Restore the […]
On August 26, three environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal District Court challenging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation over extra groundwater pumping plans by Sacramento River water districts. The filing of the suit by AquAlliance, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, and the California Water Impact Network was followed on Wednesday, September 1, by a motion […]
Intensive pumping of aquifers during drought can speed up deterioration of groundwater quality, a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reveals, “The results highlight clean drinking water supply vulnerabilities in California and other western states currently experiencing record drought conditions,” according to the USGS. The study “Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater […]
For many years, federal, state and corporate proponents of building more dams in California have touted cold water river releases provided by increased water storage behind dams as a key tool in “saving” struggling salmon and steelhead populations. Yet a just published study by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, Dams Ineffective for Cold-Water Conservation – 8/25/21, has found […]
The U.S. government announced its first-ever water shortage declaration for the Colorado River on Aug. 16, 2021, triggering future cuts in the amount of water states will be allowed to draw from the river. The Tier 1 shortage declaration followed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s forecast that the water in Lake Mead – the largest reservoir in the U.S., […]
The below Delta Conveyance Update by Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta (RTD), “with the help of friends,” indicates that “the operations conditions for water quality under the proposed are getting worse” under the proposed changes by DWR under the single tunnel than under the twin tunnels — and “the suggested operations are worse for salmon” than under the California […]
On August 10, the Hoopa Valley Tribe advised Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland that Donald Trump’s policies remain a threat to the Tribe’s fishery and California’s environment. Here is the full press release from the Tribe: At Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s August 10 Tribal Leaders Roundtable in Eureka, Hoopa Chairman Joe Davis thanked Haaland for […]
Yesterday, California DWR State Water Project operations managers took the Hyatt Powerplant at Lake Oroville offline as the lake dropped to its lowest-ever recorded water level. By Dan Bacher The current water level is only 641.39 feet above sea level, approximately 259.61 feet from maximum pool. The lake is holding 860,338 acre-feet of water, 24 percent of […]
California officials blamed the climate crisis-fueled drought and earlier lack of snowmelt in announcing Thursday that, for the first time ever, historic low water levels forced the hydropower plant at Lake Oroville to be taken offline. By Andrea Germanos Common Dreams The development comes amid a massive drought gripping the western United States, with entire […]