As the three latest fish surveys on the Delta reveal that the Delta smelt is virtually extinct in the wild, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced an initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation of 0 percent for state water contractors in 2022, with the exception of certain health and safety needs. By Dan Bacher DWR also announced several […]
Tribal activists, drinking water advocates and commercial and subsistence fishers are asking the public to stand with them in the fight for both the Trinity and Sacramento River salmon by supporting a California state process to restore flows in California’s largest rivers, and by fighting a proposal for a twenty square mile reservoir, the Sites […]
Time is running out for the Delta smelt, once the most abundant fish in the entire Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. For the fourth October in a row, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has caught zero Delta smelt in its Fall Midwater Trawl Survey of the Delta. By Dan Bacher The smelt is now near […]
If built, the Newsom Administration’s Delta Tunnel (Delta Conveyance) would be potentially the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history. The multi-billion dollar project would hasten the extinction of endangered Delta and longfin smelt, Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento winter run and spring run Chinook salmon, green sturgeon and other fish species, as well as imperil salmon […]
Yesterday, Save California Salmon, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), and 12 California environmental organizations joined Klamath River Tribes in asking the California State Water Resources Control Board to establish permanent instream flow requirements for the Scott and Shasta Rivers, two of the Klamath River’s largest tributaries, according to a press release from […]
In a recent website post entitled “The Myths and Facts — Sacramento Valley Salmon,” (norcalwater.org/…) the Northern California Water Association (NCWA) attempts to minimize the impact of a big fish kill this summer on Butte Creek. By Dan Bacher The same assertions are found here on a later post. NCWA states: “The return of spring-run Chinook to the holding […]
On October 27, Fresno Superior Court Judge D. Tyler Tharpe tossed out the Westlands Water District’s proposed permanent federal water contract from the Central Valley Project (CVP) that would have allocated roughly double the amount of water that Los Angeles residents use in a year. By Dan Bacher Tharpe found Westlands, the largest federal irrigation district in the […]
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 […]
I urge everybody to call Governor Newsom at (916) 445-2841 and ask him to sign SB 821 to restore funding for the Delta Independent Science Board, or send him a message using this form: https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/. By Dan Bacher Deirdre Des Jardins explains on her California Water Research blog (cah2oresearch.com) the background behind the Delta Independent Science […]
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 […]
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 […]
While most California farms and ranches face water regulations to save dwindling water resources and protect fisheries, Siskiyou County’s Scott Valley alfalfa growers continue to pump groundwater with no regulatory oversight. The river is now a series of shrinking puddles full of Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed Coho salmon, according to an August 13 press release […]