Tag Archives: Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

Critics rip feds’ “half-baked” plan to save California salmon

Fishing groups and water suppliers fought the Biden administration’s proposed drought rules for California’s water system, telling a federal judge Friday the emergency plans won’t stop the demise of endangered salmon. The rules call for new water temperature targets and improved collaboration between federal and state officials on the management of California’s two main water conveyance systems. But the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and other conservation groups cast the “interim operations plan” as a half-baked measure that will lead to a third consecutive year of salmon die-offs. >click to read< 17:36

Californians urge Gov Newsom pause in Delta Tunnel planning during Coronavirus crisis

The state of California is continuing ahead with plans for the Delta Tunnel, a project to divert more water from Northern California for San Joaquin Valley agribusiness and Southern California water agencies, in spite of the COVID 19 global pandemic. Fishermen, Tribal leaders, conservationists, environmental justice advocates, scientists, many elected leaders, family farmers, Delta business owners and the general public oppose the construction of the environmental and economic damage it will cause to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, West Coast fisheries and the people of California. Dan Bacher reports, >click to read< 17:37

What About the Fish?!! Trump signs memo to send more water to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness

“Western water mismanagement has been horrendous for commercial, recreational, and guide fisheries in California,” said Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) executive director Noah Oppenheim in a statement. “Water users have sucked our rivers dry for far too long, and the fish have been paying the price.”,,, “Just last month the Secretary of Commerce declared our 2016 and 2017 fishing seasons to be official federal fishery disasters. >click to read<09:00

Trading Salmon for Almonds

mike hudsonNorthern California fishermen have endured an extremely difficult year. Fishery managers closed the entire commercial salmon fishing season for half of June and all of July in much of Northern California, and in general, ocean fishing has been poor the past few years off the California coast. The drought is to blame, along with excessive water diversions from the streams where Chinook salmon spawn. So it’s frustrating for commercial fishermen like Mike Hudson of Berkeley to hear that another part of the state’s food industry—almonds—is expecting a record crop in 2016. Almond farmers draw water from the same river systems in which Chinook salmon lay and fertilize their eggs, and to Hudson—a longtime critic of unsustainable agriculture, including growing thirsty crops like almonds in the dry San Joaquin Valley—it appears as though the farmer’s gain is his loss. Read the story here 18:31

Friday Must Reads: Brown Admin. Official Admits Water Tunnels Won’t Save Delta; Brown Urges Feds to Fast-Track Tunnels Despite Concerns They Will Harm Fish

1. A top official in the Brown administration has admitted that the governor’s controversial plan to build two giant water tunnels in the Sacramento area won’t help save the collapsing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the LA Times$ reports. Congressional Democrats, who strongly question the multi-billion-dollar tunnel plan, have responded to the comments made by,,,continued

Bay Delta Conservation Plan will fail to restore the estuary by Dan Bacher

Tuesday, March 20 was a busy day for Restore the Delta (RTD), a coalition opposed to the Brown administration’s rush to construct massive peripheral tunnels to divert millions of acre-feet of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to corporate agribusiness, oil companies and Southern California developers.  continue reading