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Topic: Anadromous Fish Restoration

Overview April 24, 2014

Anadromous Fish Restoration

Anadromous fish are freshwater fish that migrate to sea then return to spawn in freshwater. In California, anadromous fish include coho salmon, Chinook salmon and steelhead. Those in the Central Valley have experienced significant declines from historical populations.

Of particular importance is the Chinook salmon as the species supports commercial fishing and related jobs and economic activities at fish hatcheries.

The decline in salmon numbers is attributed to a variety of manmade and natural factors including drought, habitat destruction, migratory obstacles created by water projects, unfavorable ocean conditions, pollution and introduced predator species.

The Anadromous Fish Restoration Program (AFRP), a part of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, aims to double the natural production of fish that migrate between fresh water and salt water. The goal is to boost the numbers of anadromous fish to at least twice the levels attained during the period of 1967-1991.

Since 1995, AFRP has implemented more than 195 projects through funding by Congressional appropriations and a surcharge imposed on Central Valley Project water and power contractors.

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Aquafornia news February 27, 2020 CALmatters

Water is life. It’s also a battle. So what does the future hold for California?

Scientists say climate change will bring more unpredictable weather, warmer winters and less snowpack in the mountains. These challenges and some ideas for remedies are outlined in a new plan, called the California Water Resilience Portfolio, released by Gov. Gavin Newsom in January to a mix of praise and disappointment. Below, an explanation of the state’s water development — as well as the challenges, today and tomorrow, of providing water for California’s people, places and things.

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Aquafornia news February 25, 2020 Phys.org

Study reveals hidden risks of estuary development for young salmon

A Simon Fraser University-led research team has found significant evidence that human activity in estuaries is impacting juvenile Pacific and Atlantic salmon. The team’s review of 167 peer-reviewed studies (from an initial search of 13,000) identified negative impacts from several stressors, including the effects of flood-protecting tidal gates, pollution and habitat modification.

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Aquafornia news February 21, 2020 San Francisco Chronicle

California sues Trump administration again — this time over water

A day after President Trump visited the Central Valley to celebrate a boost in water for California farms, state officials sued to block the additional water deliveries. Attorney General Xavier Becerra, in a lawsuit filed Thursday, maintains that new federal rules designed to increase pumping from the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta fail to protect salmon and other endangered fish in the delta estuary.

Related articles:

  • E&E News: Lawsuits loom as Trump opens Calif. taps
  • The Hill: California delivers swift suit after Trump orders water diversion
  • Bloomberg Environment: California sues trump over administration water plans
  • News release: Attorney General Becerra files lawsuit against Trump administration for failing to protect endangered species in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers
  • Los Angeles Times: Opinion: Trump gives politically connected farmers more water, at expense of everyone else
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Aquafornia news February 21, 2020 Eureka Times-Standard

Fishing the North Coast: Fall Klamath Chinook returns fell short in 2019

Following a promising 2018 fall Chinook salmon season on the Klamath that saw the run size trending upwards, the 2019 returns fell significantly short of expectations. Looking at the numbers presented in the PFMC “Review of 2019 Ocean Salmon Fisheries” document, it’s likely we’ll have some severe restrictions both in the ocean and in the Klamath and Trinity rivers in 2020.

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Aquafornia news February 20, 2020 The Sacramento Bee

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Trump OKs more California water for Valley farmers. Gavin Newsom promises to sue

Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a pre-emptive strike against President Donald Trump, said Wednesday he plans to sue Trump’s administration to block a controversial plan to increase water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley. Newsom’s office said he “will file legal action in the coming days … to protect highly imperiled fish species close to extinction.”

Related articles:

  • Bakersfield Californian: Trump visit unfolds as political rally
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Trump brings more water — and himself — to Central Valley farmers
  • Los Angeles Times: Trump vows more water for Central Valley farmers, less for fish. Can he deliver?
  • Associated Press: Trump delivers on pledge for wealthy California farmers
  • The Hill: Trump signs order diverting water to California farmers against state wishes
  • Redding Record Searchlight: Trump water plan blasted by Northern California tribe
  • SFGate: Trump gives speech in California falsely claiming state ’soon’ to restrict water to 50 gallons
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Aquafornia news February 19, 2020 Associated Press

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Trump delivers on water pledge for wealthy California farmers

Hoisting the spoils of victories in California’s hard-fought water wars, President Donald Trump is directing more of the state’s precious water to wealthy farmers and other agriculture interests when he visits their Republican Central Valley stronghold Wednesday.

Related articles:

  • Fox 26 News: Interior Secretary Bernhardt unveils plan to stream more water to the Valley
  • Fox 26 News: Video: California water forum in Tulare
  • ABC News Bakersfield: Locals have mixed reactions towards President Donald Trump’s visit to Bakersfield Wednesday
  • Fresno Bee: What happened at Devin Nunes water forum with Interior Secretary? We can’t tell you. Here’s why
  • Bakersfield Californian: Trump’s Bakersfield visit expected to center on increasing water deliveries from Northern California
  • San Joaquin Valley Sun: Bernhardt pitches new era of “common sense” on California’s water
  • KMJ Radio: Interior secretary speaks at California water forum in Tulare
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Aquafornia news February 19, 2020 Valley Economy

Blog: Delta voluntary agreement costs soar from $1.1 billion to $5.3 billion

In the latest update, the cost of implementing the voluntary agreements has soared by over $4 billion to a whopping $5.3 billion. Governor Newsom failed to mention the enormous and growing costs in his oped praising the voluntary agreement framework.

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Aquafornia news February 19, 2020 San Francisco Chronicle

On eve of Trump visit, critics ask why Newsom hasn’t fought president’s water moves

During President Trump’s visit to California this week, the commander in chief who campaigned on a pledge of shipping more water to Central Valley farms plans to stop in Bakersfield to boast about a promise kept. … But what confounds some who are worried that Trump’s water plan could undermine the environment is how little the state has done to stop Washington.

Related article:

  • East Bay Express: Some environmentalists are disappointed with Governor Gavin Newsom 
  • Eureka Times-Standard: Is Newsom doing enough to protect the state’s waters?
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Aquafornia news February 18, 2020 San Francisco Chronicle

Editorial: It’s time for Gov. Newsom to take a firm stand to protect the Delta

It’s time for Gov. Gavin Newsom to own up on water policy. He can either play nice with a roughshod plan from President Trump to divert crucial water flows or craft his own blueprint that balances both wildlife and California’s economy.

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Aquafornia news February 18, 2020 Klamath Falls Herald & News

Salmon Cannon company presents in Siskiyou

Though the process leading to removal of the Klamath Dams continues to march forward, numerous citizens in Siskiyou County have continued fighting to keep the dams in place. Many of those dam advocates are members of the Siskiyou County Water Users Association, which in January hosted a presentation about an alternative fish passage technology the association believes could “make it possible” for the dams to remain.

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Aquafornia news February 14, 2020 FishBio

Blog: Unloved and unstudied: Learning more about Lamprey

Lamprey may tread the line between ugly and downright frightening, but these underappreciated fish play similar ecological roles as the salmon that always seem to capture the freshwater fish spotlight.

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Aquafornia news February 14, 2020 San Joaquin Valley Sun

Costa, Cox vote to OK subpoenas to probe Valley water boost

Reps. Jim Costa (D–Fresno) and TJ Cox (D–Fresno) joined fellow Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee to grant wide-ranging subpoena power to the committee’s chair, Raul Grijalva (D–Ariz.)… A key inquiry likely to be explored by Grijalva … is to dig into the Trump administration’s issuance of new biological opinions governing the Central Valley Project.

Related article:

  • Politico: Republicans threaten reprisals as House Democratic chairman gets subpoena power
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Aquafornia news February 13, 2020 Davis Enterprise

UC Davis lab helps investigate fish-protection technology

The Department of Water Resources has partnered with the UC Davis J. Amorocho Hydraulics Laboratory to find innovative ways to investigate fish-protection technology within California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary.

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Aquafornia news February 12, 2020 AgAlert

‘Framework’ aims to aid water agreements

In the coming weeks and months, the Newsom administration, water users and conservation groups will continue to refine a framework for potential voluntary agreements intended to benefit salmon and other fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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Aquafornia news February 11, 2020 The Press Democrat

Lake Sonoma Steelhead Festival honors namesake fish and highlights river health

The local steelhead run is at the height of its roughly four-month window, when adult fish raised from eggs at the Don Clausen Hatchery return from the ocean, swimming up the Russian River and Dry Creek. Returning salmon — including wild and hatchery raised chinook and coho — make similar journeys through the watershed, but their spawning seasons are a bit different.

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Aquafornia news February 11, 2020 Napa Valley Register

Watershed forum looks to defuse Napa County water issues

The group called Water Audit California has used lawsuits to pry water releases from local reservoirs for fish and has threatened a groundwater-related lawsuit against Napa County. The group last week co-sponsored a forum to suggest another way.

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Aquafornia news February 10, 2020 Eureka Times-Standard

Summer-run steelhead are ‘top athletes’ and ‘extraordinary’

“In many ways, summer steelhead are the most extreme athletes of the steelhead, allowing them to get up to habitats higher in the watersheds like the Middle Fork Eel River in the Yolla Bolly Wilderness, their southernmost stronghold where they have unimpeded access,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Damon Goodman. “Having clear routes of passage to be able to make it up and express their life history is critical to their survival.”

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Aquafornia news February 6, 2020 Ventura County Star

Thousands served, noticed in Ventura’s water lawsuit may get reprieve

The Ventura City Council announced Monday that it may request a six-month extension from the court for the thousands who were sent legal notices or served with a court summons in the case. … The litigation dates back to 2014 when Santa Barbara Channelkeeper filed a lawsuit alleging the city of Ventura was taking too much water from the Ventura River, hurting habitat for steelhead trout and other wildlife.

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Aquafornia news February 6, 2020 The Sacramento Bee

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Gov. Newsom softens his fight against Trump in California water wars

The governor’s newest proposal signals Newsom may be softening his fight against Trump, but opening another battle. Newsom may have traded a court fight with Trump for a legal battle with the very environmentalists the Democratic administration has seen as allies.

Related articles:

  • News Release: California Natural Resources Agency/Cal EPA: State Agencies Present Framework for Voluntary Agreements to Improve Habitat and Flow in the Delta and Key Watersheds
  • News Release: Tuolumne agencies’ statement on voluntary agreements
  • News Release: Metropolitan Statement on Framework for Voluntary Agreements for Sacramento-San Joaquin River Watersheds, Delta
  • Northern California Water Association Blog: Pointing Positive for Voluntary Agreements
  • News Release: Defenders of Wildlife: Newsom Administration Appears to Backslide on Bay-Delta Conservation
  • News Release: American Rivers: California Governor Gavin Newsom Announces New Framework for Collaborative Approach To Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta Conservation
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news February 5, 2020 Maven's Notebook

Opinion: Ecologists see little difference between unimpaired and (truly) functional approaches to flow

From an ecologist’s perspective, river habitat and species population sizes and life histories were shaped by unimpaired flow patterns (including volume and natural variability) across seasons and years. Science from across the world, other regions in the US, and right here in California suggests that we can take some of that flow for other uses, but must preserve adequate volume and natural patterns of variation if we want native species to survive.

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Aquafornia news February 3, 2020 California Trout

Blog: The role of estuaries

Current research shows 11 of the remaining 21 anadromous salmonids in California are at critical risk of extinction in the next 50 years under present trends. Estuaries are especially important to the survival of juvenile salmonids given their important role, helping to increase the number of adult salmonids that survive to adulthood and return to spawn.

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Aquafornia news February 3, 2020 California Trout

Blog: Using sonar to count fish on the Eel River

To inform our conservation work on the Eel, CalTrout has teamed up with partners on this new project – The Adult Salmonid Sonar Monitoring Program – to tally the annual spawning run of Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead on the South Fork Eel River with a Sound Metrics Dual Frequency Identification Sonar camera.

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Aquafornia news February 3, 2020 California Trout

Blog: The California Environmental Flows Framework

One of the major questions fish biologists are often asked is “how much water do fish need?” In 2016, a group of scientists from California Trout, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, The Nature Conservancy, Utah State University and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, with funding in partnership from the State Water Board, began to delve into this question and others.

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Aquafornia news January 31, 2020 Healdsburg Tribune

Cal fish and wildlife monitoring effects of Healdsburg wine spill

Despite the spill, California Department of Fish and Wildlife representatives say that there looks to be no immediate negative environmental impact.

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Aquafornia news January 31, 2020 Monterey County Weekly

An effort to transform the Carmel River gets a critical stamp of approval

The multi-year, multi-agency effort to transform the lower landscape of the Carmel River into a natural floodplain took a massive step forward Jan. 28 when the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the project’s final environmental impact report.

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Aquafornia news January 28, 2020 Fairfield Daily Republic

‘Creekman’ helps Putah health from ground up

Ken W. Davis, an aquatic biologist and wildlife photographer, prefers the more isolated ambiance of nature’s waterways – and the quiet of his lab – and has been studying aquatic invertebrates for 30 years. Much of his work now is dedicated to the health of Putah Creek, and its tributaries, and has an ultimate goal of seeing an ecosystem that includes elements that existed prior to the construction of the Monticello Dam in 1957.

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Aquafornia news January 24, 2020 North Bay Business Journal

Water regulators seek $4M fine for millions of gallons discharged at Healdsburg hotel, housing project

Nearly a year after construction was halted a second time at a large resort project at the north end of Healdsburg when water-quality regulators allegedly found millions of gallons of sediment-filled stormwater running off into Russian River tributaries, the agency announced it is pursuing a $4.9 million fine against the developer.

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Aquafornia news January 24, 2020 Monterey Herald

Monterey requests water for affordable housing

The City Council passed a resolution to make a formal request of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District that it allocate additional water to develop affordable housing. … Most of the Peninsula is under a moratorium for additional water hook-ups following the cease-and-desist order instituted in 1995 when the State Water Resources Control Board ordered California American Water to stop over-pumping the Carmel River…

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Aquafornia news January 23, 2020 St. Helena Star

St. Helena on track to remove dam by end of 2020

St. Helena is on track to remove the Upper York Creek Dam by the end of 2020, restoring habitat for protected steelhead and fulfilling a longstanding legal mandate.

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Aquafornia news January 22, 2020 Noozhawk

Edison in hot water over dumping of debris, rocks into Mission Creek

Santa Barbara County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have issued notices of violation to Southern California Edison for its dumping of debris and rocks into Mission Creek near the Inspiration Point hiking trail. … Mission Creek is Santa Barbara’s largest creek, flowing from the hills of Mission Canyon through the heart of downtown and to the Westside. It is home to steelhead trout among other wildlife. 

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Aquafornia news January 22, 2020 Maven's Notebook

Reactivating our floodplains: A new way forward

At a panel discussion hosted by California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, the panelists discussed how by spreading out and slowing down water across the landscape can provide multiple benefits year-round by allowing farmers to cultivate the land during the spring and summer, and provide habitat for fish and wildlife in the fall and winter months.

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Aquafornia news January 22, 2020 Valley Economy

Blog: As water agencies balk at the tunnel’s price tag, DWR turns to a desperate ransom strategy

Since July, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and State Water Contractors have engaged in fruitless negotiations over how to pay for a single-tunnel Delta Conveyance Facility. On December 23, right before the holidays, DWR made their 6th proposal to the State WaterContractors with a major shift in approach.

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Aquafornia news January 22, 2020 Maven's Notebook

Update on the San Joaquin River Restoration Program

The main focus of the program are the barriers to fish passage for salmon from Friant Dam to the ocean and back again. There are three key barriers: the East Side Bypass Control Structure which is in the flood bypass; Sack Dam, which is the intake for Arroyo Canal for Henry Miller irrigation system; and Mendota Dam which controls Mendota Pool. The program also needs to ensure enough habitat for the fish when they return to complete their life cycle,

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Aquafornia news January 21, 2020 Environmental Health News

Weed and water woes in the legendary Emerald Triangle

In the early days, these pot farms were small and scattered. But in recent years the industry has intensified. A wave of newcomers planted larger farms, using greenhouses and artificial lights to extend the growing season and yield up to three marijuana crops in a single year. The cannabis boom has polluted waters with fertilizers, fuels and pesticides, triggered erosion that buries the rocky habitats where salmon and trout spawn and grow, and drained streams of water in the dry season.

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Aquafornia news January 21, 2020 Sonoma Index Tribune

Opinion: Beavers more than cute creatures for Sonoma Creek

The Sonoma Index-Tribune recently published a couple of articles about beavers and otters in Sonoma Creek… It’s a good sign, not just because it’s nice to know that Sonoma Valley’s main waterway is actually clean enough to support wildlife, but also because beavers can actually improve life for other critters, including my favorite, rainbow trout.

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Aquafornia news January 21, 2020 CALmatters

Opinion: Gov. Newsom must stand up to Trump on latest attack on Delta

Now Trump’s team is set to impose new environmentally damaging Bay-Delta water diversion and pumping rules. … These new rules would wipe out salmon and other wildlife by allowing wholesale siphoning of water from Northern California rivers to a few agriculture operators in the western San Joaquin Valley. 

Related article:

  • Natural Resources Defense Council: Blog: Why is DWR helping Trump weaken Bay-Delta protections?
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Aquafornia news January 21, 2020 Jefferson Public Radio

NorCal’s Shasta and Scott River salmon runs below sustainable levels

The number of Coho salmon in Northern California’s Shasta and Scott rivers in 2019 was too low to sustain a viable population. That’s according to a just-released report from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The most recent count identified only 334 Coho on the Scott, and 61 on the Shasta.

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Aquafornia news January 21, 2020 The Modesto Bee

State senate candidates can’t escape the water wars. They disagree about high-speed rail

The territory encompassed by the 5th State Senate District has been a battleground for California’s complex water politics. So it’s not surprising the two Democrats and three Republicans running to succeed Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, who is terming out this year, might tap dance around questions regarding Tuolumne and Stanislaus river flows and water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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Aquafornia news January 17, 2020 FishBio

Blog: Stream to sea and back again: Modeling the fall-run Chinook salmon lifecycle

The Central Valley fall-run population is a fraction of its historic size and continues to face challenges as a result of factors that range from loss of habitat and changing ocean conditions to pressures from predation and harvest in freshwater and the ocean. Even under good environmental conditions, fall-run Chinook face a slew of challenges over the course of their lives.

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Aquafornia news January 16, 2020 Maven's Notebook

Delta Stewardship Council: Briefing on the 2019 update to the State of the Estuary Report

At the December meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, Caitlin Sweeney, Director of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, briefed the Council on the 2019 update to the State of the Estuary report. She began with some background on the Partnership.

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Aquafornia news January 16, 2020 KCET

State-federal water deal takes bite from L.A.’s supply

With virtually no public notice, state officials quietly gave away a significant portion of Southern California’s water supply to farmers in the Central Valley as part of a deal with the Trump administration in December 2018. One year later, it remains unclear why the California Department of Water Resources signed the agreement…

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Aquafornia news January 15, 2020 Marin Independent Journal

West Marin coalition aims to boost Walker Creek fish habitat

West Marin ranchers and a local conservation group are teaming up to plan habitat restoration projects along Walker Creek to restore the once bountiful, but now diminished, runs of coho salmon and steelhead trout. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife awarded the Point Reyes Station-based Marin Resource Conservation District a nearly $350,000 grant this month…

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Aquafornia news January 14, 2020 Chico Enterprise-Record

Kids take part in salmon life cycle at Riverbend Park

As they walked to the river’s edge holding baby salmon in cups, second graders warned the tiny fish of predators before gently setting them free into the water. Two classes from Oakdale Heights Elementary School took part in a salmon study that came to a close Friday at Riverbend Park in Oroville.

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Aquafornia news January 13, 2020 The Fresno Bee

Opinion: Save the San Joaquin? Fresno County should reject Cemex proposal for deeper gravel mine

Yes, aggregate mining on the San Joaquin has been going on for more than a century. But with production tapering off and newer operations opening on the nearby Kings River, it was generally assumed the poor San Joaquin would finally be given a break… Unfortunately, a proposal by Cemex threatens to dash those hopes while ensuring another century of heavy industry on California’s second-longest river…

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Aquafornia news January 13, 2020 KRCR TV

Habitat restorations for endangered salmon

Biologists, heavy equipment operators, government agencies, and non-profits all working together. Hopefully, they’re major steps toward restoring the endangered chinook salmon winter run in the Sacramento River.

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Aquafornia news January 10, 2020 The Grass Valley Union

Film by Truckee local to be featured at Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City

What started as a plan for a fun trip down the Sacramento Rver turned into a storytelling mission for Mitch Dion and his friend Tom Bartels, who set out to interview farmers, politicians and others who were impacted by the river.

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Aquafornia news January 10, 2020 The Sacramento Bee

Project to restore American River for native fish leads to surge in salmon nests

The American River is seeing an increase in native fish nests following a fall project carried out by federal, state and local agencies to re-establish natural spawning habitats.

Related article:

  • Association of California Water Agencies: Blog: New habitat restoration project nurtures record number of salmon nests
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Aquafornia news January 10, 2020 Siskiyou Daily News

Opinion: Save the Chinook and Coho salmon

Every year since 2014, I have petitioned the State Water Resources Control Board to end the widespread practice of irrigation, especially of cattle pastures, outside the legal irrigation season. So far, however, State Water Board staff have not taken effective action to end the illegal water use and the resulting degradation of Scott River stream ecosystems…

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Aquafornia news January 9, 2020 East Bay Express

California’s salmon barely survived the 20th Century. Will they vanish before the next one?

Since 2015, the state’s commercial fishermen have reported nearly record-low catches. Fish hatcheries produce most of the salmon caught in California today, and with much of their inland habitat badly degraded, truly wild salmon are scarce. But a small circle of biologists and fishermen believe they can revive California’s legendary Chinook to something resembling its historic glory.

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Aquafornia news January 7, 2020 California WaterBlog

Blog: Rapid changes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta both diminish scientific certainty and increase science’s value

These changes will be substantial, multi-faceted, and often rapid. Some changes will be irreversible. Many changes are inevitable. Some will say today’s Delta is doomed. It will be important for California to develop a scientific program that can help guide difficult policy and management discussions and decision-making through these challenges.

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Aquafornia news January 6, 2020 Klamath Falls Herald & News

Merkley facilitates follow-up summit on sucker recovery

Federal agency representatives on Friday night kept the conversation going with U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley about continued efforts to save two Klamath Basin sucker species from extinction. … Merkley has delivered $23.5 million to the Basin since 2013 to find a way toward a solution. He recently secured $11 million for sucker recovery efforts, including $5.1 million for the Klamath River.

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Aquafornia news January 6, 2020 Ventura County Star

Opinion: Collaborative path forward to protect our most precious water resource

Over the next few weeks, all owners of any real property that overlies the watershed’s four groundwater basins, as well as users who take or could take water from the Ventura River, will receive a notification or summons about the court proceedings as part of an ongoing legal process and as required by the court.

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Aquafornia news January 2, 2020 KSRO

Audio: New federal guidelines for diverting California water to take effect soon

The new guidelines call for diverting more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to agribusiness and urban areas further south. Barbara Barrigan-Parilla with the group Restore the Delta, says despite Newsom indicating he was going to sue over the new federal guidelines, that hasn’t happened yet.

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Aquafornia news January 2, 2020 Capital Public Radio

Young salmon defend themselves against climate change by eating more — but there’s a catch

The fish’s growth rates peaked at average water temperatures of 61.8 degrees fahrenheit, and what Lusardi calls an “unheard of” maximum weekly temperature of 70. So, how did the cold-water fish survive the warmer temperatures? There was enough food — aquatic invertebrates like freshwater shrimp or mayflies — in the water to compensate for the rise in temperature.

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Aquafornia news December 19, 2019 Stockton Record

Mokelumne River salmon come back in big numbers

Large numbers of fall-run Chinook salmon have returned to the Mokelumne River in Clements this fall despite challenging salmon fishing on the river and adjacent sloughs this season. A total of over 12,658 salmon have gone over Woodbridge Dam in Lodi as of Dec. 10, according to William Smith, manager of the CDFW’s Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery.

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Aquafornia news December 19, 2019 Maven's Notebook

Panel discussion: The building blocks of success in the Delta

Despite efforts over decades, the Delta’s delicate ecosystem and species continue to decline. … At the 2019 ACWA Fall Conference, Vice Chair of the State Water Board DeDe D’Adamo, Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth, and Delta Stewardship Council Susan Tatayon gave their thoughts on moving forward in the Delta in this panel discussion moderated by the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Director Ellen Hanak.

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Aquafornia news December 19, 2019 Maven's Notebook

Panel discussion: The building blocks of success in the Delta

Despite efforts over decades, the Delta’s delicate ecosystem and species continue to decline. … At the 2019 ACWA Fall Conference, Vice Chair of the State Water Board DeDe D’Adamo, Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth, and Delta Stewardship Council Susan Tatayon gave their thoughts on moving forward in the Delta in this panel discussion moderated by the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Director Ellen Hanak.

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Aquafornia news December 17, 2019 Oceanographic Magazine

Manipulation of rivers jeopardises resilience of native Chinook salmon

The heavy management of river systems in California is causing a compression in the migration timing of Chinook salmon to the point that they crowd their habitats. As a result, they might miss the best window for entering the ocean to grow into adults.

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Aquafornia news December 17, 2019 Fairfield Daily Republic

State awards $5.5M for Hill Slough wetland restoration, research project

Ducks Unlimited has received nearly $5.58 million to restore 603 acres of managed seasonal wetlands to tidal wetlands in the Hill Slough Wildlife Area of the Suisun Marsh. The grant also will fund research on greenhouse gasses in the wetlands.

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Aquafornia news December 17, 2019 Roll Call

California water politics complicate House panel’s oversight

House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona wants his committee to give him subpoena authority for multiple possible investigations, but California Democrat Jim Costa may vote against that as the panel considers whether Interior Secretary David Bernhardt improperly influenced a decision to send more water to his district.

Related article:

  • San Joaquin Valley Sun: Costa, Cox in pickle as House panel wants to probe Valley water boost
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Aquafornia news December 16, 2019 KQED Science

Restoration of a San Mateo County creek reopens a gateway for endangered salmon

Lower Butano Creek had been clogged by a mile-and-a-half long plug of sediment where the stream once flowed through the marsh to meet the ocean. … In June, the resource conservation district, in partnership with California State Parks and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, embarked on a $7 million restoration project to remove the sediment dam blocking Butano Creek.

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Aquafornia news December 16, 2019 NOAA Fisheries

Blog: Salmon lose diversity in managed rivers, reducing resilience to environmental change

The manipulation of rivers in California is jeopardizing the resilience of native Chinook salmon. It compresses their migration timing to the point that they crowd their habitats. They may miss the best window for entering the ocean and growing into adults, new research shows. The good news is that even small steps to improve their access to habitat and restore natural flows could boost their survival.

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Aquafornia news December 16, 2019 Monterey Herald

More public water buyout spending to be considered

On Monday, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District board is set to consider approving $1.24 million on consultants to prepare for a potential vote by the summer on a resolution of necessity to acquire Cal Am’s local system.

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Aquafornia news December 16, 2019 Western Farm Press

Rural development loan aids Sites Reservoir Project in California

In a recent exclusive interview, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told Western Farm Press that the low-interest loan will help fund projects associated with the off-stream storage site in western Colusa County. … “The USDA is putting up almost $500 million in rural development funds,” Perdue said.

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Aquafornia news December 13, 2019 Marin Independent Journal

Editorial: Salmon’s return marks proud day in push for creek restorations

Salmon are swimming back into the Lagunitas Creek watershed. Not only is that a natural phenomena, but it is a sign that hard work at restoring habitat and promoting greater public awareness are paying off.

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Aquafornia news December 13, 2019 New Times San Luis Obispo

Opinion: Don’t go into the tunnel

Votes of support by local jurisdictions bring the project one step closer to reality. Reality is a costly giant tunnel that would divert Sacramento River water bound for the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and transport the water directly to Central Valley farms and urban users in the Bay Area and Southern California.

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Aquafornia news December 13, 2019 Deseret News

How America’s aging dams risk lives and homes

In the United States, many of the structures that were once engineering marvels are nearing the age most humans decide to retire. Despite steadily increased budgets for dam repair and maintenance, over the past four decades more than a 1,000 have failed … Although some dams are having critical maintenance done, states and private entities are also coming up with a different solution: take them down. California, once a bastion of dam building, took down 35 dams just last year, making it the leader in dam removals in 2018.

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Aquafornia news December 12, 2019 Roll Call

Powerful patrons duel over California projects in final spending package

The top Democratic and Republican leaders in the House are pushing for their own home-state projects in this year’s final spending bills — a spectacular park overlooking San Francisco Bay and a dam across the largest reservoir in California — but without agreement from each other in the negotiations’ final days.

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Aquafornia news December 12, 2019 San Francisco Chronicle

Major push to save Muir Woods salmon run includes creek, habitat work

An all-out attempt to save the historic coho salmon runs through Muir Woods intensified this year as the National Park Service began a creek restoration and habitat enhancement program in the famous redwood grove.

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Aquafornia news December 12, 2019 MyMotherLode.com

A year later, ‘water grab’ plan settlements still stuck

A year later, issues triggered by a contentious plan by state water regulators to increase unimpaired river flows for the benefit of fish remain firmly mired in red tape.

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Aquafornia news December 11, 2019 LAist.com

California salmon can fight (some) climate change threat by eating more

A new study from UC Davis, published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, offers a glimmer of hope, with a caveat. It found that salmonids can likely thrive in slightly warmer waters, provided they eat like bodybuilders trying to bulk up for a competition.

Related articles:

  • Phys.org: Can salmon eat their way out of climate change?
  • Action News Now: Helping salmon survive: Late fall release from Coleman National Fish Hatchery
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Aquafornia news December 9, 2019 Lake County Record-Bee

Blocked from Potter Valley Project planning group, Lake County interests look ahead

In August, the Lake County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution of intent to join this group, now being called the Two-Basin Partnership. But Lake County was recently denied entry, with the partnership citing “expediency” concerns and saying it would not admit any more members.

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Aquafornia news December 9, 2019 San Francisco Chronicle

Opinion: What we can learn from the saving of a San Mateo County creek

Butano Creek runs through the sleepy little farm town of Pescadero, just down the road from San Francisco and over the hill from the heart of Silicon Valley. This modest creek once connected endangered native salmon and steelhead to their historical spawning and rearing habitats through Pescadero Marsh. But the channel filled with sediment over time, ultimately blocking the connection to the Pacific for many years.

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Aquafornia news December 9, 2019 Maven's Notebook

Standing too close to the elephant: addressing scales in restoration and fisheries conservation

Dr. Rachel Johnson is a research biologist with the NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and UC Davis with over 15 years’ experience working on various aspects of conservation and fisheries biology. In this presentation from the 2019 State of the Estuary conference, Dr. Johnson discussed the importance of developing a holistic framework among aquatic ecosystems and management authorities.

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Aquafornia news December 6, 2019 The Point Reyes Light

Rains make way for Lagunitas Creek coho return

After a dry fall, the first storms of the winter kicked off the annual migration of coho salmon from the Pacific Ocean to the streams where they spawn. Over 10 inches of rain fell on Lake Lagunitas last week… Streamflows are now high enough to allow endangered central California coast coho to migrate.

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Aquafornia news December 6, 2019 Courthouse News Service

Friday Top of the Scroll: California urged to rethink 40 years of ‘piecemeal’ freshwater protections

The bitter drought validated scientists’ warnings that despite longstanding endangered species protections, the state’s outdated and overtaxed water management plans are failing in the face of climate change. … A report released Thursday by the Public Policy Institute of California recommends the state stop prioritizing individual species recovery plans and adopt holistic management methods that improve entire freshwater ecosystems.

Related article:

  • Public Policy Institute of California: A path forward for California’s freshwater ecosystems
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Aquafornia news December 6, 2019 Bloomberg Environment

Supreme Court to consider taking up water permitting case

The Supreme Court today will weigh in a closed-door conference whether to take up a dispute over states’ role in water permitting for pipelines, hydroelectric dams, and other projects. … The question in the case is whether states unlawfully extended their review time for a hydropower project on the Klamath River. It’s an issue that has cropped up in litigation over pipelines and other projects.

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Aquafornia news December 5, 2019 CALmatters

Opinion: California must change its approach to water, become more collaborative

We face an important opportunity to finally put the seemingly permanent conflicts that have defined water and environmental management in California behind us, but not if we let it drift away. This new era of opportunity springs from a common recognition that our ways of doing business have failed to meet the needs of all interests.

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Aquafornia news December 5, 2019 Maven's Notebook

Opinion: One Delta, one estuary; Connecting California through water

In her address to the State of the Estuary conference, Felicia Marcus spoke about the connections of the Delta to all Californians and the importance of working together and more broadly to solve the challenging problems before us.

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Aquafornia news December 5, 2019 Hakai Magazine

Securing SoCal water to benefit NorCal salmon

Rather than physically move water hundreds of kilometers across earthquake country between Northern California and San Bernardino, the plan involves reallocating water virtually, just as you would electronically transfer funds from one bank account to another. Once the Chino Basin Program is operational, in times of drought the southern region can draw water from the new reserve instead of from the State Water Project… That will mean water impounded by Oroville Dam can be released into the Feather River, benefitting endangered chinook.

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Aquafornia news December 5, 2019 North Coast Journal

Trinity River under siege

While local tribes celebrated a federal appellate court ruling last month upholding their senior water rights on the Klamath River, a trio of threats facing the Trinity River combine to paint a foreboding picture for local salmon populations.

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Aquafornia news December 4, 2019 San Francisco Chronicle

Fishing groups sue federal agencies over latest water plan for California

The fracas over California’s scarce water supplies will tumble into a San Francisco courtroom after a lawsuit was filed this week claiming the federal government’s plan to loosen previous restrictions on water deliveries to farmers is a blueprint for wiping out fish.

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Aquafornia news December 4, 2019 Bloomberg Environment

U.S. challenge to California water rules belongs in state court

Most of the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging California water management rules affecting the San Francisco Bay Area has been paused indefinitely so a state court can consider parallel claims the government filed there. Both suits target changes the State Water Resources Control Board made to the “water quality control plan” covering the Bay Area and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary.

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Aquafornia news December 3, 2019 California WaterBlog

Blog: Turbidity and Insights on flow-habitat-fish abundance curves in policy-making

California’s water policy community continues to be embroiled on how best to manage what remains of California’s native aquatic ecosystems, particularly for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its tributaries. One aspect of this controversy is the dedication and use of habitat and flow resources to support native fishes.

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Aquafornia news December 3, 2019 Courthouse News Service

Conservation groups sue feds over California water project opinions

The complaint says the Trump administration did not fully consider scientific facts or logic, and arbitrarily concluded that the projects would not have a damaging effect on endangered fish species, including salmon and steelhead. … The projects at issue divert water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, primarily for agricultural and municipal uses.

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Aquafornia news December 3, 2019 The Press Democrat

Future of Potter Valley power project could hinge on options for dam at Lake Pillsbury

CalTrout has identified Scott Dam, which impounds Eel River water in Lake Pillsbury, as one of five aging dams it considers “ripe for removal,” especially in the wake of PG&E’s license surrender. There is, however, a potential middle course backed by Friends of the Eel River, a Eureka-based nonprofit that has long called for the dam’s removal.

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Aquafornia news December 3, 2019 Marin Independent Journal

Muir Woods creek restoration project wraps up

The work, which started in August, focused on restoring natural habitat for the fish by removing boulder walls called ripraps along the creek banks and placing large pieces of trees into the creek. The riprap walls … channeled the water into a swift current during the rainy season, which scoured away salmon eggs and salmon fry that were attempting to survive the long year-and-a-half in freshwater.

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Aquafornia news December 2, 2019 Orange County Register

Opinion: Newsom picks fish over farms, but still gets brickbats

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has given environmentalists much of what they presumably want as it released a 610-page draft Delta environmental report recently that calls for $1.5 billion in habitat restoration among other environmental projects. … But as much as they cheered the lawsuit announcement, environmentalists were aghast at the report because the state plan will allow some additional water for farms.

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Aquafornia news December 2, 2019 The Fresno Bee

Opinion: It’s time to secure California’s water supply by raising Shasta Dam

Reliable water is critical to every aspect of the economy as more than 40 percent of the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables are grown in the Central Valley, much of that using water from the Central Valley Project (CVP) and its largest reservoir — Shasta Lake.

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Aquafornia news December 2, 2019 Monterey County Weekly

With the future of the Monterey Peninsula’s water supply—and water utility—on the line, we take a look back at how we got here

There’s a war over the future of water on the Monterey Peninsula and it’s taking place in the board chambers of half a dozen state and local government entities. It’s also taking place on social media and in the press.

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Aquafornia news November 25, 2019 Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Opinion: What’s next for Potter Valley Project?

Exactly what the Potter Valley Project will look like in the future is not set in stone. The partnership is committed to identifying solutions that meet the needs of the communities and wildlife affected by the project’s operations.

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Aquafornia news November 25, 2019 San Jose Mercury News

Editorial: Gov. Newsom’s Delta water plan is merely ‘Trump lite’

Join the crowd of California water officials if you are confused by the mixed message Gavin Newsom offered Thursday on the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. 

Related article:

  • San Francisco Chronicle: Editorial: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s muddy water policy
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Aquafornia news November 25, 2019 Comstock's Magazine

Chinook salmon — crucial to California’s fishing industry — return to Rancho Cordova’s Nimbus Fish Hatchery

The annual opening of the hatchery’s ladder provides a window into the wonders of science, but also shows the key role the hatchery system plays in keeping California’s salmon fishery healthy.

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Aquafornia news November 25, 2019 The Fresno Bee

Opinion: San Joaquin Valley’s water solution? Look north to the mighty Columbia River

Central Valley agriculture faces a looming existential water crisis from the interlocking problems of drought, climate change, and falling underground water tables. Yet the potential answer to this problem is incredibly simple and only a lack of political will may defeat it. The solution is to send south to California the abundant waters of the Columbia River.

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Aquafornia news November 25, 2019 Eureka Times-Standard

Opinion: Trinity River under threat — will our county fight back?

Lots of stories circulate about the unethical actions of Bernhardt and Gov. Newsom’s reluctance to fight Trump on water — stories about Bernhardt’s effort to get rid of scientists who concluded the new Trump Water Plan jeopardizes endangered species in the Delta. Then there’s his work to give Westlands a permanent water contract to irrigate poisoned selenium-ridden lands… What’s not being covered: the impact these projects will have on the Trinity and Klamath Rivers, and Newsom’s reluctance to stop them.

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Aquafornia news November 22, 2019 Phys.org

Study: Increase in cannabis cultivation or residential development could impact water resources

Researchers in Canada and the U.S. investigated potential reductions in streamflow, caused by groundwater pumping for cannabis irrigation, in the Navarro River in Mendocino County, California… Reporting in the journal Environmental Research Communications, they note the combination of cannabis cultivation and residential use may cause significant streamflow depletion, with the largest impacts in late summer when streams and local fish species depend most on groundwater inflows.

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Aquafornia news November 22, 2019 Western Water

Can a new approach to managing California reservoirs save water and still protect against floods?

Known as Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO), the approach centers on using the latest forecast technology to plan for the arrival of atmospheric rivers. Those are the torrents of moisture in the sky that barrel into California from the Pacific Ocean. Atmospheric rivers are critical to the state’s water supply, accounting for as much as half of its annual precipitation. But they can also cause catastrophic flooding.

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Aquafornia news November 22, 2019 Corning Observer

Fish habitat project in Tehama County completed

Work on the Rio Vista Side Channel Habitat Project in Red Bluff has been completed, marking another milestone for the Upper Sacramento River Anadromous Fish Habitat Restoration Program, with immediate results observed… Within one week of opening the side channel, endangered winter‐run Chinook juveniles were observed making use of it.

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Aquafornia news November 22, 2019 Los Angeles Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: Newsom administration sends mixed signals on Delta endangered species protections

California officials sent mixed signals Thursday when they said they will sue to block a Trump administration rollback of endangered species protections for imperiled fish — while also proposing new water operations that mimic parts of the Trump plan. The state moves reflect political pressure the Newsom administration has been under as it confronts one of California’s most intractable environmental conflicts — the battle over the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta…

Related articles:

  • Sacramento Bee: Gov. Newsom will sue Trump over environment, Delta water
  • San Francisco Chronicle: California Gov. Newsom makes move to halt Trump water grab
  • Associated Press: California to sue over federal rules governing water
  • Bloomberg Environment: California fights back over proposed Trump water rules
  • CALMatters: Opinion: California rejects federal water proposal, lays out its vision for protecting endangered species and meeting state water needs
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Aquafornia news November 21, 2019 KQED Food

Wine moguls destroy land and pay small fines as cost of business, say activists

In Napa County, adjacent to Sonoma and the source of perhaps the most expensive cabernet sauvignon outside of Bordeaux, activists are pushing back against a steady conversion of woodland into new vineyards. Kellie Anderson, an independent watchdog who has harried local officials for years to step up enforcement of environmental laws, says the county’s planning department has ignored numerous violations by grape growers.

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Aquafornia news November 21, 2019 San Joaquin Valley Sun

Westlands nearing a permanent federal water contract. What does that mean?

Westlands Water District, Fresno-based agricultural water district, is set to convert its temporary, renewable water service agreements with the Federal government into a permanent contract. And while Westlands is the first of its class to make the switch, it certainly won’t be the last water agency to do it.

Related article:

  • CALMatters: Opinion: Newsom must stop the Westlands water grab and save the San Francisco Bay-Delta
  • News release: Statement from Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands Water District, in response to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s proposed conversion of the Westlands Water District water service contract to a repayment contract
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Aquafornia news November 21, 2019 CALmatters

Opinion: Newsom must stop the Westlands water grab and save the San Francisco Bay-Delta

Initially, federal scientists wrote a draft report that found increasing water exports would harm California’s native salmon population, a species already imperiled. Those scientists were reassigned. Now, the Trump administration and David Bernhardt have released a new proposal, and guess what? Westlands can grab even more water from the Bay-Delta.

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Aquafornia news November 21, 2019 Natural Resources Defense Council

Blog: Will DWR embrace or reject the Trump biops?

On Thursday (11/21) we may find out whether the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is proposing operations of the State Water Project that are significantly more protective than the Trump Administration’s biological opinions, or whether DWR will be aligning with the Trump Administration.

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Aquafornia news November 20, 2019 Klamath Falls Herald & News

Water coalition aims to coordinate conservation efforts

The water coalition has been meeting since 2018 and started under the facilitation of Alan Mikkelsen, senior adviser to Secretary of the Interior on water and western resources. … The coalition aims to address challenges to fisheries, water supply, and waterfowl and forest health.

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Aquafornia news November 20, 2019 Fairfield Daily Republic

Water release to attract salmon into Putah Creek begins

The extra 90 cubic feet per second are designed, in part, to attract salmon up the creek – and the flows start a little later than in recent years due to the failure of state Department of Fish and Wildlife pumps in the Yolo Bypass. Rich Marovich, streamkeeper for the Solano County Water Agency and Lower Putah Creek Coordinating Committee, said because it has been so dry this fall, the later release may be beneficial.

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Aquafornia news November 20, 2019 KCET

Video: Restoring the river with the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk

For the past two centuries, California has relied heavily on the natural resources of the North Coast region, exploiting its pristine watersheds for agriculture and its forests for timber. … Now the Yurok are working with local and state organizations to revitalize the forests, rivers and wildlife, a comprehensive feat requiring collaboration among community leaders up and down the Klamath and Trinity Rivers.

Related articles:

  • KCET: Video: The surprising connection between salmon and redwood forests
  • KCET: Video: What it takes to restore a river for salmon runs
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Aquafornia news November 20, 2019 Capital Press

Agencies scrap controversial Klamath Project biological opinion

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spent months working with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to mitigate potential harm to endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake, as well as threatened coho salmon in the lower Klamath River. … However, the bureau now says it received “erroneous data” from an outside source during consultation, meaning it must scrap the plans and start over again.

Related article:

  • Klamath Falls Herald & News: Water coalition aims to coordinate conservation efforts
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Aquafornia news November 19, 2019 AgWeb

Blog: California can keep the water flowing

California is in trouble. We can’t keep the lights on, the fires out, or the air clean. Worst of all, from my perspective as a farmer, is that we’ve failed to keep the water flowing. That may change, thanks to the Trump administration.

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Aquafornia news November 18, 2019 CALmatters

Opinion: Westlands contract shakes the waterscape

California’s perpetual, uber-complex conflict over water progresses much like the tectonic plates that grind against one another beneath its surface. In much the same way, interest groups constantly rub on each other in political and legal venues, seeking greater shares of the state’s water supply, which itself varies greatly from year to year. And occasionally, there’s a sharp movement that shakes things up.

Related article:

  • Los Angeles Times: Opinion: Interior Secretary Bernhardt’s previous job raises questions about a deal for his ex-client
  • Las Vegas Sun: Editorial: Neighboring water deal reeks of cronyism
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Aquafornia news November 15, 2019 FishBio

Blog: Change is hard: The vulnerability of salmon populations to climate change

The novel and rapidly evolving challenges of global climate change will test the adaptability of all species, and some will be hit harder than others. Identifying the species and populations most vulnerable to climate change is critical to target restoration and adaptation efforts for those closest to the brink. With this in mind, climate vulnerability assessments, which are an effective method of evaluating the relative risk faced by different populations, were recently applied to Pacific salmonids

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Aquafornia news November 15, 2019 San Jose Mercury News

Editorial: California must help kill sleazy Westlands water deal

The Westlands Water District has engaged in some sleazy maneuvers over the years, but this one, which threatens the Bay Area’s water supply, tops them all.

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Aquafornia news November 14, 2019 Maven's Notebook

USFWS regional director Paul Souza explains the biological opinions

Paul Souza is regional director of the Pacific Southwest division of the US Fish and Wildlife Service… At the November meeting of Metropolitan Water District’s Water Planning and Stewardship Committee, Mr. Souza gave a presentation on the recently released biological opinions for the long-term operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.

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Aquafornia news November 13, 2019 Grist.org

Wind and solar can save the planet — can they save our water supply, too?

Hydropower facilities store water in reservoirs in order to release it in a constant flow and produce energy consistently. If wind turbines and solar panels, paired with battery storage, took the pressure off of these facilities to fill the needs of the grid during a drought, more of that water could be released downstream for agricultural use, preventing further groundwater depletion.

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Aquafornia news November 13, 2019 Chico Enterprise-Record

Feather River Fish Hatchery meets salmon harvest goal; 12 million chinook eggs collected

This fall run, while late, is about average in terms of the number of fish coming up the river. And, in terms of their condition, Crawshaw said the fish are “very healthy” and “good sizes.”

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Aquafornia news November 13, 2019 National Public Radio

Wildlife and water in U.S. forests are being poisoned by illegal pot operations

An unlikely coalition in California — including environmentalists, law enforcement agents, politicians, wildlife ecologists and representatives of the legal cannabis industry — have joined forces to try to reduce these illegal operations and the environmental threat they pose.

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Aquafornia news November 13, 2019 Red Bluff Daily News

Documentary on protecting public lands and water to be released online

After touring film festivals in two dozen cities across the country, the documentary, Visions of the Lost Sierra, will be released online Wednesday for all to view. … Visions is a short film exploring how the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork Feather River has connected communities and inspired outdoor enthusiasts for generations.

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Aquafornia news November 12, 2019 The Sacramento Bee

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Big California water district backs away from Shasta Dam expansion

The nation’s largest water agency signed an agreement that legally bars it from participating in a controversial plan to raise Shasta Dam, a move applauded by environmental groups that fiercely opposed the proposal out of fears enlarging the state’s biggest reservoir would swamp a stretch of a protected Northern California river and flood sites sacred to a Native American tribe.

Related articles:

  • News release: Attorney General Becerra secures settlement against Westlands Water District for unlawful participation in Shasta Dam project
  • Natural Resources Defense Council: Blog: Settlements constrain efforts to enlarge Shasta Dam
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Aquafornia news November 12, 2019 Vancouver Sun

Scientists breathe easier as marine heat wave off West Coast weakens

Scientists say a marine heat wave that blanketed a large area of the west coast has weakened, but the potential disruption to ocean life isn’t over yet.

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Aquafornia news November 12, 2019 The Press Democrat

Sonoma County drills wells to study groundwater sustainability

The shallow wells Sonoma County’s water agency is drilling near 11 waterways have nothing to do with delivering water to 600,000 residents of Sonoma and Marin counties. Instead, the 21 wells will serve as measuring sticks to determine whether pumping groundwater in the county’s three basins … is curbing the flow in creeks inhabited by federally protected fish and other species.

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Aquafornia news November 12, 2019 Los Angeles Times

Editorial: Trump Delta water policy threatens Stockton as well as salmon

The city’s fate is linked inextricably with the San Joaquin River… Much of the water upstream is diverted for agriculture, although a legal settlement ensures that the river no longer runs dry. Additional diversions at the downriver end … greatly reduce the amount of water that actually makes it through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the San Francisco Bay and then the Pacific. It is as if one of the state’s two great arteries … is detached from its heart.

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Aquafornia news November 12, 2019 Los Angeles Times

Feds set to lock in huge water contract for well-connected Westlands Water District

Westlands has had water service contracts with the Central Valley Project since 1963. But they were subject to renewal, when the reclamation bureau could, at least in theory, renegotiate terms. In contrast, the so-called repayment contract the bureau now proposes to award Westlands would not expire, permanently locking in the terms, including the amount of 1.15 million acre-feet of water.

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Aquafornia news November 8, 2019 FishBio

Blog: Bustin’ berms: The restoration of Tule Red

On October 15th, an excavator trundled out onto the narrow isthmus of land separating the freshwater Tule Red pond from Suisun Bay and began digging. As the salty water from Grizzly Bay began to pour through the breach, the 460-acre pond felt the push and pull of the tides for the first time in a century, beginning its transition back into marsh habitat.

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Aquafornia news November 8, 2019 Associated Press

Interior proposes coveted California water deal to ex-client of agency head

The Interior Department is proposing to award one of the first contracts for federal water in perpetuity to a powerful rural water district that had employed Secretary David Bernhardt as a lawyer and lobbyist. … Environmental groups say a permanent deal would let California’s water contractors forgo future negotiations before the public and environmental groups, further threatening the survival of endangered native fish and other wildlife that also need the water.

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Aquafornia news November 8, 2019 North Bay Bohemian

Saving salmon: Will overhauling Scott Dam save native fish?

Today, annual salmon runs in Eel River that once may have totaled a million or so adults consist of a few thousand. Lamprey eels, too, have dwindled. Now, there is serious talk of removing Scott Dam, owned by PG&E since 1930. For fishery proponents, such a river makeover is the optimal way to revive the Eel’s salmon runs.

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Aquafornia news November 6, 2019 East Bay Express

Trump administration plan allows Delta water managers to kill off winter-run Chinook salmon

Eight-hundred pages into the text of a lengthy new report, federal biologists have quietly granted government water managers permission to nearly exterminate an endangered run of Sacramento River salmon so they can send more water south from the river’s delta to farmers in the arid San Joaquin Valley.

Related article:

  • CALMatters: Opinion: Gavin Newsom must stand up to Trump’s water grab
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Aquafornia news November 6, 2019 Bakersfield Californian

Farmers urged to think big and small to survive groundwater cutbacks

The thinking started small and then grew much bigger at a gathering Tuesday in Bakersfield intended to provide a “survival toolkit” for farmers and water managers facing drastic restrictions on Central Valley groundwater pumping. … By the end of the day, however, isolationism gave way to calls for unity as speakers asserted that the only real solution was to increase the region’s water supply by as much as 10 million acre-feet per year on average by diverting water south from the Sacramento Delta.

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Aquafornia news November 6, 2019 CALmatters

Opinion: Gavin Newsom must stand up to Trump’s water grab

In October, the Trump Administration released politically manipulated “biological opinions” under the federal Endangered Species Act that dramatically weaken protections for the Bay-Delta, endangered fish species and commercially valuable salmon runs. … However, in an uncharacteristically subdued response, the Newsom Administration stated that it “will evaluate the federal government’s proposal, but will continue to push back if it does not reflect our values.”

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Aquafornia news November 5, 2019 San Joaquin Valley Sun

Opinion: With California’s water at stake, progress finally triumphs regress

Welcome to the Two States of California: one boasts one of the largest economies in the world while another is shamed with water rationing, third-world power outages, uncontrolled wildfires, an ever-expanding homeless population riddled with medieval diseases. This is the tale of the latter California and the continued alarmism about its water.

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Aquafornia news November 5, 2019 Associated Press

California seizes $1.5 billion-plus in black market marijuana

Authorities seized more than $1.5 billion worth of illegally grown marijuana plants in California this year — an amount an industry expert said is roughly equal to the state’s entire legal market — as part of an annual eradication program, officials said Monday. … Law enforcement raids often find illegal farms that have dammed or diverted public streams and dumped dangerous pesticides including carbofuran, methyl parathion and aluminum phosphate…

Related articles:

  • Los Angeles Times: Almost 1 million illegal marijuana plants seized in California
  • City News Service: State confiscates nearly 1 million marijuana plants, arrests 148 in 2019 effort to combat illegal grows
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Aquafornia news November 5, 2019 San Francisco Chronicle

Restoring a San Mateo County creek to keep new generations of fish thriving

The executive director of the San Mateo Resource Conservation District was admiring the restoration of 8,000 feet of the Butano Creek stream channel, the largest and most ambitious of a series of projects the district is spearheading to stop chronic flooding, bring back endangered fish and restore 28 acres of degraded wetlands at Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve.

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Aquafornia news November 1, 2019 California WaterBlog

Blog: Night of the living dead salmon

On a cool and misty morning somewhere south of Redding, California, jet boats roar across the tranquil Sacramento River. Armed with tridents, machetes and poleaxes, it seems akin to a scene from an action movie; except that “California Department of Fish and Wildlife” is painted on the boats.

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Aquafornia news November 1, 2019 Roll Call

Democrats’ Bernhardt probe has California’s Cox in a tough spot

Freshman Democratic Rep. TJ Cox represents some of the farmers who would likely benefit from the additional water. … Facing what could be a tough reelection fight in 2020, Cox’s future in Congress could depend on whether Bernhardt’s former client gets what it wants.

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Aquafornia news October 31, 2019 Livermore Independent

Delta group critical of federal move to change water priorities

An environmental group, highly critical of a federal agency’s newly proposed recommendations to protect endangered species in the Delta, states that they would seriously harm those species and their habitat. The new recommendations, released Oct. 22 by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, are to be used as guidelines for operating the federal pumping plant in the Delta.

Related article:

  • San Francisco Chronicle: Opinion: Gov. Newsom must counter President Trump’s attack on bay and delta species protection
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Aquafornia news October 31, 2019 Marin Independent Journal

Documentary a call to action to preserve wild salmon

There are lots of pressing environmental issues to focus on, from water shortages to deforestation to climate change. Fish hatcheries and farms wouldn’t necessarily come immediately to mind. That’s a problem, says Josh “Bones” Murphy. … Which is why “Artifishal,” the documentary he co-wrote, produced and directed for Patagonia, is a call to action. It will air Nov. 5 on Amazon Prime and iTunes.

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Aquafornia news October 30, 2019 San Jose Mercury News

Opinion: Newsom must fight Trump’s Delta fish extinction plan

The Trump administration last week launched an attack on the health of San Francisco Bay and Delta and California’s salmon fishing industry with new rules allowing big increases in water diversions from this teetering, vulnerable ecosystem. … The new Trump administration rules replace prior ones that weren’t strong enough to protect salmon and other wildlife in the last drought. They only make the situation worse.

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Aquafornia news October 30, 2019 Klamath Falls Herald & News

Klamath River Compact Commission boosts visibility

Prior to a commission meeting earlier this year, the Commission hadn’t met since 2010, according to Curtis Anderson, commission member representing the California side of the river. … “We’re seeing if we can be helpful by at least providing information and providing an opportunity for people to raise concerns concerning the Compact itself,” Anderson said.

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Aquafornia news October 25, 2019 The Wall Street Journal

Editorial: Trump’s gift to California

Amid horrific wildfires and rolling blackouts, the Trump Administration this week brought welcome relief to the Golden State by allowing more water to be sent to farmers and folks in the south. Will California liberals accept the deregulatory gift?

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Aquafornia news October 24, 2019 The Oregonian

Opinion: Klamath dam removal is not a partisan issue

Today’s noisy partisan divide concerns me and makes the thought of meaningful collaboration across parties seem impossible. However, the largest river restoration project in history, spanning the California-Oregon border, tells a hopeful story offering a blueprint for political, conservation and economic progress.

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Aquafornia news October 24, 2019 E&E News

The new weapon in the war over dam removal: Economics

The decadeslong Pacific Northwest salmon war may be nearing the end. But it’s economics, not fish, that could be the demise of four dams at the center of the fight. The dams on the Lower Snake River — besieged by conservationists and biologists for killing fish — are now battered by falling prices for renewable energy, skyrocketing replacement costs for aging turbines and a growing tab for environmental mitigation.

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Aquafornia news October 24, 2019 Politico

Thursday Top of the Scroll: California fights Trump on everything — except water

California is providing health care to undocumented immigrants while President Donald Trump wants to build a border wall, and Gov. Gavin Newsom circumvented the White House with a side deal on auto emissions standards. But when it comes to water, Trump and California are closer than you might think.

Related article:

  • San Jose Mercury News: Editorial: Newsom must not cave to Trump on Delta protections
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Aquafornia news October 23, 2019 The Sacramento Bee

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Trump rewrites Delta rules to pump more California water to Valley. Will Newsom fight him?

President Donald Trump’s administration rolled out an aggressive plan Tuesday to ship more water from the Delta to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, a move that’s certain to trigger lawsuits by environmentalists concerned about endangered fish species.

Related articles:

  • San Francisco Chronicle: Federal officials rejigger rules on water deliveries — some say at expense of fish
  • NPR: Trump plan weakens protections for California fish, diverts water to farms
  • New York Times: Trump administration moves to lift protections for fish and divert water to farms
  • San Joaquin Valley Sun: Trump administration releases plan to deliver more water to Valley
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Water Project Biological Opinions
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Aquafornia news October 22, 2019 Los Angeles Times

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Trump team weakens Delta protections for California smelt, salmon

In a move that would boost water deliveries to San Joaquin Valley agriculture and Southern California cities, federal fishery agencies are weakening decade-old endangered species protections for some of the state’s most imperiled native fish populations.

Related articles:

  • San Joaquin Valley Sun: Blog: How much water the Valley receives may change soon. Here’s why
  • CALMatters: Opinion: A new approach for managing California’s water and improving the environment
  • Natural Resources Defense Council: Blog: Bad news for the Bay-Delta tomorrow: Trump admin’s new biops
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Aquafornia news October 22, 2019 Santa Barbara Independent

Steelhead legal battle expands to Santa Maria

Los Padres ForestWatch has sued the Department of Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District, charging that Twitchell Reservoir dam operations are inflicting serious ongoing damage to the steelhead trout, a federally endangered species, that rely on the Santa Maria River.

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Aquafornia news October 21, 2019 Marin Independent Journal

Marin salmon run expected to dwindle this year

A smaller run is expected to return this year because of the lower number of spawning adults recorded a few years ago… Coho salmon spend about a year and a half in freshwater and a year and a half in the ocean before returning to freshwater to spawn and die. What’s encouraging researchers more is how well the newly hatched coho from last season are surviving.

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Aquafornia news October 17, 2019 Santa Maria Sun

State requirements face off with federal law in decision requiring more water from Lake Cachuma for steelhead

For more than 20 years, California pondered what to do about steelhead in the Santa Ynez River. On Sept. 17, the State Water Resources Control Board finally made a decision. It voted to pass an order that will increase water releases from Lake Cachuma.

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Aquafornia news October 16, 2019 The Press Democrat

Tubbs fire zone landowners felling dead trees, thinning brush to protect Santa Rosa-area creek

The project includes improvements along more than 3 miles of dirt roads, repairing culverts and building erosion control features designed to reduce sediment flow into the creek. The aim is to protect gravel nests, called redds, where female salmon and steelhead lay their eggs, suffocating the eggs as well as clogging the gills of adult fish…

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Aquafornia news October 14, 2019 Visalia Times Delta

Opinion: Newsom’s veto of Delta water bill best for California residents, farms

Agriculture is part of what makes our state’s economy strong and helps provide for all our families, which is why it is crucial that we do absolutely everything we can to protect our state’s farms and allow them to operate without the fear of major obstacles. California agriculture nearly faced such an obstacle with Senate Bill 1, which would have placed harsh regulations on water pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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Aquafornia news October 14, 2019 Action News Now

Work begins on salmon habitat projects

A major fish restoration project is underway on private property near Cottonwood. River Partners shared a video of new side channels that are being built to help the recovery of struggling wild salmon populations in the Sacramento River.

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Aquafornia news October 14, 2019 Sacramento News & Review

Governor’s veto of SB1 criticized as playing into hands of anti-environment White House

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of Senate Bill 1 means the honeymoon may be over with environmental groups who saw the bill as a bulwark to protect California’s water quality and endangered species from the Trump administration’s regulatory slashing.

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Aquafornia news October 14, 2019 Fairfield Daily Republic

Agencies release Delta-conveyed water transfer environmental reports

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority announced the environmental reports, which “analyze potential impacts of approving water transfers to increase water reliability for those suffering shortages during dry times.”

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Aquafornia news October 11, 2019 KSBY

Environmental groups file lawsuit for water releases from Twitchell Dam

A lawsuit has been filed in federal court on behalf of local environment groups to ask for water releases from Twitchell Dam to protect endangered steelhead in the Santa Maria River.

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Aquafornia news October 11, 2019 Voices of Monterey Bay

Opinion: Cal Am looks to the future

While cities on the Monterey Peninsula have been working to address housing needs and the business community is actively looking to create more jobs, there is one component they all need to complete their plans – reliable, drought-proof access to water.

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Tour November 12, 2020 - 2:30pm - 5:30pm Nick Gray Jennifer Bowles Liz McAllister

Northern California Tour 2020
A Virtual Journey - November 12

This event guided attendees on a virtual exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries to learn about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.

All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.

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Aquafornia news October 10, 2019 Marin Independent Journal

Opinion: Time for transparency in San Geronimo Creek salmon fight

Fish in San Geronimo Creek are again the source of litigation. … For the average Marinite to know what’s at stake, fish proponents and the county need to answer three obvious but, so far, unanswered questions.

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Aquafornia news October 9, 2019 Courthouse News Service

Chinook salmon flocking to revitalized San Joaquin River

A staggering number of Chinook salmon are returning to a California river that hasn’t sustained salmon for decades due to agricultural and urban demands, giving biologists hope that threatened fish are finally spawning in their native grounds without human help.

Related article:

  • San Joaquin River Restoration Program: Blog: 2019 spring-run redds set record!
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Aquafornia news October 9, 2019 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Reimagining our water system: Sites Reservoir as 21st century infrastructure

Building on the Governor’s call to “position California to meet broad water needs through the 21st Century” there are unique opportunities in the Sacramento River Basin to more effectively integrate 21st Century infrastructure into our multi-benefit water management approaches to help achieve resiliency.

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Aquafornia news October 8, 2019 Natural Resources Defense Council

Blog: Beware Trumpian claims that fish don’t need water (Part 1)

Over the past decade, state and federal agencies have continued to publish peer reviewed scientific research that largely strengthens our understanding of how the volume, timing, temperature, and quality of water – and the operations of existing dams and water diversion facilities, including the state and federal water projects – adversely affect salmon and other fish and wildlife.

Related article:

  • Natural Resources Defense Council: Blog: Beware Trumpian claims that fish don’t need water (Part 2)
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Aquafornia news October 8, 2019 Courthouse News Service

Ninth Circuit Court orders feds to reexamine Army Corps’ harm to native fish

The National Marine Fisheries Service owes an explanation for why it decided that two dams on the Yuba River do not adversely affect threatened Chinook salmon, steelhead and green sturgeon, three Ninth Circuit judges ruled Thursday.

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Aquafornia news October 7, 2019 Red Bluff Daily News

Work to start Monday on salmon habitat project

A salmon habitat project will get underway Monday just outside the city of Red Bluff. One of several such projects in the North State, the Rio Vista Side Channel Habitat Project will offer protection for juvenile salmonids, including endangered winter-run Chinook…

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Aquafornia news October 4, 2019 Capitol Weekly

Environmental bill’s veto sparked surprise

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of a major environmental protection bill angered and surprised environmentalists – and left some wondering what happens next.

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Aquafornia news October 4, 2019 Los Angeles Times

Friday Top of the Scroll: The next big California vs. Trump fight is over water and endangered species

Just how far will Gov. Gavin Newsom go in his high-profile fight with the Trump administration over environmental protections? The next few months will provide an answer, as Newsom is forced to take a stand on Trump rollbacks in a long-contested battleground — the Northern California Delta that helps supply more than half the state’s population with drinking water and fills irrigation canals on millions of acres of farmland.

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Aquafornia news October 4, 2019 The New York Times

A ‘chilling message’: Trump critics see a deeper agenda in California feud

President Trump’s political feud with California has spread collateral damage across more than a dozen other states, which have seen their regulatory authority curtailed and their autonomy threatened by a Trump administration intent on weakening the environmental statutes of the country’s most populous state.

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Aquafornia news October 4, 2019 FishBio

Blog: Warm it up: Balancing the needs of sturgeon, salmon, and humans

How does one achieve temperature and flow targets for listed species with such different requirements, while also meeting the needs of human water users? A recent study sought to achieve an equitable solution by using a multi-objective approach to identify trade-offs and model an optimal dam release scenario to meet the needs of salmon, sturgeon, and humans…

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Aquafornia news October 3, 2019 Capital Press

Appeals court dismisses Klamath groundwater dispute

The Oregon Court of Appeals won’t resolve a dispute over the impact of Klamath basin wells on surface waters due to newly imposed regulations in the area. The appellate court has dismissed the case because it’s moot and unworthy of review after the Oregon water regulators adopted different rules governing surface water interference from wells in the Upper Klamath basin earlier this year.

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Aquafornia news October 3, 2019 National Law Review

California water permit warnings for commercial cannabis farmers

Although the Water Board made clear that they are not, at this time, issuing notices of violation, the letters serve as a shot across the bow to an industry that is beginning to appreciate the importance of compliance with environmental regulations and portends more significant enforcement efforts in the near future.

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Aquafornia news October 2, 2019 The Sacramento Bee

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Trump administration surrenders to California, backs off on Delta water fight

The Trump administration has retreated on a plan to push more water through the Delta this fall after protests from California officials on the harmful impacts on endangered Chinook salmon and other fish.

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Aquafornia news October 2, 2019 Ventura County Star

Who gets Ventura River water? Ventura agrees to track usage

To help protect endangered fish and other critters that rely on the Ventura River for habitat, migration and procreation, the city of Ventura has agreed to better monitor and reduce its water draw in dry times. The city will also take steps to remove barriers for steelhead trout to make the journey to and from the sea…

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Aquafornia news October 2, 2019 Bloomberg Environment

Shasta Dam fight with water district ends in California

The Westlands Water District on Sept. 30 formally stopped its environmental review of a $1.4 billion U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plan to raise the 602-foot dam by another 18.5 feet. It is unclear what Westlands’ decision will mean for the future of the project…

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Aquafornia news October 1, 2019 National Public Radio

Tribe gives personhood to Klamath River

A Native American tribe has granted personhood to a river in northern California making it the first known River in North America to have the same legal rights as a human, at least under tribal law. The Yurok Tribe based near the southern border of Oregon confirmed the new status on the Klamath River.

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Aquafornia news October 1, 2019 Natural Resources Defense Council

Blog: Newsom administration faces difficult tests on water this fall

While I’m deeply disappointed that Governor Newsom vetoed SB 1, the governor’s veto is also a troubling sign for several big tests on California water coming this fall…

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Aquafornia news October 1, 2019 Redding Record-Searchlight

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Westlands Water District stops work on Shasta Dam study after court loss

Following losses in court, a Fresno-based irrigation district has backed off its plans to do an environmental study on raising the height of Shasta Dam. The Westlands Water District announced Monday that it has stopped working on the report because it could not meet the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s schedule for the project.

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Aquafornia news September 30, 2019 Seattle Times

In California, orcas and salmon have become so scarce people have forgotten what once was. Will the Northwest be next?

If there is a hell for salmon, it probably looks like this. There were many more golf balls in the water than salmon this summer, whacked there by enthusiasts at Aqua Golf, a driving range on the bank of the Sacramento River. Below the surface, the gravel salmon need to make their nests had been mined decades ago to build Shasta Dam, 602 feet tall and with no fish passage. The dam cut off access to all of the cold mountain waters where these fish used to spawn.

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Aquafornia news September 30, 2019 KQED News

Marin County sued in fight over protecting endangered Coho salmon

The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network, or SPAWN, concerns the protection of endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout in streams in Marin’s San Geronimo Valley.

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Aquafornia news September 30, 2019 San Francisco Chronicle

Scientists assess waters off San Francisco and fear a climatic intruder

Jaime Jahncke, a marine biologist with Point Blue Conservation Science, which is headquartered in Petaluma, said the concern is that another long-lasting warm water episode could do serious harm to an already fragile ecosystem. “We’re going into a blob and we don’t know what’s happening next,” said Jahncke…

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Aquafornia news September 30, 2019 The New York Times

The Interior secretary wants to enlarge a dam. An old lobbying client would benefit

For years, the Interior Department resisted proposals to raise the height of its towering Shasta Dam in Northern California. The department’s own scientists and researchers concluded that doing so would endanger rare plants and animals in the area… But the project is going forward now, in a big win for a powerful consortium of California farmers that stands to profit substantially…

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Aquafornia news September 27, 2019 Chico Enterprise-Record

Editorial: Salmon is a cultural, eco treasure

There are nut festivals. There are fruit and vegetable festivals. Hot sauce and spicy food are cheered in other places. There are wine and beer events. All are fun and bring entertainment to our lives. But for all of that, there is something extraordinary about Saturday’s Salmon Festival in Oroville.

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Aquafornia news September 27, 2019 Capital Press

Oregon releases plan to reduce water temperature in Klamath Basin

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a new plan to reduce water temperatures for endangered fish in the Upper Klamath and Lost River watersheds, though it could come at a price for farmers and ranchers.

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Aquafornia news September 27, 2019 The Point Reyes Light

Next move in Coho battle may come from the CBD

The Center for Biological Diversity has taken what appears to be a preliminary step toward suing Marin County over its supplemental environmental impact report to the Marin Countywide Plan, which focuses on potential cumulative impacts to salmonids from development in the San Geronimo Valley.

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Western Water September 26, 2019 Gary Pitzer California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Often Short of Water, California’s Southern Central Coast Builds Toward A Drought-Proof Supply
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Water agencies in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo counties look to seawater, recycled water to protect against water shortages

The spillway at Lake Cachuma in central Santa Barbara County. Drought in 2016 plunged its storage to about 8 percent of capacity.The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.

Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.

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Aquafornia news September 26, 2019 The Guardian

Revealed: Trump’s Wildlife Service pick has ties to anti-animal protection groups

Aurelia Skipwith, who is already a top official at the interior department, formerly worked at the agrochemical giant Monsanto. New revelations show she also has ties to the Westlands Water District, a political powerhouse with a history of chafing against Endangered Species Act regulations that can interfere with farmers’ demands for water in California.

Related articles:

  • High County News: Trump’s Fish and Wildlife pick is entangled with industry
  • Newsweek: Who Is Aurelia Skipwith? Trump’s nominee to lead Fish and Wildlife Service linked with groups opposed to protecting endangered species
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Aquafornia news September 26, 2019 The Sacramento Bee

California fights Trump over Delta water, fish, environmental rules

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said the federal plan would harm the nearly-extinct Delta smelt and other species. The state said the plan would also hurt the mostly urban water agencies that belong to the State Water Project, which might have to surrender some of its supplies to compensate for the federal plan.

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Aquafornia news September 26, 2019 Siskiyou Daily News

A river runs through them

A plan to remove four dams on the Klamath River – one of the most ambitious river restoration projects ever attempted – is either mocked or praised depending on the audience. It will expand salmon habitat or destroy a fishery. The only certainty is that lives will change forever.

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Aquafornia news September 26, 2019 KQED Science

California leads lawsuit against rollback of endangered species protections

The lawsuit … argues that the changes undertaken by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service are unlawful. Endangered species protections are bedrock environmental law, and California leaders warned that less protection will leave threatened species at risk of extinction. California is leading the suit along with Massachusetts and Maryland. Altogether, 17 states have signed on, along with New York City and the District of Columbia.

Related article:

  • The Hill: 17 states sue Trump administration over weakening of Endangered Species Act
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Aquafornia news September 25, 2019 Los Angeles Times

Fish-killing gas plants were set to close. California may save them

It’s been nearly a decade since California ordered coastal power plants to stop using seawater for cooling, a process that kills fish and other marine life. But now state officials may extend the life of several facilities that still suck billions of gallons from the ocean each day.

Related article:

  • Sacramento Bee: California may postpone shutdown of power plants that kill fish and sea lions. Here’s why
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Aquafornia news September 24, 2019 California WaterBlog

Blog: The long and winding road of salmon trucking in California

Trucking juvenile hatchery salmon downstream is often used in the California Central Valley to reduce mortality during their perilous swim to the ocean. But is it all good? Researchers … published an article in Fisheries this month exploring the history and implications of salmon trucking in a changing climate.

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Aquafornia news September 24, 2019 California Agriculture

Watering the Emerald Triangle: Irrigation sources used by cannabis cultivators in Northern California

An improved understanding of cannabis cultivators’ water use practices is a particularly pressing need. Given the propensity of cannabis growers to establish farms in small, upper watersheds, where streams that support salmonids and other sensitive species are vulnerable to dewatering, significant concerns have been raised over the potential impacts of diverting surface water for cannabis cultivation.

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Aquafornia news September 24, 2019 The Press Democrat

Opinion: Keeping streams safe and clean

A white egret delicately dips its beak into a small puddle. A mother otter and pups dive and roll in a clear, still pool. Tiny minnows dart in the shady shallows. And all of this takes place a stone’s throw from backyards and byways. Our local creeks and streams are literal rivers of life flowing through Sonoma County communities.

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Aquafornia news September 23, 2019 East Bay Times

Restoration of Brentwood’s Marsh Creek gets boost from EPA

A project to restore a portion of Brentwood’s Marsh Creek got a big boost with a new $1.4 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant. … The Three Creeks Parkway Restoration project aims to improve the creek’s floodplain, provide quality habitat for Chinook salmon and Swainson’s Hawk as well as expand recreational opportunities in the area.

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Aquafornia news September 23, 2019 Santa Barbara Independent

Steelhead win landmark victory

By any reckoning, the steelhead trout won a significant legal victory this week, along with CalTrout and the Environmental Defense Center, which have been arguing the case for two decades. But it remains uncertain exactly how much more water will have to be released downstream from Lake Cachuma to create a habitat wet enough along the main stem of the Santa Ynez River for the federally endangered fish to wage a meaningful comeback.

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Aquafornia news September 23, 2019 CALmatters

Opinion: Newsom should sign SB 1 into law. Without its environmental protections, Californians will suffer

At least 85 different federal laws and regulations affecting California have been weakened or undermined by the Trump administration since January 2017. … That’s why I, along with many proponents, believe that Senate Bill 1 would safeguard our state …

Related article:

  • Bakersfield Californian: Opinion: Vetoing SB 1 will help save the Central Valley way of life
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Aquafornia news September 23, 2019 Fox40

Scientists rebuilding habitat for salmon in American River

All of September, crews have been dumping rocks into the bed of the river to create an ideal habitat for salmon to spawn. Dams along the American River cut off access to the salmon’s natural breeding ground.

Related article:

  • Sacramento Bee: Gravel project aims to replenish critical nursing areas of the American River for fish
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Aquafornia news September 23, 2019 Courthouse News Service

Concrete jungle: The quest to make the L.A. River wild again

A dozen kayakers paddled down the tree-lined, sandy-bottomed Los Angeles River in late August, running their hands through sycamore and willow leaves and gliding over carp and steelhead trout as traffic noise from the nearby 405 Freeway buzzed overhead.

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