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Topic: Salmon

Overview April 24, 2014

Salmon

California’s two primary salmon species, Coho and Chinook, have experienced significant declines from historical populations.

Of particular importance is the Chinook salmon because 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, water diversions, migratory obstacles created by local, state and federal water projects, over-fishing, unfavorable ocean conditions, pollution and introduced predator species. Wetlands have also been drained and diked; dams have blocked salmon from reaching historic spawning grounds.

Years of declining populations represent a significant economic loss and have led to federally mandated salmon restoration plans that complicate water diversions and conveyance for agriculture and other uses.

 

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Aquafornia news December 8, 2023 Sacramento Bee

Last chance to see migration, spawning of salmon in Sacramento

The final salmon egg taking of the season will be available for the public to view at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery next week, according to hatchery officials. Egg-taking combines eggs from euthanized female fish with milt, which contains sperm, from male salmon. The fertilized eggs are then submerged in a water tank and later taken to a holding area in the hatchery to continue the fertilization process. The egg-taking is done to aid in the conservation of the species. …  Although late in the season, dozens of Chinook salmon can still be seen swimming up the fish ladder at the hatchery’s visitor center. After the conclusion of salmon spawning, the ladder will remain open through the winter for the migration of steelhead trout.

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Aquafornia news December 7, 2023 Sonoma Water

News release: Sonoma Water, Sonoma County approve formation of Eel-Russian Project Authority

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, who also serve as the Board of Directors for the Sonoma County Water Agency, voted today to approve a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement with Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission to form the Eel-Russian Project Authority.  The new entity will have the power to negotiate with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) as the utility moves ahead with plans to surrender operations of the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project and to decommission the Scott and Cape Horn dams on the Eel River. The new authority will also have the legal capacity to own, construct and operate a new water diversion facility near the Cape Horn dam.  … The Potter Valley Project, currently owned and operated by PG&E, has been diverting water from the Eel River into the Russian River watershed for more than a century, playing a critical role in supplying water for agriculture, homes, and instream flows to benefit aquatic ecosystems and threatened salmonids in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.  

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Aquafornia news December 7, 2023 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Hot off the press – Layperson’s Guide to the Klamath River Basinin

The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is hot off the press and available for purchase. Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview comes as the nation’s largest dam removal project is underway with the first of four Klamath River hydropower dams demolished this year. The Layperson’s Guide covers the history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers. The river’s vast watershed straddles Cailfornia and Oregon and hosts one of the nation’s oldest and largest reclamation projects.

Related articles: 

  • NBC – Bay Area: Removal of Klamath River dams caps long fight by Native American tribes
  • Herald and News: Wade in the water – reap what is sowed
  • Wildfire Today: Reclamation of fire and water for Klamath River tribes
  • Del Norte Triplicate: Congressional legislation - Expanding Smith River National Recreation Area
  • Mad River Union: Wetlands & Creeks hears exciting updates
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news December 7, 2023 CBS - San Francisco

Low-interest loans available for small businesses impacted by closure of salmon season

Low-interest federal loans are now available in 31 California counties to help small businesses impacted by the decision to cancel this year’s commercial Chinook salmon season. The Pacific Fishery Management Council canceled the 2023 fishing season back in April, and on Nov. 29 the U.S. Small Business Administration declared a disaster, which allows the government to offer financial assistance to small businesses that have suffered economic hardships as a result of the cancelation. … The 4 percent-interest-rate loans are for small businesses while there are 2.375 percent loans for private nonprofit organizations.  The loans feature terms of up to 30 years and are restricted to small businesses without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship, according to Sonoma County officials.

Related article: 

  • Sonoma County Gazette: SBA offers loans to Sonoma County businesses impacted by salmon fishery closure
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Aquafornia news December 6, 2023 Jefferson Public Radio

PG&E files papers to remove two dams from the Eel River

Different utility, different river, similar process: Pacific Gas & Electric is preparing to give up the two Eel River dams of its Potter Valley Project, leading to their potential demolition. PG&E recently filed papers to that effect with FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The process is similar to the one that has already removed one dam from the Klamath River, with three more slated for demolition during 2024. Friends of the Eel River and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) have joined other groups in pushing for the removal of the dams from the Eel. Alicia Hamann from the Friends group and Vivian Helliwell from PCFFA talk to the JX about the steps ahead, which could take five years or more.

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Aquafornia news December 6, 2023 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

News release – Reclamation funding helps heal a river scarred by Gold Rush legacy

On Tuesday, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced the availability of up to $106 million in funding through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) for Pacific salmon and steelhead recovery and conservation projects. This funding — which includes funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — will support state and tribal salmon restoration projects and activities to protect, conserve and restore these fish populations and their habitats. … The PCSRF program funds projects and activities necessary for conservation of salmon and steelhead populations listed as threatened or endangered or identified by a state as at-risk to be listed; for maintaining populations necessary for exercise of tribal treaty fishing rights or native subsistence fishing; or for conservation of Pacific coastal salmon and steelhead habitat.

Related article: 

  • NOAA Fisheries: News release: Biden-Harris Administration makes $106 million available for Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund as part of Investing in America agenda 
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Aquafornia news December 5, 2023 California Rice Commission

Blog: The next big thing – the rice footprint – California rice news

When we meet with legislators and regulators we talk about the Pacific Flyway, salmon and the hundreds of species of wildlife that use rice. We also focus on the rural communities in the Sacramento Valley that are so closely tied to our industry. Everyone gets it. They understand that our rice fields are so much more than the sushi rice they produce. What is harder, is when we are asked how much rice we need in California to support all these benefits. That is where the Rice Footprint comes in.  The Rice Footprint, an idea born in our strategic planning, is a comprehensive effort to answer that question – how many acres of rice and where, to continue to provide all the needed habitat for the Pacific Flyway, rearing and food resources for juvenile salmon and support our rural communities. 

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Aquafornia news December 5, 2023 CBS San Francisco

Waterline proposal would help endangered coho salmon, Muir Beach residents

Years of drought have taken a toll on the endangered coho Salmon in Northern California, but a proposed waterline project could help the fish population and a North Bay community. The project would change how Muir Beach residents draw water. There is also a major federal project down the road that could be a roadblock, as conservationists say time is running out. For resident Jim White, he waters his plants using collected rainwater knowing every drop saved, means less water pumped out from nearby Redwood Creek — the only source of water for the residents of Muir Beach.  The creek is important for coho Salmon as well, as they travel upstream to spawn every year.

Related article: 

  • LAist: Turning a barrier into a bridge for the endangered SoCal steelhead 
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Aquafornia news December 5, 2023 Al Jazeera

Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history

Every fall, Barry McCovey, a member of the Yurok Tribe and director of tribal fisheries, takes his four children salmon fishing on the Klamath River, the second largest river in California. A strong salmon run normally nets his family 30 or 40 fish. … But this year, the predicted salmon run was the second lowest since detailed records began in 1978, and the fall fishing season was cancelled. The river’s salmon population has declined due to myriad factors, but the biggest culprit is believed to be a series of dams built along the river from 1918 to 1962, cutting off fish migration routes. Now, after decades of Indigenous advocacy, four of the structures are being demolished as part of the largest dam removal project in United States history. In November, crews finished removing the first of the four dams as part of a push to restore 644 kilometres (400 miles) of fish habitat.

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Aquafornia news December 4, 2023 E&E News

Calif. water district loses appeal to state Supreme Court

The California Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the nation’s largest agricultural district in its bid for a permanent water contract with the Bureau of Reclamation. The state’s highest court [last] Wednesday denied a request from the Westlands Water District to reverse a series of lower court rulings refusing to validate the contract, a decision that opponents of the deal said will leave the Rhode Island-sized agricultural district with little choice but to rely on temporary agreements. … A coalition of Native Americans, commercial and recreational fishermen, scientists, and conservation groups had opposed the contract, saying there needs to be more scrutiny about use of water in drought-plagued California, as well as attention to impacts on fisheries.

Related article: 

  • Lost Coast Outpost: Hoopa Valley Tribe announces (another) big legal win over Westlands Water District 
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Aquafornia news December 4, 2023 Good News Network

City creeks see explosion in spawning salmon population in San Jose after 10 years of habitat cleanup

In the Bay Area of California, home of San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara County, and Silicon Valley a famous Pacific resident is heading home for the holidays—up newly-cleaned creeks to spawn. Who could have thought that the cradle of 21st-century civilization, with its problems and advancements, would have space for wild river ecosystems capable of supporting salmon runs? But here they are, reports KTVU, as large as 30 pounds, as long as 35 inches, running up the Guadalupe River Watershed by the hundreds. … The South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition, a non-profit responsible for the salmon’s return, removed 1.3 million pounds of trash from the creeks, from bottles and tires to cars and mattresses.

Related article: 

  • Interagency Ecological Program: Science for Salmon – Part 1: What is a Juvenile Production Estimate anyway?
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Aquafornia news December 1, 2023 California Trout

Blog: Juvenile coho salmon observed above former dam site on cedar creek, tributary to South Fork Eel River

Located in northern Mendocino County, Cedar Creek is an important cold-water tributary to the South Fork Eel River. But since the late 1940s a dam had been in place to supply water to a now defunct fish hatchery. The Cedar Creek hatchery dam, only a few hundred feet from the South Fork Eel River, impeded fish access to most of the creek’s prime habitat. In 2022, CalTrout and our partners removed this dam on Cedar Creek, increasing access to approximately nine miles of high-quality habitat previously inaccessible to juvenile salmon and steelhead. In an exciting development, CalTrout staff observed juvenile coho salmon in Cedar Creek above the former dam site. 

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Aquafornia news December 1, 2023 High Country News

The Endangered Species Act’s complicated legacy in Indian Country (Both sword and shield)

Tribal nations have a complicated relationship with the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Tribal governments have used the ESA on behalf of imperiled, culturally important species, litigating over dams that block salmon migration and securing funding to reintroduce protected species on their lands. But beyond Alaskan Native subsistence hunting rights, the law does not acknowledge tribal sovereignty. How, or even if, it affects treaty hunting rights and other aspects of sovereignty remains a disputed question. The Endangered Species Act can be “both sword and shield for tribes,” said Monte Mills, director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington.

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Aquafornia news December 1, 2023 The Seattle Times

Opinion: Take toxins out of tires to protect salmon, other wildlife

Many people understand that dams kill salmon — but what about tires? Most would be surprised to learn that our tires produce the second-most toxic chemical to aquatic species ever evaluated. Yet despite the lethal threat to aquatic species like Endangered Species Act-protected salmon and steelhead, tire manufacturers continue to rely on a dangerous chemical called 6PPD.  Earlier this month, our two groups representing Pacific coastal fishing-dependent communities filed suit against 13 of the largest U.S. tire manufacturers to help change that.
-Written by Glen Spain, the Northwest regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.  

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Aquafornia news November 30, 2023 The Associated Press

Leaked document says US is willing to build energy projects in case Snake River dams are breached

The U.S. government is willing to help build enough new clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to replace the hydropower generated by four controversial dams on the Snake River, according to a leaked Biden administration document that is giving hope to conservationists who have long sought the removal of the dams as a key to restoring depleted salmon runs. Still, Congress would have to agree before any of the Lower Snake River dams in Washington state are removed, and that’s unlikely to happen in the near future. The document is a draft agreement to uphold 168-year-old treaties with four tribes in the Pacific Northwest that preserved their right to harvest fish in the river, among other things. … Conservation groups and tribes sued the federal government in an effort to save the struggling fisheries, and both sides notified the court earlier this fall they were close to reaching an agreement that could put the the lawsuit on hold.

Related articles: 

  • CBC: Glacier melt opens up new territory for salmon — and mining
  • CBS – San Francisco: East Bay water company’s efforts lead to Chinook salmon spawning in record numbers
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Aquafornia news November 30, 2023 Daily Republic (Fairfield)

Yolo Bypass project gets federal infrastructure funds

A $2.5 million grant has been awarded to the state Department of Water Resources to design a berm removal project to create floodplain and tidal marsh habitat in the Yolo Bypass. It is part of $144 million in grants awarded toward 109 projects in 31 states through the National Coastal Resilience Fund by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The funding source is the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. … The Yolo Bypass project has the goals of improving flood conveyance, increasing groundwater recharge, promoting recreational opportunities and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, the foundation stated. This grant completes funding for project design “to restore 700 acres of floodplain and 250 acres of wetland through berm removal and site excavation, create 700 acres of floodwater storage, and increase groundwater recharge potential producing quality habitat for salmonids.”

Related article: 

  • CalTrout: Blog – Fish food program expands to public enrollment with reverse auction
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Aquafornia news November 29, 2023 ABC7 - San Francisco

Experts explain why salmon run seeing record numbers, sizes in parts of Bay Area

Bay Area waterways are seeing incredible numbers and sizes of Chinook salmon. Some of them are being seen in areas right by homes and major roads. The fish can be seen just under a bridge on Branham Lane in San Jose. The South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition has been tracking them in South Bay waterways for more than 10 years. ABC7 News tagged along with Steve Holmes, the coalition’s founder and executive director as he worked to track down carcasses. … Holmes and the coalition take the heads off of the fish and send them off to UC Davis where work is done to determine where they came from. Holmes said it was once believed that fish in these urban waterways came from hatcheries, but the research they’re helping is proving that many are not.

Related article: 

  • Stockton Record: Record salmon run returns to Mokelumne River, main stem Sacramento run is dismal
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Aquafornia news November 29, 2023 Earth Island Journal

Blog: Another timber war over old growth forests looms in the Pacific Northwest

In April 2020, the world is in lockdown as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. But in the foothills at the south end of Oregon’s Coast Range mountains, resource extraction is going full speed ahead. On Kenyon Mountain in eastern Coos County, about 50 miles from the Pacific Ocean, a crew of loggers is chopping down 51 acres of old-growth and mature trees. Some of these trees have been alive since George Washington was president, based on a count of rings on the stump. … Kenyon Mountain is located near the juncture of two ancient geological formations: the Coast Range to the north, which emerged about sixty million years ago during the Paleocene age; and the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains to the south and east, which originated 400 million years ago in the Jurassic period. 

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Aquafornia news November 29, 2023 The Sacramento Bee

‘Deep disappointment’: Global climate envoy Newsom is alienating environmentalists at home

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been positioning himself as a global climate leader this year, evangelizing California environmentalism in China and at the United Nations. But at home, he is increasingly at loggerheads with leading environmentalists. Environmental groups and tribes say the governor’s plan to protect water supply from climate change will exacerbate existing ecological devastation and irreversibly damage the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the central hub of the state’s water system. While this relationship has been fraying for years, a new fault line opened this month when Newsom used newfound authority to fast track approval for the largest proposed piece of concrete water infrastructure to be built by the state in decades. 

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Aquafornia news November 28, 2023 Tahoe Daily Tribune

Taylor Creek interruptions likely impacted kokanee salmon reproduction, but fish expert warns alternative could have been worse

On Nov. 3, 2023, the U.S. Forestry Service temporarily interrupted the water flow to Taylor Creek from the Fallen Leaf Lake dam for three days. This raised concern from community members regarding the spawning kokanee salmon and the future of their eggs. University of Nevada, Reno Professor Sudeep Chandra says the flow into the lake also attracts kokanee to the stream for spawning and that while this interruption could impact reproduction, another concern is ensuring warm water invasive fish species don’t move across the ecosystem, becoming fully established in Taylor Creek and Fallen Leaf Lake.

Related article: 

  • Tahoe Daily Tribune: The significant environmental impact of Tahoe’s scarce wetlands
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Aquafornia news November 27, 2023 Mercury News

Salmon have returned to the East Bay’s water source in record numbers. What does it mean?

… Last week, the East Bay Municipal Utility District announced a record-breaking fall salmon run in the Mokelumne River … According to EBMUD, over 20,000 salmon have already returned to spawn in the river this year, a figure not seen in 80 years of record-keeping. … Yet salmon observers across the state say the record-breaking numbers are unlikely to be a step toward large, more sustainable salmon populations. Instead, the salmon in the Mokelumne this year could just be the fleeting appearance of progress in developed, modern river systems that don’t prioritize the fish’s success.

Related articles: 

  • California Fisheries Blog: Why does the Mokelumne River hatchery have a record salmon run this fall 2023 when runs at the Battle Creek (Coleman) fish hatchery are at record lows?
  • Daily Kos: Fishery disaster determinations announced as main stem Sacramento River sees dismal salmon returns
  • ABC 10 – Sacramento: Migrating salmon dying in north Stockton creek​
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news November 27, 2023 Arizona Republic

Restoring the Klamath River: Dam removal is just the 1st step

… A series of hydroelectric dams had altered the Klamath’s flow more than a century ago, creating an unnatural system that left fish and people high and dry. … But the 6,500-member Yurok Tribe and its neighbors in the Klamath River Basin still had cause to celebrate: They had won a 20-year-long struggle to demolish four decommissioned hydroelectric dams in the middle basin. That massive project, the largest in U.S. history, is ongoing and expected to be completed sometime in early 2025.

Related articles: 

  • Arizona Republic: Tribes guard the Klamath River’s fish, water and lands as restoration begins at last
  • Geographical: Dam removal restores flows to historic Klamath River canyon
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news November 22, 2023 California Fisheries Blog

Blog: Spring run salmon collapse 2023

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), in an  August 2023 Assessment, provided a status review of spring-run Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley.  The Assessment found that salmon are declining, but primarily as part of a short-term trend, under the burden of climate change. The conclusions of the August Assessment stand in stark contrast to October’s condor-like effort to preserve remaining wild spring-run salmon in a conservation hatchery at UC Davis.  This contrast demonstrates the limitations of the federal and state resource agencies’ focus on climate change and the ocean as the cause of the salmon declines and the reason to shut down fisheries.1 The resource agencies need to direct more attention to controllable elements: water operations.  On that level, they must take immediate action, before another one of California’s most important public trust resources is lost.

Related articles: 

  • American Rivers: The art and fun of dam removal – Engagement in reading
  • Jefferson Public Radio: Klamath dam removal will help but not cure salmon, research shows
  • Tacoma News Tribune: Other Views - Northwest salmon crisis demands nuanced solutions, not just wishful thinking
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Aquafornia news November 21, 2023 Mercury News

Big Basin: Redwood trees’ recovery “remarkable” 3 years after huge fire

More than three years after a wildfire devastated Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the massive redwood trees in California’s oldest state park continue to recover with surprising speed. But some wildlife species, particularly salmon and steelhead trout in the park’s streams, and some types of birds, are still struggling and could take many years to bounce back. That was the conclusion of researchers who spoke at a recent scientific symposium exploring how Big Basin is faring in the wake of the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire. The best news: The park’s famed old-growth redwoods, some of which tower more than 250 feet and date back more than 1,500 years, are nearly all green again, showing significant amounts of new growth after the wildfire’s flames charred their bark black and for a while gave them a doomed appearance.

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Aquafornia news November 20, 2023 SJV Water

Republican lawmaker seeks to undo Central Valley Project environmental protections

More than 30 years ago, a piece of federal legislation dropped like a bomb on California’s Central Valley farmers. Reverberations from that legislation continue through today. Just last month, a San Joaquin Valley congressman added language to an appropriations bill that would unwind a key portion of the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA). … One of its cornerstones was that 800,000 acre feet of water per year would be carved out of supplies that had been sent to towns and farms and redirect it to the environment instead. Specifically, the legislation hoped to save salmon populations, which had been crashing. Thirty-one years later, salmon are still on the brink. Now, Republican lawmakers are trying to get rid of the environmental protections in the CVPIA for good.

Related article: 

  • SFist: Northern California river sees record high salmon fall run 
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Aquafornia news November 17, 2023 Daily Kos

In a tough year for salmon, a record number of fish have returned to California’s Mokelumne River

A record number of over 20,000 fall-run Chinook salmon have returned to the Mokelumne River, a tributary of the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley, despite relatively low returns on some other Central Valley rivers. The fish are now returning from the ocean in a year where all salmon fishing was closed in California’s rivers and ocean waters, due to the projected low abundance of Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon. Fishery managers and salmon advocates are keeping a close eye on this fall’s spawning escapement.

Related articles: 

  • Jefferson Public Radio: The long run of the Winnemem Wintu to restore salmon runs
  • Appeal Democrat: Hallwood habitat restoration project complete
  • Monterey Weekly: What will climate change mean for steelhead trout? It depends.
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Aquafornia news November 15, 2023 CBS - Sacramento

Lower Yuba River project helps create safer home for salmon population, reduces flood risk

A habitat restoration project in the lower Yuba River is complete. The project not only helps the local fish population but also those who live along the river’s banks.”The Hallwood Fish Habitat Project” restored the natural flow of the Yuba River after decades of collecting debris from hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush. Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League, said he’s proud of the project and the flood plain it’s created. ”Prior to this project, really, the Yuba River was characterized by training walls, so massive piles roughly 80 feet tall of just aggregate,” Zettler-Mann said.    

Related articles: 

  • Axios Portland: How the Klamath River dam removals will affect salmon populations 
  • Ag Info: Salmon and rice
  • Jefferson Public Radio: Fishery on Elwha rewards tribe’s long push for river restoration
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Aquafornia news November 15, 2023 The Sacramento Bee

Water agencies say funding for California’s biggest dam in decades is ‘pretty much lined up’

California water agencies say they have nearly secured $4.5 billion in funding needed to build the state’s largest reservoir in nearly a century, Sites Reservoir, as a state environmental review process for the project comes to a rapid close after decades of delay. … Approving it would mark a key procedural milestone and official green light for construction scheduled to begin in 2026.

Related article: 

  • Ag Alert: Sites Reservoir on fast track for final legal green light
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Aquafornia news November 14, 2023 California Fisheries Blog

Blog: Trucking Central Valley salmon smolts from hatcheries to salt water

A November 1, 2023 article, originally published in High Country News and later posted in Maven’s Notebook, describes the practice of trucking juvenile salmon from hatcheries for release in salt water as a “culprit,” stating:  According to a growing body of scientific evidence, it’s also the reason that many salmon are getting lost on their way back to their birth rivers, placing the future resilience of the species at risk … What the article doesn’t say is that juvenile salmon released directly in San Francisco Bay or San Pablo Bay, or in the ocean, are as much as ten to a hundred times more likely to live to spawn as are juvenile fish released near their hatcheries of origin.

Related article: 

  • FishBio: Wet and wild - recent symposium reviews five years of wetland restoration in California 
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Aquafornia news November 14, 2023 Oregon Capital Chronicle

EPA moves on petition from West Coast tribes to investigate tire toxin linked to fish deaths

For several decades, many coho salmon returning to waterways around Seattle to spawn have died mysteriously following heavy rains. In some urban streams, nearly all of the coho returning from the ocean died.  It wasn’t until 2021 that scientists figured out what was behind what they called “urban runoff mortality syndrome,” and it was not until this month that federal regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency moved to do something about it. The EPA on Nov. 2 said it would consider an August petition from the California-based Yurok Tribe and the Washington-based Port Gamble S’Klallam and Puyallup tribes, calling for a ban of the chemical 6PPD-q. It’s used in car tires to keep them from cracking and degrading, but as tires wear down, they shed particles containing the chemical into stormwater and streams.

Related article: 

  • Stormwater Solutions: Microplastics limit zooplankton’s algae control 
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Aquafornia news November 13, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Commentary: It’s about time California built the Sites Reservoir

California’s state government began drawing up plans for Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley 70 years ago. And it still only exists on paper. So, kudos to Gov. Gavin Newsom for deciding that it’s finally time to put this tardy project on the fast track. Fast track means there’ll be limited time for any opponent to contest the project in court on environmental grounds. Newsom used a new law he pushed through the Legislature in June aimed at making it easier to build transportation, clean energy and water infrastructure by expediting lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act.
-Written by LA Times columnist George Skelton.

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Aquafornia news November 9, 2023 Daily Kos

Over 17,000 fall-run chinook salmon return to Mokelumne River fish hatchery

A possible record run of fall-run Chinook salmon is now returning to the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. In contrast, the Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento, is reporting the second lowest return of fall-run Chinooks in many years. The fish are now returning from the ocean in a year where all salmon fishing was closed in California’s rivers and ocean waters, due to the projected low abundance of Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon, so fishery managers and salmon advocates are keeping a close eye on this fall’s spawning escapement.

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Aquafornia news November 9, 2023 The Associated Press

Commercial fishing groups sue 13 US tire makers over rubber preservative that’s deadly to salmon

The 13 largest U.S. tire manufacturers are facing a lawsuit from a pair of California commercial fishing organizations that could force the companies to stop using a chemical added to almost every tire because it kills migrating salmon. Also found in footwear, synthetic turf and playground equipment, the rubber preservative 6PPD has been used in tires for 60 years. As tires wear, tiny particles of rubber are left behind on roads and parking lots, breaking down into a byproduct, 6PPD-quinone, that is deadly to salmon, steelhead trout and other aquatic wildlife when rains wash it into rivers. … The Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Wednesday against Goodyear, Bridgestone, Continental and others.

Related article: 

  • Press Democrat: US EPA to investigate tire preservative linked to toxic runoff and salmon deaths
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Aquafornia news November 8, 2023 Earth Island Journal

Rewilding baby salmon using indigenous knowledge

In July 2022, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe as well as several fish and wildlife agencies celebrated the reintroduction of Chinook salmon to the McCloud River in far Northern California for the first time since World War II. That was when federal officials removed Winnemem Wintu people from their ancestral homes along the river and erected the 602-foot Shasta Dam, blocking the salmon’s migration path and flooding 27 miles of the lower McCloud. Because mother salmon couldn’t swim up the river to dig their nests, called redds, agency staff trucked and helicoptered fertilized salmon eggs from a Sacramento River hatchery to the remote, mountainous site on the McCloud River. 

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Aquafornia news November 8, 2023 Capitol Weekly

Opinion: Dam removal supports California’s 30×30 Goals

California has hundreds of outdated dams, small and large, that no longer serve a function. These obsolete dams litter our rivers and streams, block fish passage, and create costly liabilities to communities. We need to accelerate our pace of dam removal as a nature-based strategy for restoring freshwater systems and preparing for increasing threats from climate change. Dam removal fits nicely within California’s effort to protect 30 percent of its land and coastal waters by 2030 (30×30). After all, rivers and streams connect the land to the coast and along the way, they provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife, drinking water for towns and cities, irrigation water for farmers and ranchers, first foods and important ceremonial spaces for Indigenous Peoples, and recreational opportunities for many.
-Written by Julie Turrini, director of Lands, Rivers, and Communities at Resources Legacy Fund where she leads the Open Rivers Fund.

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Aquafornia news November 7, 2023 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Blog: New funding and coordinated action to help bring California salmon back from the brink

The Office of Habitat Conservation’s Restoration Center has awarded an unprecedented $27.8 million to its partners through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to bring Central California Coast coho salmon back to California rivers. NOAA designated CCC coho as a Species in the Spotlight due to its high risk of extinction. Trout Unlimited, the San Mateo and Gold Ridge Resource Conservation Districts, and The Nature Conservancy will implement or design more than 40 projects over the next 3 to 4 years with these funds. … When NOAA Fisheries Biologist Erin Seghesio was growing up, her grandfather told her how he could feed his whole family by fishing for coho salmon in California’s Russian River. Today, she is the Recovery Coordinator for the federally endangered CCC coho salmon.

Related article: 

  • Mendo Fever: Major restoration efforts planned for the Big River watershed along the Mendocino Coast 
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Aquafornia news November 7, 2023 Politico

Billions of seeds replace dams on restored Klamath River

In the shadow of the nation’s largest dam removal effort — the dismantling of four dams on the Lower Klamath River — ecologists are focused on an intensive rebuilding project that will spring from 20 billion seeds. Restoration crews are preparing to begin planting new vegetation on 2,200 acres of soon-to-be-exposed reservoir beds and along up to 60 miles of the reconfigured waterway. Starting next year, they will begin to sow billions of native seeds across Oregon and California, recreating the landscape that once bordered the river. 

Related articles: 

  • NOAA Fisheries: Klamath River Salmon, the Yurok Tribe, and the dams coming down – A conversation with Miss Indian World 2023–2024
  • PBS: Understory - Can dam demolition save California’s salmon?
  • Sacramento News and Review: After years of battling, work on first massive Klamath River dam removal completed
  • Eureka Times-Standard: First Klamath dam out, removal of other three slated for next year
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Aquafornia news November 6, 2023 California WaterBlog

Blog: Reallocating environmental risk

Living the good life has often meant finding ways to allow for growth and construction while ostensibly protecting the natural environment on which we depend. Want to build a housing development, but there’s a wetland in the way? Mitigate the harm by building a new one somewhere else. Want to dam a river, but there’s a salmon run in the way? Build fish passage around the dam. If that’s not feasible, build a hatchery instead. … Unfortunately, these creative approaches often fail. Constructed wetlands fail to reproduce the essential hydrologic or biodiversity or other functions of natural wetlands. Fish passage fails to get enough fish up and down stream to keep populations viable. Hatcheries can’t sustain fisheries over the long term in the same way that habitat can.

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Aquafornia news November 6, 2023 CBS - Sacramento

U.S. regulators will review car-tire chemical that kills salmon, upon request from West Coast tribes

U.S. regulators say they will review the use of a chemical found in almost every tire after a petition from West Coast Native American tribes, including one in Northern California, that want it banned because it kills salmon as they return from the ocean to their natal streams to spawn. The Yurok tribe in Northern California and the Port Gamble S’Klallam and Puyallup tribes in Washington asked the Environmental Protection Agency to prohibit the rubber preservative 6PPD earlier this year, saying it kills fish — especially coho salmon — when rains wash it from roadways into rivers. Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut also wrote the EPA, citing the chemical’s “unreasonable threat” to their waters and fisheries.

Related articles: 

  • Yale E360: After salmon kills, EPA takes aim at toxic chemical issuing from tires
  • California Trout – News release: Court upholds protections for Southern California steelhead
  • Center for California Water Resources: Blog - Cognitive dissonance [noun] 1: the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes 2: the state of California’s salmon management policy
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Aquafornia news November 3, 2023 Livermore Independent

State Water Board presents Bay-Delta options

The feud over the flow of water in California is as old as the state itself. The regional debate continues over whose needs for the precious resource should take priority. The latest exchange will take place in the upcoming State Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) hearings on Phase 2 of the Bay Delta Plan. SWRCB will be considering updates to its Plan for the Bay-Delta over the next year or so. State Water Board staff released a series of documents in September that describe the process to evaluate alternatives and other supporting documents. The public will have the opportunity to comment over the next several months. It is anticipated that the SWRCB will consider those comments and adopt the Bay-Delta Plan Update in late 2024, after considering the alternatives and their environmental effects.

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Aquafornia news November 3, 2023 Northwest Sportsman

News release: EPA grants coho-killing tire compound petition

Federal environmental regulators have granted a petition to develop regulations addressing a vehicle tire compound that, when it reacts with the air and mixes with water, kills coho and other salmonids. The petition was submitted by three West Coast tribes last summer, and in response the Environmental Protection Agency announced it will publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking around the chemicals 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone by fall 2024, according to a notice.

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Aquafornia news November 3, 2023 Klamath River Renewal Corp.

News release: Work on Copco No. 2 Dam removal comes to a close

This week, crews put the final touches on the removal of the Copco No. 2 Dam and its diversion infrastructure. Removal of the dam structure was completed in September, and crews spent the last month removing the remaining diversion infrastructure, grading the river channel, and performing erosion control. This work prepares the river canyon for consistent river flows, likely commencing within 30 days, which the canyon hasn’t seen in 98 years.  Currently, flows in the canyon are fluctuating due to work being done to prepare Copco No. 1 for drawdown. … The remaining three dams, Copco No. 1, Iron Gate, and JC Boyle are slated for removal next year.

Related articles: 

  • Oregon Capital Chronicle: Klamath Dam removal will lower risk of fish die-offs, scientists say
  • Seattle Times: Northwest tribes build momentum in large gathering for dam removal, salmon restoration
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Aquafornia news November 2, 2023 KDRV - Medford

Oregon State research concludes removing Klamath River dams will help salmon populations

Researchers at Oregon State University have concluded that a large-scale dam removal and restoration project currently underway on the Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California will help salmon populations, according to college officials. The college said a group of scientists published their findings in a new paper that concludes salmon populations devastated by disease and other factors will be aided by the removal of four hydroelectric dams along the river. The project will not, however, fully alleviate challenges faced by the species, OSU said.

Related articles: 

  • Oregon State University: New study - Dam removals, restoration project on Klamath River expected to help salmon, researchers conclude
  • Idaho Capital Sun: Court case on fate of Snake River dams, imperiled salmon postponed at least 45 more days
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Aquafornia news November 1, 2023 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Blog: Building a better long-term operation plan for Shasta

Shasta Reservoir – the anchor of the Central Valley Project – is at a critical point in its history. Long relied upon for water supply and power, the iconic dam and reservoir are beset by factors that strain the foundation of its long-standing operation. Drought, a struggling winter-run Chinook salmon population and competing regulatory requirements have compelled Reclamation and its many partners to undertake a revised management strategy that acknowledges the complexities of today in manner that is novel and more inclusive. With a storage capacity of more than 4.5 million acre-feet, Shasta can hold a significant amount of water. But the capriciousness of California’s weather can push the reservoir into crisis mode within just one water year.

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Aquafornia news November 1, 2023 High Country News

California’s Central Valley chinook are getting lost on their way home

Across California’s Central Valley, more and more salmon are getting lost as they migrate back to their spawning grounds. The culprit is a conservation tactic meant to help save them — and it all starts at the hatcheries. … In California’s Central Valley, one tactic has drawn particular attention: packing young salmon into trucks and physically hauling them downstream. … In a 2019 study published in the journal Fisheries, researchers found that the farther salmon were trucked from their birthplace, the more likely they were to wander into a different river when they came back.

Related articles:

  • KCRA – Sacramento: Nimbus Fish Hatchery delays the opening of its salmon ladder, citing a ‘water management issue’
  • ProPublica: This billion-dollar plan to save salmon depends on a giant fish vacuum
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Aquafornia news October 30, 2023 KRCR - Redding

Low numbers of salmon returning could mean long road to recovery

The number of salmon returning to Battle Creek for spawning this year is some of the lowest in decades. Staff at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery say the numbers likely mean it will take years before populations recover. According to the project lead of the hatchery, Brett Galyean, this year, only 5,000 Chinook Salmon returned to spawn. A sharp drop from the 10,000 last year and the second-lowest the hatchery has seen in two decades. Galyean says the low number of salmon returning will make it harder to collect the 12 million eggs they hope to get that would let them release a large generation of smelts in the spring of 2024.

Related articles: 

  • Marin Independent Journal: Lagunitas Creek salmon habitat project gets $4.6M grant
  • California Trout: CalTrout successfully defends petition to protect southern steelhead in court
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Western Water August 3, 2023 Nick Cahill Klamath River Watershed Map WESTERN WATER-Amid Nation's Largest Dam Removal Project, Scientists Chart Klamath River's Transformation and Its Salmon By Nick Cahill

‘If You Unbuild It, They Will Come’
Scientists Chart Transformation of Klamath River and Its Salmon Amid Nation’s Largest Dam Removal Project

The Copco No. 1 dam on the Klamath RiverThe Klamath River Basin was once one of the world’s most ecologically magnificent regions, a watershed teeming with salmon, migratory birds and wildlife that thrived alongside Native American communities. The river flowed rapidly from its headwaters in southern Oregon’s high deserts into Upper Klamath Lake, collected snowmelt along a narrow gorge through the Cascades, then raced downhill to the California coast in a misty, redwood-lined finish.

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Tour October 18, 2023 - 7:30am - October 20, 2023 - 6:30pm Nick Gray Northern California Tour Explores Water Resources Across Sacramento Valley to Shasta Dam

Northern California Tour 2023
Field Trip - October 18-20

This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning 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.

Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
View map
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Tour October 12, 2022 - 7:30am - October 14, 2022 - 6:30pm Nick Gray Northern California Tour Explores Water Resources Across Sacramento Valley to Shasta Dam

Northern California Tour 2022
Field Trip - October 12-14

This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning 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.

Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
View map
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Tour April 20, 2022 - 7:30am - April 22, 2022 - 6:30pm Explore Epicenter of Drought and Groundwater Sustainability on the Central Valley Tour Nick Gray

Central Valley Tour 2022
Field Trip - April 20-22

Central Valley Tour participants at a dam.This tour ventured through California’s Central Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket thanks to an imported supply of surface water and local groundwater. Covering about 20,000 square miles through the heart of the state, the valley provides 25 percent of the nation’s food, including 40 percent of all fruits, nuts and vegetables consumed throughout the country.

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Western Water November 19, 2021 Alastair Bland California Water Map WESTERN WATER-California Spent Decades Trying to Keep Central Valley Floods at Bay. Now It Looks to Welcome Them Back By Alastair Bland

California Spent Decades Trying to Keep Central Valley Floods at Bay. Now It Looks to Welcome Them Back
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Floodplain restoration gets a policy and funding boost as interest grows in projects that bring multiple benefits to respond to climate change impacts

Land and waterway managers labored hard over the course of a century to control California’s unruly rivers by building dams and levees to slow and contain their water. Now, farmers, environmentalists and agencies are undoing some of that work as part of an accelerating campaign to restore the state’s major floodplains.

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Western Water November 19, 2021 By Alastair Bland

SIDEBAR: Creating A Floodplain Buffet for Salmon Smolts

Biologists have designed a variety of unique experiments in the past decade to demonstrate the benefits that floodplains provide for small fish. Tracking studies have used acoustic tags to show that chinook salmon smolts with access to inundated fields are more likely than their river-bound cohorts to reach the Pacific Ocean. This is because the richness of floodplains offers a vital buffet of nourishment on which young salmon can capitalize, supercharging their growth and leading to bigger, stronger smolts.

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Tour October 14, 2021 - 2:30pm - 5:30pm Nick Gray Jenn Bowles

Northern California Tour 2021
A Virtual Journey - October 14

This tour guided participants on a virtual exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries and 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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Western Water April 25, 2019 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

California’s New Natural Resources Secretary Takes on Challenge of Implementing Gov. Newsom’s Ambitious Water Agenda
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Wade Crowfoot addresses Delta tunnel shift, Salton Sea plan and managing water amid a legacy of conflict

Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Secretary.One of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.

That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach” on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.

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Western Water January 4, 2019 Douglas E. Beeman

Women Leading in Water, Colorado River Drought and Promising Solutions — Western Water Year in Review

Dear Western Water readers:

Women named in the last year to water leadership roles (clockwise, from top left): Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources; Gloria Gray,  chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner; Jayne Harkins,  commissioner, International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission.The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.

These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.

We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:

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Western Water October 19, 2018 Klamath River Watershed Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

California Leans Heavily on its Groundwater, But Will a Court Decision Tip the Scales Against More Pumping?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Pumping near the Scott River in Siskiyou County sparks appellate court ruling extending public trust doctrine to groundwater connected to rivers

Scott River, in Siskiyou County. In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.

Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.

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Tour October 2, 2019 - 7:30am - October 4, 2019 - 6:30pm Nick Gray Northern California Tour Explores Water Resources Across Sacramento Valley to Shasta Dam

Northern California Tour 2019
Field Trip - October 2-4

This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape as participants learned 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. Tour participants got an on-site update of Oroville Dam spillway repairs.

  • David Guy Presentation
  • Willie Whittlesey Presentation
  • Kevin Phillips Presentation
  • Mark Oliver Presentation
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Western Water September 7, 2018 Enhancing California’s Water Supply: The Drive for New Storage Is California's Water Supply Resilient and Sustainable? Water Education Foundation

ON THE ROAD: Picturesque Northern California Valley Could Become the State’s Next Major Reservoir
Sites Reservoir site is a stop on our Northern California Tour Oct. 10-12

The proposed Sites Reservoir is in a rural cattle-grazing area west of the Sacramento Valley town of Maxwell. An hour’s drive north of Sacramento sits a picture-perfect valley hugging the eastern foothills of Northern California’s Coast Range, with golden hills framing grasslands mostly used for cattle grazing.

Back in the late 1800s, pioneer John Sites built his ranch there and a small township, now gone, bore his name. Today, the community of a handful of families and ranchers still maintains a proud heritage.

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Western Water August 24, 2018 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

When Water Worries Often Pit Farms vs. Fish, a Sacramento Valley Farm Is Trying To Address The Needs Of Both
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: River Garden Farms is piloting projects that could add habitat and food to aid Sacramento River salmon

Roger Cornwell, general manager of River Garden Farms, with an example of a refuge like the ones that were lowered into the Sacramento River at Redding to shelter juvenile salmon.  Farmers in the Central Valley are broiling about California’s plan to increase flows in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to help struggling salmon runs avoid extinction. But in one corner of the fertile breadbasket, River Garden Farms is taking part in some extraordinary efforts to provide the embattled fish with refuge from predators and enough food to eat.

And while there is no direct benefit to one farm’s voluntary actions, the belief is what’s good for the fish is good for the farmers.

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Tour October 10, 2018 - October 12, 2018 New Stop Announced for Northern California Tour: Salmon Rearing Structures in the Sacramento River

Northern California Tour 2018

This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape as participants learned 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. Tour participants got an on-site update of repair efforts on the Oroville Dam spillway. 

  • David Guy
  • Christopher Williams
  • Carson Jeffres
  • Curt Aikens
  • Kelly Peterson
  • Mark Oliver
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Western Water May 23, 2017 Gary Pitzer

Habitat Renewal Project Aims to Boost Sacramento River Salmon
Salmon shelters installed in early May to help fry and juvenile salmon

Before dams were built on the upper Sacramento River, flood water regularly carried woody debris that was an important part of the aquatic habitat.

Deprived of this refuge, salmon in the lower parts of the upper Sacramento River have had a difficult time surviving and making it down the river and out to the ocean. Seeing this, a group of people, including water users, decided to lend a hand with an unprecedented pilot project that saw massive walnut tree trunks affixed to 12,000-pound boulders and deposited into the deepest part of the Sacramento River near Redding to provide shelter for young salmon and steelhead migrating downstream.

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Western Water Excerpt February 15, 2017 Jenn Bowles

Preservation and Restoration: Salmon in Northern California
Winter 2017

Protecting and restoring California’s populations of threatened and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead trout have been a big part of the state’s water management picture for more than 20 years. Significant resources have been dedicated to helping the various runs of the iconic fish, with successes and setbacks. In a landscape dramatically altered from its natural setting, finding a balance between the competing demands for water is challenging.

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Aquapedia background September 1, 2016 California Water Map

Butte Creek

Butte Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, begins less than 50 miles northeast of Chico, California and is named after nearby volcanic plateaus or “buttes.” The cold, clear waters of the 93-mile creek sustain the largest naturally spawning wild population of spring-run chinook salmon in the Central Valley. Several other native fish species are found in Butte Creek, including Pacific lamprey and Sacramento pikeminnow.

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Video May 27, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (20 min. DVD)

20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking engagements to help the public understand the complex issues related to complex water management disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances Fisher.

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Video May 27, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (60 min. DVD)

For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and California border has faced complex water management disputes. As relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp, farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists – all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water. After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the documentary here.

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Video May 27, 2014

Restoring a River: Voices of the San Joaquin

This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an overview of the geography and history of the river, historical and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was agreed to.

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Video May 27, 2014

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an excellent overview of climate change and how it is already affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are underway to plan and adapt to climate.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

San Joaquin River Restoration Map
Published 2012

This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with implementation. 

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Truckee River Basin Map
Published 2005

This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many of these issues. 

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project
Updated 2013

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water Project.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to the Klamath River Basin
Published 2023

The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is hot off the press and available for purchase.

Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and largest reclamation projects.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Flood Management
Updated 2009

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Flood Management explains the physical flood control system, including levees; discusses previous flood events (including the 1997 flooding); explores issues of floodplain management and development; provides an overview of flood forecasting; and outlines ongoing flood control projects. 

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Publication May 20, 2014 California Water Map

Layperson’s Guide to California Water
Updated 2021

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an excellent overview of the history of water development and use in California. It includes sections on flood management; the state, federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for stretching the water supply such as water marketing and conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a section on the human need for water. 

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
Updated 2021

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project explores the history and development of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes the various CVP facilities, CVP operations, the benefits the CVP brought to the state and the CVP Improvement Act (CVPIA).

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Publication April 17, 2014 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Layperson’s Guide to the Delta
Updated 2020

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta, its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project and Diversion Dam

The Red Bluff Diversion Dam, its gates raised since 2011 to allow fish passage, spans the Sacramento River two miles southeast of Red Bluff on the Sacramento River in Tehama County. It is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and operated and maintained by the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Pelagic Fish

Pelagic fish are those that live near the water’s surface rather than on the bottom. In California, pelagic fish species include the Delta smelt, longfin smelt, striped bass and salmon.

In California, the fate of pelagic fish has been closely tied to the use of the water that supports them.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014 Klamath River Watershed Map

Klamath River Basin

Lower Klamath River

The Klamath River Basin is one of the West’s most important and contentious watersheds.

The watershed, which bisects California and Oregon, is unusual. Unlike many major western rivers, the Klamath does not originate in snowcapped mountains but rather a high desert plateau. It’s considered an “upside-down river” because of its unusual geography.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Klamath Basin Chinook and Coho Salmon

The Klamath Basin’s Chinook salmon and coho salmon serve a vital role in the watershed.

Together, they are key to the region’s water management, habitat restoration and fishing.

However, years of declining population have led to federally mandated salmon restoration plans—plans that complicate the diversion of Klamath water for agriculture and other uses.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Battle Creek

Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River in Shasta and Tehama counties, is considered one of the most important anadromous fish spawning streams in the Sacramento Valley.

At present, barriers make it difficult for anadromous fish, including chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead trout, to migrate. Battle Creek has several hydroelectric dams, diversions and a complex canal system between its north and south forks that impede migration.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2013

Meeting the Co-equal Goals? The Bay Delta Conservation Plan
May/June 2013

This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying California’s long-term water supply reliability.

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Western Water Magazine January 1, 2013

Viewing Water with a Wide Angle Lens: A Roundtable Discussion
January/February 2013

This printed issue of Western Water features a roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

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Western Water Magazine July 1, 2012

How Much Water Does the Delta Need?
July/August 2012

This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they might be provided.

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Western Water Magazine July 1, 2011

Making the Connection: Sound Science and Good Delta Policy
July/August 2011

This printed issue of Western Water examines science – the answers it can provide to help guide management decisions in the Delta and the inherent uncertainty it holds that can make moving forward such a tenuous task.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2009

A Tale of Two Rivers: The Russian and the Santa Ana
May/June 2009

This printed issue of Western Water examines the Russian and Santa Ana rivers – areas with ongoing issues not dissimilar to the rest of the state – managing supplies within a lingering drought, improving water quality and revitalizing and restoring the vestiges of the native past.

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Western Water Magazine March 1, 2009

Delta Conveyance: The Debate Continues
March/April 2009

This printed issue of Western Water provides an overview of the idea of a dual conveyance facility, including questions surrounding its cost, operation and governance

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Western Water Magazine January 1, 2009

Making a Future for Fish: Preserving and Restoring Native Salmon and Trout
January/February 2009

This printed copy of Western Water examines the native salmon and trout dilemma – the extent of the crisis, its potential impact on water deliveries and the lengths to which combined efforts can help restore threatened and endangered species.

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Western Water Magazine March 1, 2008

Finding a Vision for the Delta
March/April 2008

This printed copy of Western Water examines the Delta through the many ongoing activities focusing on it, most notably the Delta Vision process. Many hours of testimony, research, legal proceedings, public hearings and discussion have occurred and will continue as the state seeks the ultimate solution to the problems tied to the Delta.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2004

Farms, Fish and Restoration: The Friant Decision and the Future of the San Joaquin River
November/December 2004

This issue of Western Water explores the implications for the San Joaquin River following the decision in the Natural Resources Defense Council lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation and Friant Water Users Authority that Friant Dam is required to comply with a state law that requires enough water be released to sustain downstream fish populations.

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Western Water Excerpt January 1, 1998 Sue McClurgRita Schmidt Sudman

Saving the Salmon
Jan/Feb 1998

Fresh from the ocean, adult salmon struggle to swim hundreds of miles upstream to spawn — and then die — in the same stream in which they were born. For the salmon, the river-to-ocean, ocean-to-river life cycle is nothing more than instinct. For humans, it invites wonder. The cycle has prevailed for centuries, yet as salmon populations have declined, the cycle has become a source of conflict. Water users have seen their supplies reduced. Fishermen have had their catch curtailed. Environmentalists have pushed for more instream flows for fish.

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Water Academy

  • Agriculture
  • Background Information
  • Bay-Delta
  • Dams, Reservoirs and Water Projects
  • Environmental Issues
    • Anadromous Fish Restoration
    • Ecosystem
    • Endangered Species Act
    • Invasive species
    • Lake Tahoe
    • Mono Lake
    • Public Trust Doctrine
    • Salmon
    • San Joaquin River Restoration
    • Watershed
    • Wetlands
  • Leaders and Experts
  • Regions
  • Rivers
  • Water Issues
  • Water Quality
  • Water Supply and Management
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