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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 February 3, 2023 Chemical & Engineering News

US EPA seeks to protect salmon from 4 pesticides

The US Environmental Protection Agency has put restrictions on four pesticides to save endangered Pacific salmon and steelhead species from extinction. The new mitigation measures, announced Feb. 1, aim to protect 28 salmon species in Washington, Oregon, and California from pesticide runoff and spray drift. The four targeted pesticides are three herbicides—bromoxynil, prometryn, and metolachlor—and the soil fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene. The EPA put the measures in place after the National Marine Fisheries Service found in 2021 that such restrictions are needed to protect endangered and threatened salmon species. The measures require no-spray vegetative buffers between waters where salmon live and agricultural fields. They also require retention ponds and vegetated drainage ditches. All of these measures are intended to capture pesticides that otherwise could seep into the water.

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Aquafornia news February 2, 2023 SJV Water

State and federal agencies want fish ladder restored on Merced River

Two powerful state and federal agencies have stuck their toes, so to speak, into an ongoing lawsuit against Merced Irrigation District demanding the district reopen a long defunct fish ladder. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service both sent letters to Merced Irrigation District after Water Audit California sued the district over the fish ladder on the Crocker-Huffman Dam, about 30 miles northeast of the City of Merced. It wasn’t the first time the agencies had sought to have Merced Irrigation District get the fish ladder running again. They had both sent letters in 2009 and 2010, directing the district to reopen the fish ladder, which had been closed since the 1970s to see if a “spawning channel” next to the dam would work better for the salmon, steelhead and other fish.

Related articles: 

  • KRCR – Redding: New fish spawning habitat project going on under Market Street bridge in Redding
  • The Scientist: Geneticists light up debate on salmon conservation
  • The Scientist: Timeline – An extended battle
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Aquafornia news February 1, 2023 The New York Times

EPA waste ban blocks Pebble Mine project in Alaska

The Biden administration on Tuesday moved to protect one of the world’s most valuable wild salmon fisheries, at Bristol Bay in Alaska, by effectively blocking the development of a gold and copper mine there. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final determination under the Clean Water Act that bans the disposal of mine waste in part of the bay’s watershed, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. Streams in the watershed are crucial breeding grounds for salmon, but the area also contains deposits of precious-metal ores thought to be worth several hundred billion dollars. A two-decades old proposal to mine those ores, called the Pebble project, has been supported by some Alaskan lawmakers and Native groups for the economic benefits it would bring, but opposed by others, including tribes around the bay and environmentalists who say it would do irreparable harm to the salmon population.

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Aquafornia news February 1, 2023 California Trout

Blog: Cochran Creek restoration gives Humboldt Bay fish a place to live

Bays and estuaries across California provide important habitat for anadromous fish to grow and nurture their young before transitioning to life in the sea. However, since European settlement, much of that crucial fish habitat has been lost due to land use conversion. In the North Coast, over 95% of Humboldt Bay’s historic footprint has been altered by anthropogenic activity, much of it for agricultural uses. CalTrout’s recently completed restoration project on Cochran Creek will restore function back to a small yet important piece of the landscape.   Located between the coastal towns of Eureka and Arcata, Cochran Creek is a small creek that flows into Humboldt Bay. The creek meanders through the lowlands around Humboldt Bay converted from a tidal marsh years ago.

Related article: 

  • KRCR: Over 150 Chinook Salmon released in the Sacramento River Tuesday 
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Aquafornia news January 31, 2023 Arizona Republic

Indigenous women learn to protect their ancestral lands with fire

On a nearly 45-degree slope along the middle Klamath River in October, Isha Goodwin joined women from across the planet preparing to set fire to the land surrounding Ishraamhírak, a Karuk village site north of Orleans. Under a dappled canopy of conifers, tanoak and oak trees, and the occasional poison oak patch, Goodwin, a member of the Karuk Tribe, drew fiery circles with a drip torch on accumulations of dead leaves, twigs and other dried-out plant material, or duff as it’s known in the fire trade. … The program, known as TREX, was developed to provide hands-on training for local fire crews by running cooperative prescribed burns.  … Putting “good fire” on the ground supported forests and other lands that require fire to maintain healthy conditions. Smoke from these “low, slow” burns also shaded rivers and streams, which cooled the waters for the salmon.

Related article: 

  • Northern California Public Media: New research finds prescribed burns may emit more carbon as trees die faster in CA forests
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Aquafornia news January 27, 2023 Lost Coast Outpost

News release: Federal plan to cut Klamath River flows threatens salmon fishery, local tribes and fishermen warn

Despite the wet winter, the Department of Interior has announced plans to cut Klamath River flows up to 30% below the minimum mandated by the Endangered Species Act to protect listed coho salmon. River flows will drop below 750 cubic feet per second (cfs) for the first time in decades. This could prove disastrous to juvenile coho salmon along with other species including Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and Pacific lamprey. The Yurok Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations have already filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to sue the federal government. … In 2002, similarly low flows led to the infamous Klamath Fish Kill when tens of thousands of adult salmon died as they tried to make their way to their spawning grounds.  In 2004, similarly low flows caused a massive juvenile fish kill which in turn led to a collapse of the entire west coast salmon fishery.

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Aquafornia news January 26, 2023 Northern California Water Association

Blog: CDFW is partnering on experimental programs to aid listed Chinook salmon recovery during the drought and help ensure long-term resiliency

Climate change including multi-year droughts, extreme flooding, and extreme weather swings negatively impact California.  Aridification of our ecosystem, and multi-year droughts are damaging to cold-water-dependent species such as Chinook salmon.  Such is the case with the current drought we are experiencing, which has exacerbated the stressors impacting the Sacramento River’s threatened spring-run Chinook salmon and endangered winter-run Chinook salmon. These stressors include the inability to maintain suitable water temperatures, increased predation, and diminished habitat quantity and quality.  Coupled with drought impacts in freshwater is the recently discovered thiamine deficiency in adult Chinook returning from the ocean which impacts the health of their offspring.  

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Aquafornia news January 26, 2023 The Fresno Bee

Opinion: More dams not the answer to California’s water storage woes

It doesn’t matter whether California is mired in historic drought or soaked from record-setting storms. The same dinosaur mentality about how the state should capture, store and allocate water never fails to resurface. … Writing about these issues from a different perspective, one that doesn’t view “the environment” as a pejorative, often makes me feel like a salmon fighting against the current. So this time around I enlisted the help of a much bigger fish: Dr. Peter Gleick, a world-renowned expert on water and climate issues and co-founder of the Pacific Institute, a nonpartisan global water think tank. … Let’s reinforce that point: Valley farmers depend on fresh water funneled through the Delta for their irrigation. If the Delta gets polluted by salty ocean water, the impact on agriculture would be immense. Letting the rivers flow, to keep the Delta fresh, benefits growers as well.
-Written by Marek Warszawski, Fresno Bee columnist.

Related article: 

  • Danville-San Ramon: Guest Opinion — Shadow Cliffs: A microcosm of California’s water complexities
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Aquafornia news January 25, 2023 KMVU Fox 26 - Medford

Chinook salmon could soon be listed as an endangered species

The National Marine Fisheries Service said Chinook salmon may be eligible for protection, under the Endangered Species Act. Chinook salmon is found on the Southern Oregon and Northern California coast. The Center for Biological Diversity said fish populations has decreased dramatically. The salmon used to be found in all 11 river systems between Tillamook Bay and the Klamath River. … Townsend said the National Marine Fisheries Service will continue to research if the salmon need to be listed as endangered. They will have until August, one year from when a petition was started to make a decision.

Related articles: 

  • US Fish and Wildlife Service:  A big step to recover a tiny California fish
  • Lake County News: Supervisors hold off on decision about Clear Lake hitch emergency
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Aquafornia news January 24, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Opinion: Uncaptured water isn’t all wasted in California

A gazillion gallons of stormwater have been rampaging down rivers into the sea. But that uncaptured bounty hasn’t been “wasted.” “Wasted water” being dumped in the ocean is an old cliché that resurfaces whenever there’s a big storm in this weather-eccentric state — or during the inevitable dry periods when crops are thirsty and homeowners are told to shut off their lawn sprinklers. But “wasted water” is a myth. Uncaptured runoff flowing to the sea flushes pollutants out of rivers and bays, helping to cleanse water for local domestic use. It also saves many kinds of fish, including salmon, not only for recreationists but for the coastal fishing industry. And it deposits sand on beaches.
-Written by LA Times columnist George Skelton.

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Aquafornia news January 24, 2023 Forbes

Car tire dust is killing salmon every time it rains

The atmospheric river that fueled a string of heavy downpours in California this month brought much-needed water to the parched Golden State. But those billions of gallons of rain also swept a form of pollution off roads into streams, rivers and the Pacific Ocean that’s of rising concern to scientists, environmentalists and regulators: particle dust created by car tires. A growing body of research indicates that in addition to being a major source of microplastic pollution, the chemical 6PPD, an additive that’s used to keep tires from wearing out, reacts with ozone in the atmosphere to form a toxic new substance scientists call 6PPD-Quinone. It’s killing coho salmon and likely harms other types of fish, which exhibit symptoms resembling suffocation.

Related article: 

  • California Trout: Introducing CalTrout’s Lost Coast Project Manager & Update on Eel River Dams 
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Aquafornia news January 23, 2023 Sierra Club

Blog: More cars on the road, clean or not, means more microplastics

When Governor Gavin Newsom announced that all new car sales in California would be zero-emission vehicles by 2035, many activists celebrated the move. … But there was a word few people mentioned in response to the news: microplastics. One of the potential unintended consequences of the transition to electric vehicles could be more microplastics. When rubber meets road, tires shed small synthetic polymers less than five millimeters in diameter. … “​​We ended up estimating that stormwater was discharging about seven trillion [microplastics] into the [San Francisco] Bay annually,” said Rebecca Sutton, a senior researcher at the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). Half of those particles come from tires. … These tire particles are already in the air we breathe as well as the San Francisco Bay and the groundwater that empties into it. 

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Aquafornia news January 19, 2023 California Trout

Blog: New restoration project kicks off on Scott River tributary

As drought persists and future impacts of climate change threaten, salmonids across the state will increasingly seek out refuge from warming waters.  Cold-water streams like Big Mill Creek, a tributary to the East Fork of the Scott River, offer important refuge for these fish including the federal and state threatened coho salmon. In the next few years, CalTrout, with the support of The Wildlands Conservancy and our project partners, will prepare to implement a project to restore fish access to upstream habitat in Big Mill Creek creating impacts that could ripple throughout the whole watershed. … Much of the river is warm, but there are cold-water pockets where thousands of coho salmon can be found. 

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Aquafornia news January 17, 2023 California WaterBlog

Blog: Nature’s gift to nature in early winter storms

The current wet spell, made up of a parade of atmospheric rivers, is a welcome change from the last three years of record dry and warm conditions. For very good reasons, the focus during these big, early winter storms is first and foremost on flood management and public safety. There is of course also great interest in the potential of these storms to relieve water shortages for communities and farms. What is not always appreciated is the role of these early winter storms in supporting the health of freshwater ecosystems. For millennia, California’s biodiversity evolved strategies to take advantage of these infrequent, but critical high flow events. Benefits from recent storms are now being realized throughout the state, from temperate rainforests of the North Coast to semi-arid and arid rivers in the south. 

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Aquafornia news January 13, 2023 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

News release: Nearly $8 million now available for eligible Klamath Basin salmon restoration projects

The Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service today announced nearly $8 million for three Klamath Basin Salmon Restoration grant programs is available. Partnering with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to administer funds, the agencies are now seeking applicants to submit pre-proposals for funding opportunities of up to $500,000 for Klamath River projects, up to $500,000 for Trinity River projects, and up to $7 million for Shasta Valley projects. On Jan. 19, 2023, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. PST, Reclamation, NRCS, and NFWF will host a joint pre-proposal webinar to provide an overview of each grant program’s purpose and objectives …

Related article: 

  • Food and Environment Reporting Network: Editor’s Desk: The case of the shrinking wild salmon
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Aquafornia news January 12, 2023 Chico Enterprise-Record

Editorial: Let’s take action on water supply

As Californians struggled to deal with a grueling drought that has led to water rationing and other extreme water-conservation measures, Mother Nature has this week intervened with an atmospheric river that has led to massive rainfalls and flooding — especially up in our end of the state. This cycle of drought and flooding is nothing new. … Unfortunately, California has left itself dependent on the weather (or climate, if you prefer) because it hasn’t built significant water infrastructure since the time that essay was published — when the state had roughly 18 million fewer residents. Some environmentalists argue against building water storage when there’s little rain, but they only are correct if it doesn’t rain again. History suggests the rains will always come — at least eventually, and this week’s ongoing series of storms is a whopper of an example. 

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Aquafornia news January 11, 2023 Courthouse News Service

Feds inch toward listing California, Oregon Chinook salmon as threatened

The Biden administration said Tuesday it will consider adding Chinook salmon in Oregon and Northern California to the endangered or threatened species lists. “Based on information provided by the petitioners, as well as information readily available in our files, we find that hatcheries and climate change may be posing threats to the continued existence of SONCC Chinook salmon,” the notice from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, part of the Department of Commerce, said. … The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will now conduct a longer review, expected to be concluded in August of this year, before deciding whether or not the species — the largest of the salmonids — is eligible for protected status. 

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Aquafornia news January 10, 2023 Grand Junction Sentinel

Opinion: What a long, strange trip to kill four dams

Finally, after a 50-year effort, four massive dams on the Klamath River in northern California and Oregon will start coming down this July. For the Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa, Shasta and Klamath tribes living along this river since time immemorial, there’s much to celebrate. They have long fought for the lives of the salmon that are harmed by these dams, and for their right to fish for them. Even PacifiCorp, which marketed the electricity of the four hydroelectric-producing dams, will also have something to cheer about. PacifiCorp, which is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, won’t have pricey fish ladders to install and its share of the cost of dam removal has been passed to ratepayers in both states.
–Written by Rocky Barker, a contributor to Writers on the Range

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Aquafornia news January 9, 2023 Herald and News

Klamath River dam removal project faces lawsuit

The removal of four dams along the Klamath River near the Oregon-California state line, cheered by tribal, state and federal officials last month, is facing additional litigation. Siskiyou County Water Users Association board member Anthony Intiso has filed a lawsuit against Wade Crowfoot, the secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, claiming Crowfoot is illegally using taxpayer money to fund the historic project, KDRV-TV in Medford reported. … Intiso’s lawsuit cites California’s Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, claiming the project funding is illegal expenditure of tax money.

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Aquafornia news January 9, 2023 SJV Water

Storms bring river flows, frustration for San Joaquin Valley water managers

The string of wet storms streaming over California since the end of 2022 have brought the San Joaquin Valley both relief and frustration, depending on location. In the Fresno area, flows out of Millerton Lake into the San Joaquin River have nearly tripled from 600 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,600 cfs.  In the coming days the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Millerton’s Friant Dam, expects releases to exceed 4,500 cfs.  That’s great for agricultural water districts that take Millerton water on the northern end of the Friant system. And it’s great for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to bring back native spring Chinook salmon runs. … Meanwhile, water managers on the southern end of the Friant system are watching those flows with more than a little frustration.

Related article: 

  • Bakersfield Californian: Water levels rising in the Kern River, Isabella Lake and small lakes in Bakersfield
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Aquafornia news January 6, 2023 Bureau of Reclamation

Storymap: Modifying a river channel to boost salmon productivity

Along the banks of the Sacramento River near Redding, the ancestral home of chinook salmon, a major project is making the waters more hospitable for the juvenile fish as they begin their annual migration downstream toward the Pacific Ocean. Crews have carved a side river channel and supplemented the main riverbed with gravel. From there, it’s a matter of watching the natural process unfold.

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Aquafornia news January 5, 2023 KDRV - Medford

Lawsuit filed against Klamath River dam removal project

A board member of the Siskiyou County Water Users Association has filed a lawsuit against the secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. The lawsuit claims the secretary is illegally using taxpayer money to fund the historic dam removal project…. While the Siskiyou County Water Users Association is against the removal of the dams, its president says the main priority should be improving the quality of the river. 

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Aquafornia news January 5, 2023 Stocktonia

Eulogy for a Deltakeeper

Bill Jennings, a virtuoso environmentalist—a David who gave shiners to many a water-grabbing Goliath in his almost 40-year fight to save the Delta and other rivers—died Dec. 27. He was 79.Jennings was admitted to Dameron Hospital suffering from pneumonia which followed a bout of Covid-19. He also had heart problems. His exact cause of death is unclear.“ Bill was a genius,” said Barbara Barrigan Parilla of Restore the Delta. “Nobody could ever fill Bill’s shoes.”

Related article:

  • Stockton Record: Bill Jennings, Stockton’s legendary advocate for California fisheries, water quality, dies
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news January 4, 2023 Escalon Times

Congressman raises concerns regarding tunnel project

Not building the controversial Delta tunnel means Southern California and Bay Area cities would need to invest in desalination plants and groundwater recharge of brackish water that could impact the visual pleasantries of coastal scenery. That is the bottom line buried in the no-project alternative of the Army Corps of Engineers’ latest 691-page Environmental Impact Study on the proposed Delta tunnel study released in late December. The report determined building the tunnel will have major impacts on San Joaquín County as well as the Northern San Joaquin Valley including agricultural, local water supply, air quality, endangered species, and essential fish habitat…. The Army Corps of Engineers has declined to hold any in-person hearings for feedback on the study whose comment period ends Feb. 14, 2002. That fact has drawn a sharp rebuke from Congressman Josh Harder.

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Aquafornia news January 3, 2023 CSPA News and Archives

Legendary California fishery and water quality activist Bill Jennings dies at age 79

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and the fish of California lost Bill Jennings on December 27, 2022. Above all, Bill was a relentless activist. For over 40 years, he used the law, meticulously documented data, an irascible wit, and a stinging pen to defend and protect his beloved Bay-Delta Estuary and all the rivers that feed it. Bill was chairman of CSPA’s board of directors since 1988 and its executive director since 2005.  He led CSPA in decades of battles to increase flows into the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta and through to San Francisco Bay. He campaigned tirelessly against multiple incarnations of canals and tunnels around the Delta. Through his “Watershed Enforcers” program, Bill chased down stormwater, wastewater, and agricultural polluters all over the state.

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Aquafornia news January 3, 2023 Los Angeles Times

A hunger for anchovies is killing off endangered salmon

They’ve been pushed to the brink of extinction by dams, drought, extreme heat and even the flare of wildfires, but now California’s endangered winter-run Chinook salmon appear to be facing an entirely new threat — their own ravenous hunger for anchovies. After the worst spawning season ever in 2022, scientists now suspect the species’ precipitous decline is being driven by its ocean diet. Researchers hypothesize that the salmon are feasting too heavily on anchovies, a fish that is now swarming the California coast in record numbers. Unfortunately for the salmon, anchovies carry an enzyme called thiaminase, which breaks down thiamine — a vitamin that is essential to cell function in all living things.

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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 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
  • Read more
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

Butte Creek

Less than 50 miles northeast of Chico, California, begins the 93-mile Butte Creek – a tributary of the Sacramento River. It is named after Butte County, which was in turn named for the nearby volcanic plateaus, or “buttes,” and travels through a massive canyon on its way southwest to the Sacramento Valley. 

As a watershed, it drains about 800 square miles, both for agricultural and residential use. The upper watershed is dominated by forests, while the lower watershed is primarily agricultural. 

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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 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

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

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 Basin Chinook and Coho Salmon

 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.

  • Read more

Water Academy

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    • San Joaquin River Restoration
    • Watershed
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  • Leaders and Experts
  • Regions
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  • Water Issues
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