Toxic Dust Threatens California Salmon Population, Lawmaker Seeks Solution
As Klamath Dams Come Down, a Once-in-a-Generation River Restoration Begins
What Happened to California's Salmon Season This Year?
Threatened Coho Salmon at Risk Due to Federal Mismanagement, Groups Allege
Restoration of a San Mateo County Creek Reopens a Gateway for Endangered Salmon
Climate Change Pushing Western Salmon Toward Extinction
Administration Sidelines Federal Biologists Who Could Stand in Way of More Water for Calif. Farmers
Trump's California Water Order Rushes Science and Cuts Out Public, Emails Show
California Adopts Landmark River Plan to Bring Back Salmon
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He describes the species as “having one of the greatest spirits” an ocean-fairing creature can have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They can take a hook and bend it straight to get away,” he said, remembering countless salmon that escaped. “Maybe that’s what they were supposed to do, having the chance to go up the river to spawn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers think they have a solution for at least one part of the salmon mortality problem: purifying highway runoff of toxic dust from tires that enters streams and rivers during storms — made worse by human-caused climate change. When the chemical enters waterways, it quickly kills some species of salmon and trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) recently introduced legislation — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1798\">AB 1798\u003c/a> — that would mandate the state’s leading transportation agency to devise a plan for naturally removing the toxic tire particles, known as 6PPD-quinone, before they slip into waterways and kill fish. While the state has already asked the tire industry to develop alternatives for the chemicals in every tire sold in California, Papan’s plan seeks to clean up the pollution from the cars already on the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a grayish hoodie and sun glasses stands in the doorway on a boat with bright blue overalls to the left.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg stands for a portrait on his boat, the Karen Jeanne at Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, Calif., on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Ogg is planning on going to Oregon for salmon season this year, due to California’s shortage. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While purifying runoff from tiny, tainted rubber bits won’t entirely solve the salmon die-off, Ogg sees the effort as an “opportunity to do what we can to support the fish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The perils to California’s salmon are growing.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sarah Bates, Bay Area fisher\"]‘… these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.’[/pullquote]A changing ocean, dams blocking migration paths, worsening drought conditions drastically decreasing water flows, and climate-fueled storms further complicate river systems. People are feeling the effects on land, even if they don’t realize it — fishers lose jobs, restaurants turn to farm-grown fish, and tribes who view salmon as part of their cultural identity can’t rely on salmon as a food source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Bates, who captains Bounty, a commercial fishing boat docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, said the industry is suffering after years of diminished salmon populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992177\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man walks by boats on a dock.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg walks through Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. If fisheries cancel California’s salmon season for the second year in a row, Ogg plans to make a trip to Oregon to catch salmon there. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people are out of work and struggling financially and emotionally,” she said. “But the fact is that these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is 6PPD?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For over half a century, manufacturers have included the chemical \u003ca href=\"https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/chemical/details/DTXSID9025114\">6PPD\u003c/a> in the tire-making process to help them last longer. When ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical, it turns into 6PPD-quinone. The byproduct ends up as toxic dust on roadways. During storms, the chemical gets washed into rivers and streams, where it comes in contact with fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent studies have linked the death of coho salmon to the chemical. In watersheds near the busiest roadways, researchers found \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd6951\">up to 90% of returning salmon in the Pacific Northwest may die before spawning\u003c/a>. They also found the chemical in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco and suggested the contaminated bits of rubber kill steelhead trout and chinook salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992167\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992167\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinook salmon (pictured) as well as steelhead trout are being killed by toxic tire dust that produces the chemical byproduct called 6PPD-quinone when ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical. Researchers found the byproduct in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Patrick T. Fallon/AFL via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some species, like coho, are susceptible, and the substance diluted in water can kill them in hours. In 2022, researchers found that “\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00467\">significant mortality occurred in coho even when roadway runoff was diluted by 95% in clean water\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical’s effect on human health is still unknown, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Russian River in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, officials counted \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/chinook\">fewer than 2,000 chinook salmon in December\u003c/a>, down from nearly 7,000 in 2012 — a far cry from the more than 150,000 fish that swam the river more than a century ago, said Don McEnhill, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Russian Riverkeeper.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Joseph L. James, chairman, Yurok Tribe\"]‘We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us.’[/pullquote]“This is kind of a straw that breaks the camel’s back kind of situation,” he said. “We have created a host of impacts on aquatic ecosystems, and this new stressor, climate change, is putting a lot more pressure on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, the U.S. EPA granted \u003ca href=\"https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/epa-grants-tribal-nations-petition-to-restrict-6ppd-in-tires\">a petition by tribes\u003c/a> for the agency to consider establishing regulations prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use and distribution of 6PPD in tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EPA officials said last fall that addressing the contaminant in the environment “is one way we can work to reverse this trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the state required the tire industry to give California a list of more than 40 alternatives to 6PPD by last Friday. The state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has two months to evaluate the findings before providing feedback to the tire companies, but in a statement, it said, “the responsibility to comply falls first on manufacturers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This marks a crucial milestone in our efforts to compel manufacturers to look for safer alternatives to this toxic chemical while ensuring tire safety on California’s roads,” said Meredith Williams, the agency’s director.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s in every vehicle tire’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Removing 6PPD-quinone from storm runoff is a massive undertaking, but Assemblymember Papan is spearheading the challenge. In March, she introduced legislation \u003ca href=\"https://a21.asmdc.org/press-releases/20240319-legislation-safeguard-salmon-and-steelhead-trout-lethal-storm-water#:~:text=The%20S.A.L.M.O.N%20Act%20will%20direct,salmon%20and%20steelhead%20trout%20habitats.\">mandating Caltrans develop a regional strategy to eliminate the chemicals from stormwater discharge\u003c/a> into salmon and steelhead trout habitats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While tribes call for eliminating 6PPD in tires everywhere, Papan’s bill focuses on removing existing toxic dust from roadways because eliminating the chemicals from tires doesn’t address out-of-state travelers, imported tires or tires already on cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Cars and trucks on an interstate highway as seen from an overpass.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic on Interstate 880 toward Oakland flowing with cars and diesel trucks midafternoon on Monday, June 28, 2021. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s sort of the first step,” she said. “It’s in every vehicle tire, and we’ve got to find a replacement. In short of finding that replacement, this bill plays a key role in keeping our waterways clean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation directs Caltrans to create five pilot projects in San Mateo, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Humboldt and Nevada counties where highways cross salmon and steelhead-bearing waters. The bill also advises Caltrans to create green basins near roads where plants and soil naturally remove the chemicals from runoff before entering rivers and streams.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo)\"]‘It’s in every vehicle tire, and we’ve got to find a replacement. In short of finding that replacement, this bill plays a key role in keeping our waterways clean.’[/pullquote]“We won’t be able to do it everywhere, but as we expand out, we will look at where we can do it in a targeted fashion,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans declined to comment because the agency does not comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, representing a dozen companies that operate 57 tire-related facilities across the country, supports Papan’s bill. Sean Moore, who leads the group’s government relations team, said the organization is working with Papan because it could take years for the rules banning the preservative to come into effect, and “in the meantime, it’s important to look at other ways to mitigate concerns related to stormwater more broadly in the environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups, like the California Coastkeeper Alliance, also back Papan’s effort, though it is unclear exactly how many salmon and trout in California die daily from exposure to the chemical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to start taking action, or else these species might go extinct,” the group’s executive director, Sean Bothwell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said filtering out the contaminants from stormwater using natural barriers is just the beginning; other roadway debris, like grease, oil and microplastics, could be treated using the same methods.[aside label='More on Climate Change' tag='climate-change']“It can address all that in one swoop,” he said. “We’re using 6PPD as the poster child of why we need to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Papan’s solution for reducing salmon and trout dieoff may also have a secondary benefit: reducing flooding during storms, which are only becoming more intense as the world warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t think about our infrastructure as one-trick ponies anymore,” said Hayley Currier, policy manager with the environmental nonprofit Save the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because much of the state’s water infrastructure is not ready for future storms, Currier said she hopes the pilot projects prove that creating extra space for tainted runoff to pool into will help save fish species while also reducing flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything has to do multiple things,” she said. “When building our infrastructure, we need to think about climate resilience, and flooding needs to be right up there with fire and heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"California salmon are in decline, but lawmakers believe they have a solution to the part of the problem: cleaning toxic tire dust from storm runoff that kills fish.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1712090631,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":36,"wordCount":1929},"headData":{"title":"Toxic Dust Threatens California Salmon Population, Lawmaker Seeks Solution | KQED","description":"California salmon are in decline, but lawmakers believe they have a solution to the part of the problem: cleaning toxic tire dust from storm runoff that kills fish.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/5b1a77ca-1d3b-4f3b-b1f9-b14600f4458e/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/science/1992122/toxic-dust-threatens-california-salmon-population-lawmaker-seeks-solution","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the first time in more than three decades of fishing for salmon near Bodega Bay, Dick Ogg will motor his white and navy boat, Karen Jeanne, north this summer past his typical fisheries in hopes of finding the multicolored species along the Oregon coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There aren’t enough salmon left off the California coast for Ogg to sell on Bodega Bay’s historic docks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We, as fishermen, have nowhere to turn,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘We, as fishermen, have nowhere to turn.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Dick Ogg, Bay Area fisher","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fishery managers are signaling they may cancel California’s commercial salmon season for the second year in a row, which means the 71-year-old has two options: temporarily traveling to Oregon to catch salmon or barely making ends meet luring in rockfish and sablefish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ogg, often in a gray hoodie and wiry sunglasses, wishes there was a solution for boosting California’s salmon schools. He describes the species as “having one of the greatest spirits” an ocean-fairing creature can have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They can take a hook and bend it straight to get away,” he said, remembering countless salmon that escaped. “Maybe that’s what they were supposed to do, having the chance to go up the river to spawn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers think they have a solution for at least one part of the salmon mortality problem: purifying highway runoff of toxic dust from tires that enters streams and rivers during storms — made worse by human-caused climate change. When the chemical enters waterways, it quickly kills some species of salmon and trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) recently introduced legislation — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1798\">AB 1798\u003c/a> — that would mandate the state’s leading transportation agency to devise a plan for naturally removing the toxic tire particles, known as 6PPD-quinone, before they slip into waterways and kill fish. While the state has already asked the tire industry to develop alternatives for the chemicals in every tire sold in California, Papan’s plan seeks to clean up the pollution from the cars already on the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a grayish hoodie and sun glasses stands in the doorway on a boat with bright blue overalls to the left.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-003_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg stands for a portrait on his boat, the Karen Jeanne at Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, Calif., on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Ogg is planning on going to Oregon for salmon season this year, due to California’s shortage. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While purifying runoff from tiny, tainted rubber bits won’t entirely solve the salmon die-off, Ogg sees the effort as an “opportunity to do what we can to support the fish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The perils to California’s salmon are growing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘… these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Sarah Bates, Bay Area fisher","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A changing ocean, dams blocking migration paths, worsening drought conditions drastically decreasing water flows, and climate-fueled storms further complicate river systems. People are feeling the effects on land, even if they don’t realize it — fishers lose jobs, restaurants turn to farm-grown fish, and tribes who view salmon as part of their cultural identity can’t rely on salmon as a food source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Bates, who captains Bounty, a commercial fishing boat docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, said the industry is suffering after years of diminished salmon populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992177\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man walks by boats on a dock.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/240330-Salmon-JY-020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salmon fisherman Richard “Dick” Ogg walks through Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. If fisheries cancel California’s salmon season for the second year in a row, Ogg plans to make a trip to Oregon to catch salmon there. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people are out of work and struggling financially and emotionally,” she said. “But the fact is that these fish are in peril because their river ecosystems are in peril. If we don’t take some steps now, then we might be looking at the final days of the species and the fishing fleet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is 6PPD?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For over half a century, manufacturers have included the chemical \u003ca href=\"https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/chemical/details/DTXSID9025114\">6PPD\u003c/a> in the tire-making process to help them last longer. When ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical, it turns into 6PPD-quinone. The byproduct ends up as toxic dust on roadways. During storms, the chemical gets washed into rivers and streams, where it comes in contact with fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent studies have linked the death of coho salmon to the chemical. In watersheds near the busiest roadways, researchers found \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd6951\">up to 90% of returning salmon in the Pacific Northwest may die before spawning\u003c/a>. They also found the chemical in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco and suggested the contaminated bits of rubber kill steelhead trout and chinook salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1992167\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1992167\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/03/GettyImages-1233162632-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinook salmon (pictured) as well as steelhead trout are being killed by toxic tire dust that produces the chemical byproduct called 6PPD-quinone when ozone in the air comes into contact with the chemical. Researchers found the byproduct in roadway runoff in Los Angeles and creeks in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Patrick T. Fallon/AFL via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some species, like coho, are susceptible, and the substance diluted in water can kill them in hours. In 2022, researchers found that “\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00467\">significant mortality occurred in coho even when roadway runoff was diluted by 95% in clean water\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical’s effect on human health is still unknown, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Russian River in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, officials counted \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/chinook\">fewer than 2,000 chinook salmon in December\u003c/a>, down from nearly 7,000 in 2012 — a far cry from the more than 150,000 fish that swam the river more than a century ago, said Don McEnhill, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Russian Riverkeeper.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Joseph L. James, chairman, Yurok Tribe","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is kind of a straw that breaks the camel’s back kind of situation,” he said. “We have created a host of impacts on aquatic ecosystems, and this new stressor, climate change, is putting a lot more pressure on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, the U.S. EPA granted \u003ca href=\"https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/epa-grants-tribal-nations-petition-to-restrict-6ppd-in-tires\">a petition by tribes\u003c/a> for the agency to consider establishing regulations prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use and distribution of 6PPD in tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EPA officials said last fall that addressing the contaminant in the environment “is one way we can work to reverse this trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the state required the tire industry to give California a list of more than 40 alternatives to 6PPD by last Friday. The state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has two months to evaluate the findings before providing feedback to the tire companies, but in a statement, it said, “the responsibility to comply falls first on manufacturers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This marks a crucial milestone in our efforts to compel manufacturers to look for safer alternatives to this toxic chemical while ensuring tire safety on California’s roads,” said Meredith Williams, the agency’s director.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s in every vehicle tire’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Removing 6PPD-quinone from storm runoff is a massive undertaking, but Assemblymember Papan is spearheading the challenge. In March, she introduced legislation \u003ca href=\"https://a21.asmdc.org/press-releases/20240319-legislation-safeguard-salmon-and-steelhead-trout-lethal-storm-water#:~:text=The%20S.A.L.M.O.N%20Act%20will%20direct,salmon%20and%20steelhead%20trout%20habitats.\">mandating Caltrans develop a regional strategy to eliminate the chemicals from stormwater discharge\u003c/a> into salmon and steelhead trout habitats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While tribes call for eliminating 6PPD in tires everywhere, Papan’s bill focuses on removing existing toxic dust from roadways because eliminating the chemicals from tires doesn’t address out-of-state travelers, imported tires or tires already on cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Cars and trucks on an interstate highway as seen from an overpass.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/RS50202_IMG_6476-2-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic on Interstate 880 toward Oakland flowing with cars and diesel trucks midafternoon on Monday, June 28, 2021. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s sort of the first step,” she said. “It’s in every vehicle tire, and we’ve got to find a replacement. In short of finding that replacement, this bill plays a key role in keeping our waterways clean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation directs Caltrans to create five pilot projects in San Mateo, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Humboldt and Nevada counties where highways cross salmon and steelhead-bearing waters. The bill also advises Caltrans to create green basins near roads where plants and soil naturally remove the chemicals from runoff before entering rivers and streams.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It’s in every vehicle tire, and we’ve got to find a replacement. In short of finding that replacement, this bill plays a key role in keeping our waterways clean.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo)","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We won’t be able to do it everywhere, but as we expand out, we will look at where we can do it in a targeted fashion,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans declined to comment because the agency does not comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, representing a dozen companies that operate 57 tire-related facilities across the country, supports Papan’s bill. Sean Moore, who leads the group’s government relations team, said the organization is working with Papan because it could take years for the rules banning the preservative to come into effect, and “in the meantime, it’s important to look at other ways to mitigate concerns related to stormwater more broadly in the environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups, like the California Coastkeeper Alliance, also back Papan’s effort, though it is unclear exactly how many salmon and trout in California die daily from exposure to the chemical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to start taking action, or else these species might go extinct,” the group’s executive director, Sean Bothwell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said filtering out the contaminants from stormwater using natural barriers is just the beginning; other roadway debris, like grease, oil and microplastics, could be treated using the same methods.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"More on Climate Change ","tag":"climate-change"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It can address all that in one swoop,” he said. “We’re using 6PPD as the poster child of why we need to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Papan’s solution for reducing salmon and trout dieoff may also have a secondary benefit: reducing flooding during storms, which are only becoming more intense as the world warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t think about our infrastructure as one-trick ponies anymore,” said Hayley Currier, policy manager with the environmental nonprofit Save the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because much of the state’s water infrastructure is not ready for future storms, Currier said she hopes the pilot projects prove that creating extra space for tainted runoff to pool into will help save fish species while also reducing flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything has to do multiple things,” she said. “When building our infrastructure, we need to think about climate resilience, and flooding needs to be right up there with fire and heat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1992122/toxic-dust-threatens-california-salmon-population-lawmaker-seeks-solution","authors":["11746"],"categories":["science_40","science_4450"],"tags":["science_5178","science_194","science_4417","science_4414","science_941","science_247"],"featImg":"science_1992176","label":"science"},"science_1984149":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1984149","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1984149","score":null,"sort":[1693578600000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"as-klamath-dams-come-down-a-once-in-a-generation-river-restoration-begins","title":"As Klamath Dams Come Down, a Once-in-a-Generation River Restoration Begins","publishDate":1693578600,"format":"standard","headTitle":"As Klamath Dams Come Down, a Once-in-a-Generation River Restoration Begins | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>[dropcap]O[/dropcap]shun O’Rourke waded into the dark green water, splashing toward a net that her colleagues gently closed around a cluster of finger-length fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Klamath River is wide and still here, making its final turn north to the coast as it winds through the Yurok reservation in Humboldt County. About 150 baby chinook salmon, on their long journey to the Pacific, were resting in cool waters that poured down from the forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Rourke’s colleagues hoisted the net into a mesh-sided bin in the shallows to sort through their catch, in search of young chinook to test for a parasite \u003ca href=\"https://microbiology.oregonstate.edu.prod.acquia.cosine.oregonstate.edu/research/aquatic-microbiology-ecology/monitoring-studies\">that can rot fish from the inside\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, during a deepening drought, most \u003ca href=\"https://kbmp.net/images/stories/pdf/KFHAT/2022/Final_KR21_Report_1-31-22.pdf\">salmon captured for testing (PDF)\u003c/a> during peak migration were infected with the lethal parasite. One tribal leader called it “\u003ca href=\"https://www.yuroktribe.org/post/catastrophic-juvenile-fish-kill-unfolds-in-real-time-on-the-klamath-river#:~:text=On%20May%204%2C%202021%2C%20the,will%20be%20dead%20within%20days.\">an absolute worst-case scenario\u003c/a>” for the Yurok, who rely on salmon for their food, culture and economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Rourke and fisheries biologist Leanne Knutson laid out 20 small dead fish on paper towels, then wrapped them in plastic to send to a lab that will check for the parasite. The rest were released back into the river, where they will swim for days to reach the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years from now, when these fish return as adults ready to spawn, it will be to a Klamath remade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These ones will return either as 3- or 4-year-olds,” O’Rourke said, standing barefoot on the riverbank flecked with fool’s gold and crossed by an otter’s footprints. “And the dams will be gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Appendix_E_6D_Historic_Context.pdf\">more than a hundred years (PDF)\u003c/a>, dams have \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Full%20SDOR%20accessible%20022216.pdf\">stilled the Klamath’s flows (PDF)\u003c/a>, jeopardizing the salmon and other fish, and creating \u003ca href=\"https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/688342\">ideal conditions for the parasite to spread\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now these vestiges of an early \u003ca href=\"https://energyhistory.yale.edu/the-big-dam-era/\">20th-century approach to water and power\u003c/a> are being dismantled: The \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/california-water-science-center/science/klamath-dam-removal-studies#:~:text=Klamath%20River%2C%20California&text=The%20planned%20removal%20of%20four,restoration%20efforts%20in%20US%20history.\">world’s largest dam removal project\u003c/a> is now underway on the Klamath River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/project-materials/\">the end of 2024\u003c/a>, four aging hydroelectric dams spanning the California-Oregon state line will be gone. One hundred thousand cubic yards of concrete, 1.3 million cubic yards of earth and 2,000 tons of steel will be hauled out of the river’s path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribal members, researchers, rural residents near the dams, conservationists and the fishing industry are all anxiously waiting to see how this river, dammed for decades, will change — and with it, its fish, wildlife and human neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an existential question for rivers, especially in a region where water left in nature is often deemed wasted: “Once a river is dammed, is it damned forever?” \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6327834/\">experts ask\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So many uncertainties remain as the Klamath reemerges: Will sediment from the demolition harm the river and its inhabitants? Will healthy numbers of salmon finally return? Will it flood its banks more readily? What will the riverfront look like?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984165\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984165\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Young chinook salmon are collected for lab testing on the Klamath River near Weitchpec on July 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984188\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1985px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984188 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1.png\" alt=\"On left: Gilbert Myers, Oshun O’Rourke, Keenan O’Rourke and Leanne Knutson. In middle: Keenan O’Rourke. On right: The technicians open a probe to collect tracking data. \" width=\"1985\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1.png 1985w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-800x175.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-1020x223.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-160x35.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-768x168.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-1536x336.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-1920x420.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1985px) 100vw, 1985px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fisheries biologists and technicians from the Yurok Tribe’s Klamath program are collecting salmon on the Klamath River. On left: Gilbert Myers, Oshun O’Rourke, Keenan O’Rourke and Leanne Knutson. In middle: Keenan O’Rourke. On right: The technicians open a probe to collect tracking data. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For O’Rourke, 31, a Yurok tribal member, the Klamath is more than a study subject — it’s home for her and her team, and the lifeblood of their tribe, which has inhabited this region since time immemorial. From the research boat, she gestures to the stretch of river where she grew up in her ancestral village, fishing with her father.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Rourke is hopeful that tearing down the dams will mean her son will have salmon to fish, too. But, as a scientist, she plans to investigate, seeking evidence that the river will rebound for the next generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard to say for sure,” she said, “what things will be like in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘To fix a place and right past wrongs’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Klamath is often described \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/habitat-conservation/klamath-river-basin\">as an upside-down river\u003c/a>. It’s born in the high deserts of eastern Oregon \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/bsp/docs/klamath/fullreport.pdf\">as a trickle (PDF)\u003c/a>, and by the time it reaches the Pacific more than 250 miles later, it swells with water drained from more than 12,000 square miles of land, spanning \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/bsp/docs/klamath/fullreport.pdf\">five national forests and seven counties across two states (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a stretch of river, crossing the California-Oregon state line, where feral horses pick their way up pine-studded slopes and osprey nest on power poles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Appendix_E_6D_Historic_Context.pdf\">in 1918 (PDF)\u003c/a>, a power company began operating the first of its hydroelectric dams on the river to light the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Appendix_E_6D_Historic_Context.pdf\">towns and power the farms, mines and mills (PDF)\u003c/a> of California’s far north and Oregon beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where dam construction dispossessed \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Exhibit_E_Cultural_Resources.pdf\">the Shasta people (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/california-water-science-center/science/klamath-dam-removal-studies#overview\">blockaded salmon runs and stewed the river’s water\u003c/a> into a warm, algal brew — drawing decades of activism from tribes and conservationists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this is where demolition has begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than 20 years, four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath have been \u003ca href=\"https://bringthesalmonhome.org/understanding-dam-removal/\">at the center of a fight\u003c/a> to restore the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984171\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984171\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Iron Gate dam, one of 3 hydroelectric dams being removed on the Klamath River, on July 17, 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984190\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1990px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984190 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1990\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2.png 1990w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-800x258.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-1020x329.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-160x52.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-768x248.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-1536x496.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-1920x619.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1990px) 100vw, 1990px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On left: Copco Number 1 Dam. On right: Copco Number 2 Dam. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The dams weren’t built to store water for drinking, irrigation, or to stop floods. They generated electricity for PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, producing less than 2% of its customers’ power supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one side are Native tribes in California and Oregon, conservationists and the fishing industry — all fighting to restore native salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey that have dwindled \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A7-Full-SDOR-accessible-022216.pdf\">under the combined threats (PDF)\u003c/a> of changing ocean conditions, farming and ranching, timber harvesting, mining, overfishing and dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other side are \u003ca href=\"https://lamalfa.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-lamalfa-comments-on-klamath-dam-removal-announcement\">nearby residents and their politicians\u003c/a>, who see demolition as another way for state and federal agencies to impose their environmental wills on their rural way of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in the middle is PacifiCorp. The company had planned to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/habitat-conservation/hydroelectric-management-and-dam-removal-activities\">continue operating the dams to generate electricity after its license expired in 2006\u003c/a>. But by 2010, facing growing protests and \u003ca href=\"https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11616\">hundreds of millions of dollars\u003c/a> in federally mandated updates to make them less dangerous to fish, PacifiCorp agreed to demolish them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984172\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984172 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Klamath River near Happy Camp on July 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Deals between the company, California, Oregon, the Secretary of the Interior and others were struck, blocked in Congress, and remade until, last \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Newsroom/Page-Content/News-List/Federal-Energy-regulator-gives-final-go-ahead-for-historic-Klamath-Dam-removal-plan\">November, when federal energy regulators gave their final blessing\u003c/a> to demolish the dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about damn time we got this done,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7rACSwN4g4\">said in December at the fish hatchery below Iron Gate dam\u003c/a>, the most downstream of the dams slated for demolition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California taxpayers will cover $250 million of the roughly $450–$500 million bill with funds from the Proposition 1 water bond approved by voters in 2014. Another $200 million comes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/khsa-implementation/implementation-plans/2021-10-21_2020-KHSA-Impl-Rpt.pdf\">surcharges that PacifiCorp customers (PDF)\u003c/a>, mostly in Oregon, have already paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California officials, the cost of demolishing a private company’s infrastructure is worth the benefit of a more free-flowing river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes, the need to do something so bold — to fix a place and right past wrongs — means you have to sit down and just be pragmatic on how you’re going to get a deal done,” \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Director\">Chuck Bonham\u003c/a>, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Native tribes and scientists see demolition as a victory for the river’s first peoples and the fish they depend on for their food, cultures and livelihoods. Chinook populations have crashed, so much so that the 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2023/03/california-salmon-fishery-shut-down/\">fishing season was cancelled statewide\u003c/a>. The river’s spring-run chinook are listed as threatened under California endangered species law, while coho are listed under both the state and federal laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984191\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984191 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Polmateer, a Karuk fisheries field supervisor, at Horse Creek along the Klamath River. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Removing the dams is expected to reopen more than 400 miles of habitat for steelhead and other threatened and iconic fish, and restore flows that can better flush away toxic algae and disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://www.siskiyoucountywaterusersassociation.org/\">residents\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/natural_resources/page/7851/nr-20190313_siskiyou_county_comments_definite_plan.pdf\">officials (PDF)\u003c/a> in Siskiyou County worry about the sediment that the project will unleash into the river and the consequences of losing a reservoir to re-feed groundwater wells, fight fires and recreate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Landowners mourn lakeside property that will no longer be waterfront as reservoirs vanish and the exposed land becomes the property of the state of California or a designated third party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984150\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984150\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘It’s hard to say for sure what things will be like in the future,’ said Oshun O’Rourke, a senior fisheries biologist with the Yurok Tribe who is shown near a study site along the Klamath River near Weitchpec. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What is clear is that the Klamath won’t return to the river it once was. Designated as a wild and scenic river, the Klamath has long been the nexus of some of the \u003ca href=\"https://islandpress.org/books/water-war-klamath-basin\">West’s fiercest water wars\u003c/a>, and removing PacifiCorp’s hydroelectric dams ends only some of the battles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other dams will remain upriver in Oregon, where the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation controls flows from Upper Klamath Lake — portioning out too little water to satisfy tribes, wildlife refuges, lake, river, farms and fish. The battle over water allocation will continue, as will the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drought/scott_shasta_rivers/docs/2023/petition-minimum-flows.pdf\">fights over tributaries (PDF)\u003c/a> downstream of the dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The work is not done, by any means,” O’Rourke said, the Klamath River rushing beside her. “There’s still so much to do after the dams come out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>As construction begins, ‘there is no going back’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The smallest of the four dams, the \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/the-project/\">33-foot Copco Number 2\u003c/a>, located in Siskiyou County, is already almost gone. Water rushed past it by mid-July, and only a concrete and steel structure on the river’s bank remained visible from above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite a remarkable sight to see and feeling to feel,” said Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the nonprofit formed to oversee the removal effort. “Knowing that we’ve broken ground and allowed for the river to start that healing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time last year, Bransom said, the riverbed was dry, the water diverted to generate power. Trees now crowd the canyon floor where they sprouted from a riverbed long absent its river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By October of 2024, the river will flow freely past the other three dams as well — the J.C. Boyle dam in Oregon and the Copco Number 1 and Iron Gate dams in California’s Siskiyou County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At this point, Bransom said, “there is no going back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984151\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984151\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Bransom, chief executive officer of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, stands above the Copco Number 1 Dam, one of four hydroelectric dams being removed on the Klamath River. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Driving around the mirror-still reservoirs reveals clusters of activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neon-vested workers on the hillsides collect seeds to replant the bare landscape exposed by drained reservoirs. Overlooking Copco Number 1 dam, the pop-pop-pop of target practice in the distance is audible over the din of drilling for a new groundwater monitoring well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a hillside above Iron Gate dam, Bransom explains the \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/LKP-FERC-Definite-Plan.pdf\">vast undertaking (PDF)\u003c/a> that is unmaking four dams and a century of environmental interference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in January 2024, contractor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kiewit.com/pages/opportunities/klamath-river-renewal-project/\">Kiewit Infrastructure West\u003c/a> will use explosives to blast out concrete walls beneath the spillway at J.C. Boyle dam in Oregon and remove the last plug of concrete from a tunnel drilled into the Copco Number 1 dam downstream. Water will flow into Iron Gate reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A yellow front-end loader trundles to a tunnel at the base of the Iron Gate dam, next to the spillway. This tunnel is where every drop of muddy water will pour into the river starting in January, draining Iron Gate reservoir by up to about 5 feet a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20 million cubic yards of sediment have collected behind the dams over decades — enough to fill about 2 million dump trucks, though only about a quarter to a third of it is expected to end up in the river, Bransom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sediment can choke salmon and other life, and cause oxygen levels in the river to drop. But the work will be timed to avoid migrations, and the ill effects are expected to diminish with time and distance. Federal officials report that ultimately the new conditions will be beneficial to the river and its fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From June through October, excavators will dig into the earthen parts of J.C. Boyle dam in Oregon and use the material to fill in an eroded riverbank and the canal diverting water to the powerhouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1984152\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-800x618.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"618\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-800x618.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-1020x788.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-160x124.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-768x593.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-1536x1187.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-2048x1582.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-1920x1484.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contractors will use explosives to break up the concrete of the Copco Number 1 dam into chunks and cart it away. Iron Gate will be unzipped from top to bottom by excavators that will deposit the earth in the spillway and a scar left by the dam’s construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Klamath_Brochure_Restoring_Habitat_May2021.pdf\">Restoration (PDF)\u003c/a> will also start when the reservoirs are drained, replanting the newly exposed land and restoring habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking down at Iron Gate dam, where water still churns from the turbines generating power, Bransom said he thinks of the river as a creature exploring new territory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m most curious and excited to basically watch the river emerge, and to see where the river wants to find its way back through this area where it’s been so constrained for 100 years,” Bransom said. “There’ll be some curiosities and trepidation, but it will be only forward progress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Neighbors living in limbo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, newlyweds Francis Gill and Danny Fontaine are living in limbo in the Copco Lake community, built on the reservoir, soon to vanish, formed by the Copco Number 1 dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gill, chief of the Copco Lake volunteer fire department, and Fontaine, a realtor, own a home, rental properties, the long-empty Copco Lake store and a workshop next door. Gill estimates that around 75 to 85 people live in the community full time — double that when those with vacation homes are there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Gill and Fontaine’s workshop, a sign on the wall lists Lake Rules. “Go barefoot,” reads one. “Jump off the dock.” But the water has already lowered enough during deconstruction that the dock now rests on the reservoir’s grassy bank, foreshadowing the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984192\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984192 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"653\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-800x261.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-1020x333.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-160x52.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-768x251.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-1536x502.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-1920x627.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Francis Gill, left, and his husband Danny Fontaine, right, in front of their lakefront property on Copco Lake on July 17, 2023. Their property will no longer be lakeside when the dams come down, since the reservoir will disappear. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At first, when the deal was finalized, they were angry — a feeling that \u003ca href=\"https://lamalfa.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressmen-lamalfa-and-bentz-klamath-dams-are-engines-of-energy-and\">reverberates across Siskiyou County\u003c/a>, which has long chafed against the reach of state and federal agencies meddling with local industries. County residents \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Klamath_River_Dam_Removal_Advisory_Vote,_Measure_G_(November_2010)\">overwhelmingly voted to keep the dams\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, with dam removal starting in earnest, Gill and Fontaine are feeling more resigned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of like a facelift,” Fontaine said. “What’s it going to look like? I hope it looks good!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do I really trust this doctor?” Gill joked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/lower_klamath_ferc14803_deir.html\">State\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/22_0826-3006_P-14803-Final-EIS-Lower-Klamath-Hydrpelectric-Project.pdf\">federal (PDF)\u003c/a> environmental assessments spell out the potential impacts on local residents, including the loss of lakewater for firefighting, some unstable lakeside slopes and a drop in groundwater levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downstream of the dams, floodwaters could rise as much as 20 inches higher during extreme, 100-year floods, with levels dropping back down to normal 19 miles downstream, \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/22_0826-3006_P-14803-Final-EIS-Lower-Klamath-Hydrpelectric-Project.pdf\">according to federal projections (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the money in the budget — the dam removal corporation won’t say how much — has been set aside for \u003ca href=\"https://klamathmitigation.org/faqs\">an independently managed mitigation fund\u003c/a> that residents can apply to, provided they agree not to sue. CalFire \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/fire-management-plan/\">has also signed off\u003c/a> on a plan \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Fire-Plan-Dec-2022-FERC-14803.pdf\">to address local firefighting capacity (PDF)\u003c/a>, which includes dry hydrants and a camera network to spot fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gill and Fontaine fear they will lose access to the water their community was built around. They are holding out hope that at least the river will be close, feeling for the bottom of the lake when they go swimming and measuring it with a depth probe, looking for the river’s original channel. Fontaine thinks he discovered it while swimming off of the store’s boat ramp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was kind of exciting, that maybe it could be right there. But we don’t know,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984155\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Docks lay on the banks of a receding shoreline of Copco Lake on July 17, 2023. This land will soon be riverfront as the reservoir disappears when the dams are removed. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They are clear-eyed about the algae that turns the lake green every summer. But the two aren’t convinced that removing the dams will fix it. Gill said he heard that before the dams were constructed, the river would slow to a trickle between puddles of algae in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river’s flows will \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/docs/lower_klamath_ferc14803_deir/3_6.pdf\">continue to be controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (PDF)\u003c/a>, which declined to answer CalMatters’ questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original locals, the Shasta Indian Nation, also have mixed feelings about the dam removal. Though they support the river’s restoration, they’re bracing for what deconstruction and drainage will reveal. Dispossessed by the dam’s construction, the Shasta Indian Nation now faces disturbance once again of burials and other cultural sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are consequences with the construction of the dams,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.shastaindiannation.org/tribal-council.html\">Sami Jo Difuntorum\u003c/a>, culture preservation officer of the Shasta Indian Nation. “And now with the dams coming out, we have consequences that are unique to our people — the disruption and disturbance to our sacred sites.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘More than just a river to us’: Awaiting return of healthy salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Richard Marshall, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.siskiyoucountywaterusersassociation.org/board\">Siskiyou County Water Users Association\u003c/a>, which opposes dam removal, doubts the disruption will be worth it. The idea that demolition is going to “automatically create salmon,” he said, “is simply not true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marshall suspects that warm water upriver, underwater barriers to fish migration and predators have always made the upper basin inhospitable to salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal scientists disagree. They \u003ca href=\"https://fisheries.org/docs/fisheries_magazine_archive/fisheries_3004.pdf\">point to historical descriptions of chinook (PDF)\u003c/a>, steelhead, coho salmon and lamprey above the dams. A photograph from the Klamath County Historical Society from 1891 shows men in suits, ties and hats displaying their salmon catch on the Link River, which flows from Upper Klamath Lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a matter of timing, said Jim Simondet, Klamath branch supervisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division. Temperatures should be cold enough and flows sufficient for spring-run chinook salmon, \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=109405&inline\">a state-protected species\u003c/a>, to migrate above the dams in the spring, but should also support fall-run chinook migrating after the heat of the summer subsides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simondet said scientists will be keeping a close watch for any bottlenecks that might prevent fish from reaching the upper basin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of fish that are bumping their heads up against Iron Gate Dam currently,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river’s coho salmon, listed as threatened at the \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=109405&inline\">state and federal level\u003c/a>, are also expected to use about 70 miles of habitat above the former dam sites after demolition, Simondet said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984156\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984156\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juvenile coho salmon collected for tagging in Horse Creek along the Klamath River. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mike Polmateer is helping the Karuk tribe track them — if and when they do return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe wholeheartedly that once the dams come down, the fish will return,” said Polmateer, a field supervisor with the Karuk Tribal Fisheries Program. The Karuk and the Yurok downriver are the largest tribes in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polmateer is also a traditional fisherman and a fatawana, which he describes as a medicine man. He’s been protesting the dams for years, after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/california_waterfix/exhibits/docs/PCFFA&IGFR/part2/pcffa_155.pdf\">massive fish die-off on the lower Klamath in 2002 (PDF)\u003c/a> catalyzed the \u003ca href=\"https://bringthesalmonhome.org/understanding-dam-removal/\">movement to restore the river\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s still the water that runs through my veins. We only want it to be taken care of,” Polmateer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Polmateer, a fisheries field supervisor and member of the Karuk tribe, at a pond built as a refuge for coho. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984193\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984193\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"635\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-800x254.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-1020x324.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-160x51.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-768x244.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-1536x488.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-1920x610.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Juvenile coho salmon are weighed and measured before tagging in Horse Creek. Right: Fisheries technician Clay Tuttle injects a tag into a coho salmon. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Highway 96 unfurls along the river from the dry volcanic slopes downstream of the dams to wooded canyons downriver. And just off the highway, tucked away down a bumpy dirt road where horned cattle rest in the shade, is a clear blue pond built as a refuge for young coho salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polmateer meets his team there — three younger men in wetsuits who wade into the pond to capture the small silver fish for tagging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The operation takes seconds: The fish, less than three inches long, are sedated in a bucket of water laced with clove oil and something more, then weighed, measured and scanned for existing tags. Then, a deft poke into the fish’s abdomen with a needle, and a tag, no bigger than a grain of rice, is slipped inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tagged, these coho can be tracked on their way to the ocean and as they return, after the dams are gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polmateer, now 63, will be retired by then, but he hopes that his crew, the next generation, will continue the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s more than just a river to us. It’s more than just something that harbors fish,” Polmateer said. “It’s who we are as a people. We’re fix-the-world-people, Karuk people are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hunting bugs — a critical link in the river’s food web\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Green gobbets of algae raced down the Klamath about 11 miles downriver of Iron Gate dam. Big rigs roared in the opposite direction on Interstate 5 above, rumbling towards Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in the middle of the river, water up to his knees, stood Yurok fisheries technician Gilbert Meyers, a net plunged into the gravel and muck. A team of researchers was there to take the river’s pulse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that, said Meyers’ boss, Jamie Holt, is by capturing bugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fish eat bugs, so it directly equates to fish food,” said Holt, a senior fisheries technician with the Yurok Tribe’s Klamath program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984160\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984160\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gilbert Myers, a fisheries technician with the Yurok Tribe, collects mayflies and other aquatic bugs from the Klamath River near I-5 on July 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984197\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984197\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"649\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-800x260.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-1020x331.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-160x52.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-768x249.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-1536x498.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-1920x623.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Dragonfly larvae collected from the Klamath River. Right: A fly perched on a branch at Tree of Heaven Campground.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Monitoring which insects like mayflies, caddisflies and salmon flies are living where, and in what numbers, offers a real-time view into the river’s health before and after the dams come down. The work, \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/lusardi-lab/research?pli=1\">a collaboration with UC Davis and California Trout\u003c/a>, spans the basin, fingerprinting conditions on the Klamath over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crew’s next sampling location, at a campground downriver, is more scenic than the site under I-5. But here, too, algae clogs the sampling nets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A flotilla of children on rafts have scared away the fish the team tries to survey, and they break for food — salmon that Yurok fisheries technician Keenan O’Rourke caught, smoked and jarred last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, salmon projections are so dismal that federal officials and the Yurok tribe canceled commercial and subsistence fisheries, a devastating decision for people with an average income of \u003ca href=\"https://censusreporter.org/profiles/25200US4760R-yurok-reservation/\">less than $21,000 a year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984163\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984163\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jamie Holt, a Yurok senior fisheries technician, examines insects taken from the Klamath River on July 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Holt warns that the dam removal won’t be a panacea as the federal government will still control flows upriver. But she’s optimistic about all the ways it will improve the river’s health. “It’s just going to harbor far more life … It’s going to hatch all kinds of bugs, which grow bigger fish,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holt’s been hearing about demolition of the dams for so long that it doesn’t seem real that they’ll soon be gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I kind of joked around for a lot of years that I’ll believe it when I’m floating over where they used to stand,” she said. “And it still kind of holds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"As four aging hydroelectric dams are demolished, tribes and communities along the Klamath River wait anxiously to see what the future holds. “Once a river is dammed, is it damned forever?” experts ask.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704845908,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":102,"wordCount":4259},"headData":{"title":"As Klamath Dams Come Down, a Once-in-a-Generation River Restoration Begins | KQED","description":"As four aging hydroelectric dams are demolished, tribes and communities along the Klamath River wait anxiously to see what the future holds. “Once a river is dammed, is it damned forever?” experts ask.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"calmatters","sourceUrl":"https://calmatters.org/","sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/rachel-becker/\">Rachel Becker\u003c/a>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/science/1984149/as-klamath-dams-come-down-a-once-in-a-generation-river-restoration-begins","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">O\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>shun O’Rourke waded into the dark green water, splashing toward a net that her colleagues gently closed around a cluster of finger-length fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Klamath River is wide and still here, making its final turn north to the coast as it winds through the Yurok reservation in Humboldt County. About 150 baby chinook salmon, on their long journey to the Pacific, were resting in cool waters that poured down from the forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Rourke’s colleagues hoisted the net into a mesh-sided bin in the shallows to sort through their catch, in search of young chinook to test for a parasite \u003ca href=\"https://microbiology.oregonstate.edu.prod.acquia.cosine.oregonstate.edu/research/aquatic-microbiology-ecology/monitoring-studies\">that can rot fish from the inside\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, during a deepening drought, most \u003ca href=\"https://kbmp.net/images/stories/pdf/KFHAT/2022/Final_KR21_Report_1-31-22.pdf\">salmon captured for testing (PDF)\u003c/a> during peak migration were infected with the lethal parasite. One tribal leader called it “\u003ca href=\"https://www.yuroktribe.org/post/catastrophic-juvenile-fish-kill-unfolds-in-real-time-on-the-klamath-river#:~:text=On%20May%204%2C%202021%2C%20the,will%20be%20dead%20within%20days.\">an absolute worst-case scenario\u003c/a>” for the Yurok, who rely on salmon for their food, culture and economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Rourke and fisheries biologist Leanne Knutson laid out 20 small dead fish on paper towels, then wrapped them in plastic to send to a lab that will check for the parasite. The rest were released back into the river, where they will swim for days to reach the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years from now, when these fish return as adults ready to spawn, it will be to a Klamath remade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These ones will return either as 3- or 4-year-olds,” O’Rourke said, standing barefoot on the riverbank flecked with fool’s gold and crossed by an otter’s footprints. “And the dams will be gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Appendix_E_6D_Historic_Context.pdf\">more than a hundred years (PDF)\u003c/a>, dams have \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Full%20SDOR%20accessible%20022216.pdf\">stilled the Klamath’s flows (PDF)\u003c/a>, jeopardizing the salmon and other fish, and creating \u003ca href=\"https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/688342\">ideal conditions for the parasite to spread\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now these vestiges of an early \u003ca href=\"https://energyhistory.yale.edu/the-big-dam-era/\">20th-century approach to water and power\u003c/a> are being dismantled: The \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/california-water-science-center/science/klamath-dam-removal-studies#:~:text=Klamath%20River%2C%20California&text=The%20planned%20removal%20of%20four,restoration%20efforts%20in%20US%20history.\">world’s largest dam removal project\u003c/a> is now underway on the Klamath River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/project-materials/\">the end of 2024\u003c/a>, four aging hydroelectric dams spanning the California-Oregon state line will be gone. One hundred thousand cubic yards of concrete, 1.3 million cubic yards of earth and 2,000 tons of steel will be hauled out of the river’s path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribal members, researchers, rural residents near the dams, conservationists and the fishing industry are all anxiously waiting to see how this river, dammed for decades, will change — and with it, its fish, wildlife and human neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an existential question for rivers, especially in a region where water left in nature is often deemed wasted: “Once a river is dammed, is it damned forever?” \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6327834/\">experts ask\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So many uncertainties remain as the Klamath reemerges: Will sediment from the demolition harm the river and its inhabitants? Will healthy numbers of salmon finally return? Will it flood its banks more readily? What will the riverfront look like?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984165\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984165\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_12.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Young chinook salmon are collected for lab testing on the Klamath River near Weitchpec on July 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984188\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1985px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984188 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1.png\" alt=\"On left: Gilbert Myers, Oshun O’Rourke, Keenan O’Rourke and Leanne Knutson. In middle: Keenan O’Rourke. On right: The technicians open a probe to collect tracking data. \" width=\"1985\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1.png 1985w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-800x175.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-1020x223.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-160x35.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-768x168.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-1536x336.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters1-1920x420.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1985px) 100vw, 1985px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fisheries biologists and technicians from the Yurok Tribe’s Klamath program are collecting salmon on the Klamath River. On left: Gilbert Myers, Oshun O’Rourke, Keenan O’Rourke and Leanne Knutson. In middle: Keenan O’Rourke. On right: The technicians open a probe to collect tracking data. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For O’Rourke, 31, a Yurok tribal member, the Klamath is more than a study subject — it’s home for her and her team, and the lifeblood of their tribe, which has inhabited this region since time immemorial. From the research boat, she gestures to the stretch of river where she grew up in her ancestral village, fishing with her father.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Rourke is hopeful that tearing down the dams will mean her son will have salmon to fish, too. But, as a scientist, she plans to investigate, seeking evidence that the river will rebound for the next generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard to say for sure,” she said, “what things will be like in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘To fix a place and right past wrongs’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Klamath is often described \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/habitat-conservation/klamath-river-basin\">as an upside-down river\u003c/a>. It’s born in the high deserts of eastern Oregon \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/bsp/docs/klamath/fullreport.pdf\">as a trickle (PDF)\u003c/a>, and by the time it reaches the Pacific more than 250 miles later, it swells with water drained from more than 12,000 square miles of land, spanning \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/bsp/docs/klamath/fullreport.pdf\">five national forests and seven counties across two states (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a stretch of river, crossing the California-Oregon state line, where feral horses pick their way up pine-studded slopes and osprey nest on power poles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Appendix_E_6D_Historic_Context.pdf\">in 1918 (PDF)\u003c/a>, a power company began operating the first of its hydroelectric dams on the river to light the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Appendix_E_6D_Historic_Context.pdf\">towns and power the farms, mines and mills (PDF)\u003c/a> of California’s far north and Oregon beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where dam construction dispossessed \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/relicensing/klamath-final-license-application/Exhibit_E_Cultural_Resources.pdf\">the Shasta people (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/california-water-science-center/science/klamath-dam-removal-studies#overview\">blockaded salmon runs and stewed the river’s water\u003c/a> into a warm, algal brew — drawing decades of activism from tribes and conservationists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this is where demolition has begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than 20 years, four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath have been \u003ca href=\"https://bringthesalmonhome.org/understanding-dam-removal/\">at the center of a fight\u003c/a> to restore the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984171\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984171\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_05-2.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Iron Gate dam, one of 3 hydroelectric dams being removed on the Klamath River, on July 17, 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984190\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1990px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984190 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1990\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2.png 1990w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-800x258.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-1020x329.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-160x52.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-768x248.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-1536x496.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters2-1920x619.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1990px) 100vw, 1990px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On left: Copco Number 1 Dam. On right: Copco Number 2 Dam. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The dams weren’t built to store water for drinking, irrigation, or to stop floods. They generated electricity for PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, producing less than 2% of its customers’ power supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one side are Native tribes in California and Oregon, conservationists and the fishing industry — all fighting to restore native salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey that have dwindled \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A7-Full-SDOR-accessible-022216.pdf\">under the combined threats (PDF)\u003c/a> of changing ocean conditions, farming and ranching, timber harvesting, mining, overfishing and dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other side are \u003ca href=\"https://lamalfa.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-lamalfa-comments-on-klamath-dam-removal-announcement\">nearby residents and their politicians\u003c/a>, who see demolition as another way for state and federal agencies to impose their environmental wills on their rural way of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in the middle is PacifiCorp. The company had planned to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/habitat-conservation/hydroelectric-management-and-dam-removal-activities\">continue operating the dams to generate electricity after its license expired in 2006\u003c/a>. But by 2010, facing growing protests and \u003ca href=\"https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11616\">hundreds of millions of dollars\u003c/a> in federally mandated updates to make them less dangerous to fish, PacifiCorp agreed to demolish them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984172\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984172 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_28.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Klamath River near Happy Camp on July 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Deals between the company, California, Oregon, the Secretary of the Interior and others were struck, blocked in Congress, and remade until, last \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Newsroom/Page-Content/News-List/Federal-Energy-regulator-gives-final-go-ahead-for-historic-Klamath-Dam-removal-plan\">November, when federal energy regulators gave their final blessing\u003c/a> to demolish the dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about damn time we got this done,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7rACSwN4g4\">said in December at the fish hatchery below Iron Gate dam\u003c/a>, the most downstream of the dams slated for demolition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California taxpayers will cover $250 million of the roughly $450–$500 million bill with funds from the Proposition 1 water bond approved by voters in 2014. Another $200 million comes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pcorp/documents/en/pacificorp/energy/hydro/klamath-river/khsa-implementation/implementation-plans/2021-10-21_2020-KHSA-Impl-Rpt.pdf\">surcharges that PacifiCorp customers (PDF)\u003c/a>, mostly in Oregon, have already paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California officials, the cost of demolishing a private company’s infrastructure is worth the benefit of a more free-flowing river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes, the need to do something so bold — to fix a place and right past wrongs — means you have to sit down and just be pragmatic on how you’re going to get a deal done,” \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Director\">Chuck Bonham\u003c/a>, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Native tribes and scientists see demolition as a victory for the river’s first peoples and the fish they depend on for their food, cultures and livelihoods. Chinook populations have crashed, so much so that the 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2023/03/california-salmon-fishery-shut-down/\">fishing season was cancelled statewide\u003c/a>. The river’s spring-run chinook are listed as threatened under California endangered species law, while coho are listed under both the state and federal laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984191\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984191 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_01-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Polmateer, a Karuk fisheries field supervisor, at Horse Creek along the Klamath River. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Removing the dams is expected to reopen more than 400 miles of habitat for steelhead and other threatened and iconic fish, and restore flows that can better flush away toxic algae and disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://www.siskiyoucountywaterusersassociation.org/\">residents\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/natural_resources/page/7851/nr-20190313_siskiyou_county_comments_definite_plan.pdf\">officials (PDF)\u003c/a> in Siskiyou County worry about the sediment that the project will unleash into the river and the consequences of losing a reservoir to re-feed groundwater wells, fight fires and recreate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Landowners mourn lakeside property that will no longer be waterfront as reservoirs vanish and the exposed land becomes the property of the state of California or a designated third party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984150\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984150\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072023_Yurok-Salmon-Counting_SN_CM_25.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘It’s hard to say for sure what things will be like in the future,’ said Oshun O’Rourke, a senior fisheries biologist with the Yurok Tribe who is shown near a study site along the Klamath River near Weitchpec. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What is clear is that the Klamath won’t return to the river it once was. Designated as a wild and scenic river, the Klamath has long been the nexus of some of the \u003ca href=\"https://islandpress.org/books/water-war-klamath-basin\">West’s fiercest water wars\u003c/a>, and removing PacifiCorp’s hydroelectric dams ends only some of the battles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other dams will remain upriver in Oregon, where the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation controls flows from Upper Klamath Lake — portioning out too little water to satisfy tribes, wildlife refuges, lake, river, farms and fish. The battle over water allocation will continue, as will the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drought/scott_shasta_rivers/docs/2023/petition-minimum-flows.pdf\">fights over tributaries (PDF)\u003c/a> downstream of the dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The work is not done, by any means,” O’Rourke said, the Klamath River rushing beside her. “There’s still so much to do after the dams come out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>As construction begins, ‘there is no going back’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The smallest of the four dams, the \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/the-project/\">33-foot Copco Number 2\u003c/a>, located in Siskiyou County, is already almost gone. Water rushed past it by mid-July, and only a concrete and steel structure on the river’s bank remained visible from above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite a remarkable sight to see and feeling to feel,” said Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the nonprofit formed to oversee the removal effort. “Knowing that we’ve broken ground and allowed for the river to start that healing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time last year, Bransom said, the riverbed was dry, the water diverted to generate power. Trees now crowd the canyon floor where they sprouted from a riverbed long absent its river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By October of 2024, the river will flow freely past the other three dams as well — the J.C. Boyle dam in Oregon and the Copco Number 1 and Iron Gate dams in California’s Siskiyou County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At this point, Bransom said, “there is no going back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984151\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984151\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_25.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Bransom, chief executive officer of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, stands above the Copco Number 1 Dam, one of four hydroelectric dams being removed on the Klamath River. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Driving around the mirror-still reservoirs reveals clusters of activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neon-vested workers on the hillsides collect seeds to replant the bare landscape exposed by drained reservoirs. Overlooking Copco Number 1 dam, the pop-pop-pop of target practice in the distance is audible over the din of drilling for a new groundwater monitoring well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a hillside above Iron Gate dam, Bransom explains the \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/LKP-FERC-Definite-Plan.pdf\">vast undertaking (PDF)\u003c/a> that is unmaking four dams and a century of environmental interference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in January 2024, contractor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kiewit.com/pages/opportunities/klamath-river-renewal-project/\">Kiewit Infrastructure West\u003c/a> will use explosives to blast out concrete walls beneath the spillway at J.C. Boyle dam in Oregon and remove the last plug of concrete from a tunnel drilled into the Copco Number 1 dam downstream. Water will flow into Iron Gate reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A yellow front-end loader trundles to a tunnel at the base of the Iron Gate dam, next to the spillway. This tunnel is where every drop of muddy water will pour into the river starting in January, draining Iron Gate reservoir by up to about 5 feet a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20 million cubic yards of sediment have collected behind the dams over decades — enough to fill about 2 million dump trucks, though only about a quarter to a third of it is expected to end up in the river, Bransom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sediment can choke salmon and other life, and cause oxygen levels in the river to drop. But the work will be timed to avoid migrations, and the ill effects are expected to diminish with time and distance. Federal officials report that ultimately the new conditions will be beneficial to the river and its fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From June through October, excavators will dig into the earthen parts of J.C. Boyle dam in Oregon and use the material to fill in an eroded riverbank and the canal diverting water to the powerhouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1984152\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-800x618.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"618\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-800x618.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-1020x788.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-160x124.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-768x593.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-1536x1187.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-2048x1582.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/Klamath-River_dam-removal-scaled-1-1920x1484.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contractors will use explosives to break up the concrete of the Copco Number 1 dam into chunks and cart it away. Iron Gate will be unzipped from top to bottom by excavators that will deposit the earth in the spillway and a scar left by the dam’s construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Klamath_Brochure_Restoring_Habitat_May2021.pdf\">Restoration (PDF)\u003c/a> will also start when the reservoirs are drained, replanting the newly exposed land and restoring habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking down at Iron Gate dam, where water still churns from the turbines generating power, Bransom said he thinks of the river as a creature exploring new territory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m most curious and excited to basically watch the river emerge, and to see where the river wants to find its way back through this area where it’s been so constrained for 100 years,” Bransom said. “There’ll be some curiosities and trepidation, but it will be only forward progress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Neighbors living in limbo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, newlyweds Francis Gill and Danny Fontaine are living in limbo in the Copco Lake community, built on the reservoir, soon to vanish, formed by the Copco Number 1 dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gill, chief of the Copco Lake volunteer fire department, and Fontaine, a realtor, own a home, rental properties, the long-empty Copco Lake store and a workshop next door. Gill estimates that around 75 to 85 people live in the community full time — double that when those with vacation homes are there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Gill and Fontaine’s workshop, a sign on the wall lists Lake Rules. “Go barefoot,” reads one. “Jump off the dock.” But the water has already lowered enough during deconstruction that the dock now rests on the reservoir’s grassy bank, foreshadowing the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984192\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984192 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"653\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-800x261.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-1020x333.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-160x52.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-768x251.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-1536x502.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters3-1920x627.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Francis Gill, left, and his husband Danny Fontaine, right, in front of their lakefront property on Copco Lake on July 17, 2023. Their property will no longer be lakeside when the dams come down, since the reservoir will disappear. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At first, when the deal was finalized, they were angry — a feeling that \u003ca href=\"https://lamalfa.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressmen-lamalfa-and-bentz-klamath-dams-are-engines-of-energy-and\">reverberates across Siskiyou County\u003c/a>, which has long chafed against the reach of state and federal agencies meddling with local industries. County residents \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Klamath_River_Dam_Removal_Advisory_Vote,_Measure_G_(November_2010)\">overwhelmingly voted to keep the dams\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, with dam removal starting in earnest, Gill and Fontaine are feeling more resigned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of like a facelift,” Fontaine said. “What’s it going to look like? I hope it looks good!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do I really trust this doctor?” Gill joked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/lower_klamath_ferc14803_deir.html\">State\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/22_0826-3006_P-14803-Final-EIS-Lower-Klamath-Hydrpelectric-Project.pdf\">federal (PDF)\u003c/a> environmental assessments spell out the potential impacts on local residents, including the loss of lakewater for firefighting, some unstable lakeside slopes and a drop in groundwater levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downstream of the dams, floodwaters could rise as much as 20 inches higher during extreme, 100-year floods, with levels dropping back down to normal 19 miles downstream, \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/22_0826-3006_P-14803-Final-EIS-Lower-Klamath-Hydrpelectric-Project.pdf\">according to federal projections (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the money in the budget — the dam removal corporation won’t say how much — has been set aside for \u003ca href=\"https://klamathmitigation.org/faqs\">an independently managed mitigation fund\u003c/a> that residents can apply to, provided they agree not to sue. CalFire \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/fire-management-plan/\">has also signed off\u003c/a> on a plan \u003ca href=\"https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Fire-Plan-Dec-2022-FERC-14803.pdf\">to address local firefighting capacity (PDF)\u003c/a>, which includes dry hydrants and a camera network to spot fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gill and Fontaine fear they will lose access to the water their community was built around. They are holding out hope that at least the river will be close, feeling for the bottom of the lake when they go swimming and measuring it with a depth probe, looking for the river’s original channel. Fontaine thinks he discovered it while swimming off of the store’s boat ramp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was kind of exciting, that maybe it could be right there. But we don’t know,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984155\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071723_Dam-Tour-and-Copco-Lake_SN_CM_31.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Docks lay on the banks of a receding shoreline of Copco Lake on July 17, 2023. This land will soon be riverfront as the reservoir disappears when the dams are removed. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They are clear-eyed about the algae that turns the lake green every summer. But the two aren’t convinced that removing the dams will fix it. Gill said he heard that before the dams were constructed, the river would slow to a trickle between puddles of algae in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river’s flows will \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/docs/lower_klamath_ferc14803_deir/3_6.pdf\">continue to be controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (PDF)\u003c/a>, which declined to answer CalMatters’ questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original locals, the Shasta Indian Nation, also have mixed feelings about the dam removal. Though they support the river’s restoration, they’re bracing for what deconstruction and drainage will reveal. Dispossessed by the dam’s construction, the Shasta Indian Nation now faces disturbance once again of burials and other cultural sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are consequences with the construction of the dams,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.shastaindiannation.org/tribal-council.html\">Sami Jo Difuntorum\u003c/a>, culture preservation officer of the Shasta Indian Nation. “And now with the dams coming out, we have consequences that are unique to our people — the disruption and disturbance to our sacred sites.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘More than just a river to us’: Awaiting return of healthy salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Richard Marshall, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.siskiyoucountywaterusersassociation.org/board\">Siskiyou County Water Users Association\u003c/a>, which opposes dam removal, doubts the disruption will be worth it. The idea that demolition is going to “automatically create salmon,” he said, “is simply not true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marshall suspects that warm water upriver, underwater barriers to fish migration and predators have always made the upper basin inhospitable to salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal scientists disagree. They \u003ca href=\"https://fisheries.org/docs/fisheries_magazine_archive/fisheries_3004.pdf\">point to historical descriptions of chinook (PDF)\u003c/a>, steelhead, coho salmon and lamprey above the dams. A photograph from the Klamath County Historical Society from 1891 shows men in suits, ties and hats displaying their salmon catch on the Link River, which flows from Upper Klamath Lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a matter of timing, said Jim Simondet, Klamath branch supervisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division. Temperatures should be cold enough and flows sufficient for spring-run chinook salmon, \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=109405&inline\">a state-protected species\u003c/a>, to migrate above the dams in the spring, but should also support fall-run chinook migrating after the heat of the summer subsides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simondet said scientists will be keeping a close watch for any bottlenecks that might prevent fish from reaching the upper basin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of fish that are bumping their heads up against Iron Gate Dam currently,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river’s coho salmon, listed as threatened at the \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=109405&inline\">state and federal level\u003c/a>, are also expected to use about 70 miles of habitat above the former dam sites after demolition, Simondet said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984156\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984156\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_16.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juvenile coho salmon collected for tagging in Horse Creek along the Klamath River. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mike Polmateer is helping the Karuk tribe track them — if and when they do return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe wholeheartedly that once the dams come down, the fish will return,” said Polmateer, a field supervisor with the Karuk Tribal Fisheries Program. The Karuk and the Yurok downriver are the largest tribes in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polmateer is also a traditional fisherman and a fatawana, which he describes as a medicine man. He’s been protesting the dams for years, after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/california_waterfix/exhibits/docs/PCFFA&IGFR/part2/pcffa_155.pdf\">massive fish die-off on the lower Klamath in 2002 (PDF)\u003c/a> catalyzed the \u003ca href=\"https://bringthesalmonhome.org/understanding-dam-removal/\">movement to restore the river\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s still the water that runs through my veins. We only want it to be taken care of,” Polmateer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071823_Karuk-Fish-Tagging_SN_CM_02.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Polmateer, a fisheries field supervisor and member of the Karuk tribe, at a pond built as a refuge for coho. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984193\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984193\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"635\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-800x254.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-1020x324.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-160x51.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-768x244.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-1536x488.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters-4-1920x610.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Juvenile coho salmon are weighed and measured before tagging in Horse Creek. Right: Fisheries technician Clay Tuttle injects a tag into a coho salmon. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Highway 96 unfurls along the river from the dry volcanic slopes downstream of the dams to wooded canyons downriver. And just off the highway, tucked away down a bumpy dirt road where horned cattle rest in the shade, is a clear blue pond built as a refuge for young coho salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polmateer meets his team there — three younger men in wetsuits who wade into the pond to capture the small silver fish for tagging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The operation takes seconds: The fish, less than three inches long, are sedated in a bucket of water laced with clove oil and something more, then weighed, measured and scanned for existing tags. Then, a deft poke into the fish’s abdomen with a needle, and a tag, no bigger than a grain of rice, is slipped inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tagged, these coho can be tracked on their way to the ocean and as they return, after the dams are gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polmateer, now 63, will be retired by then, but he hopes that his crew, the next generation, will continue the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s more than just a river to us. It’s more than just something that harbors fish,” Polmateer said. “It’s who we are as a people. We’re fix-the-world-people, Karuk people are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hunting bugs — a critical link in the river’s food web\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Green gobbets of algae raced down the Klamath about 11 miles downriver of Iron Gate dam. Big rigs roared in the opposite direction on Interstate 5 above, rumbling towards Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in the middle of the river, water up to his knees, stood Yurok fisheries technician Gilbert Meyers, a net plunged into the gravel and muck. A team of researchers was there to take the river’s pulse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that, said Meyers’ boss, Jamie Holt, is by capturing bugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fish eat bugs, so it directly equates to fish food,” said Holt, a senior fisheries technician with the Yurok Tribe’s Klamath program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984160\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984160\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_02.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gilbert Myers, a fisheries technician with the Yurok Tribe, collects mayflies and other aquatic bugs from the Klamath River near I-5 on July 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984197\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984197\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"649\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-800x260.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-1020x331.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-160x52.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-768x249.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-1536x498.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/calmatters5-1920x623.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Dragonfly larvae collected from the Klamath River. Right: A fly perched on a branch at Tree of Heaven Campground.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Monitoring which insects like mayflies, caddisflies and salmon flies are living where, and in what numbers, offers a real-time view into the river’s health before and after the dams come down. The work, \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/lusardi-lab/research?pli=1\">a collaboration with UC Davis and California Trout\u003c/a>, spans the basin, fingerprinting conditions on the Klamath over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crew’s next sampling location, at a campground downriver, is more scenic than the site under I-5. But here, too, algae clogs the sampling nets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A flotilla of children on rafts have scared away the fish the team tries to survey, and they break for food — salmon that Yurok fisheries technician Keenan O’Rourke caught, smoked and jarred last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, salmon projections are so dismal that federal officials and the Yurok tribe canceled commercial and subsistence fisheries, a devastating decision for people with an average income of \u003ca href=\"https://censusreporter.org/profiles/25200US4760R-yurok-reservation/\">less than $21,000 a year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984163\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1984163\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/071923_Yurok-Bug-Sampling_SN_CM_12.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jamie Holt, a Yurok senior fisheries technician, examines insects taken from the Klamath River on July 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Holt warns that the dam removal won’t be a panacea as the federal government will still control flows upriver. But she’s optimistic about all the ways it will improve the river’s health. “It’s just going to harbor far more life … It’s going to hatch all kinds of bugs, which grow bigger fish,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holt’s been hearing about demolition of the dams for so long that it doesn’t seem real that they’ll soon be gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I kind of joked around for a lot of years that I’ll believe it when I’m floating over where they used to stand,” she said. “And it still kind of holds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1984149/as-klamath-dams-come-down-a-once-in-a-generation-river-restoration-begins","authors":["byline_science_1984149"],"categories":["science_2874","science_31","science_35","science_40","science_4450"],"tags":["science_4414","science_247"],"featImg":"science_1984164","label":"source_science_1984149"},"science_1983312":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1983312","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1983312","score":null,"sort":[1689073200000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"what-happened-to-californias-salmon-season-this-year","title":"What Happened to California's Salmon Season This Year?","publishDate":1689073200,"format":"audio","headTitle":"What Happened to California’s Salmon Season This Year? | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>On the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento last week, beneath the grand white dome, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/04/11/opinion-californias-salmon-season-shutdown-was-avoidable/\">Sarah Bates\u003c/a> called out the absence of salmon from July 4th holiday celebrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There had been parades and fireworks, said Bates, who commercially fishes out of San Francisco. “But when I sat down for dinner with my family, what was missing? Where’s the fish?” she shouted with disdain, presumably within earshot of some lawmakers. “Where’s the salmon? Where’s my fresh, local salmon? Today’s my baby’s first birthday. She’s not eating salmon tonight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next generation was also on the mind of Jason Jackson-Reed, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. He addressed the crowd as he cradled his 1-month-old son in a carrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our [tribe’s] social well-being, physical, our cultural, our spiritual well-being, it all runs parallel to the salmon,” he said. “If the salmon aren’t doing good, we’re not doing good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He traced the construction of dams and demise of once abundant fishing stocks to hard times and poor health for the Hoopa people, including diabetes, high blood pressure and addiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s not going to change until the Natives start writing the narrative and we start re-Indigenizing [water] management,” Jackson-Reed said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983349\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protesters under colorful umbrellas rally in front of the white, stately Capitol building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, addresses the crowd at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This spring, fisheries managers closed the commercial and recreational salmon season off the coast of California, owing to cratering fish populations, for the first time since 2009. Every one of the few fish left from the generation of Chinook salmon currently swimming in the ocean are needed to return to their natal streams and spawn, managers decided.[pullquote align='right' citation='Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist, San Francisco Baykeeper']‘The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large: not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them.’[/pullquote]On the Capitol steps, Bates, Jackson-Reed and other tribal leaders and environmental activists charged that officials, and the Newsom administration in particular, are failing the people and species that benefit from the Sacramento River system by appeasing wealthy farms and other big water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closure of the fishing season was not an inevitable result of this drought, say members of this \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/wp-content/uploads/Coalition-Statement-Day-of-Action.pdf\">broad coalition\u003c/a>, which includes the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and Restore the Delta. Instead, they say, it was a result of choices made by state and federal officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This view is shared even by some former state employees.[pullquote align='right' citation='Chuck Bonham, director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife']‘I just want to get something done. I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.’[/pullquote]“It’s a damning reflection on the state of California water management and policy and just how degraded our aquatic ecosystems have become,” said Max Gomberg, water consultant and former climate change mitigation strategist at the State Water Resources Control Board (also known as the State Water Board), in an interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The season’s closure, he said, is due to the lack of government action on its legal and moral responsibilities to protect the state’s natural heritage, its wildlife and ecosystems, against the agricultural industry, which he characterized as “overly focused on short-term profits and too used to getting its way with respect to regulatory policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomberg was so frustrated by what he saw as the Newsom administration’s commitment to a dysfunctional status quo and a desire to control regulatory agencies, that \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">he quit\u003c/a> the water board last summer in protest over its direction, or lack of it — a direction he said comes from the top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It got to a point where [I was] watching on the one hand the [water] board make commitments towards racial justice and equity and environmental restoration, and then on the other hand, being impeded to honor those commitments by the governor’s office,” Gomberg said. “I realized that I could no longer tolerate that state of affairs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storing, sharing and saving water in California is a complex cotillion among federal, state and local agencies — and has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flood-desert-california-water-wars-violent/\">a point of social tension for decades\u003c/a>. But conservation groups, and those aligned with them, say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#fish\">\u003ci>Confused about who manages California’s water? Jump to a quick primer.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Before Newsom took office\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom and current state officials say they are seeking to balance the needs of the environment and a state full of thirsty people and businesses — and that climate change and a punishing drought have dealt them unprecedented challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was a change in tenor regarding California water policy even before Newsom officially took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under former Gov. Jerry Brown, the California Water Board completed the first phase of its water quality control plan review in 2018 — a scientific review process that tries to ensure fish have what they need. It dramatically increased environmental flow standards for the San Joaquin River’s three lower tributaries — the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced — and was expected to greatly improve the health of the rivers, but it was unpopular among commercial farmers who stood to receive less water. (These plans are supposed to be evaluated, and updated if need be, every three years. In reality, it takes decades.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a major accomplishment,” said Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with San Francisco Baykeeper. But “the Newsom administration, before it even became the Newsom administration, tried to block that update.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23870314-20181106-brown-newsom-ltr-postponing-swrcb-phase-i-process\">Newsom sent a letter to Board Chair Felicia Marcus (PDF)\u003c/a>, dated Nov. 6, 2018, the day he was elected, asking the board to postpone the changes, saying the extension would allow the state and water stakeholders to keep negotiating voluntary agreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Newsom took office in January, he did not reappoint Marcus as Water Board chair. While Marcus had attracted the \u003ca href=\"https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/letter-to-felicia-marcus-chair-california-water-resources-control-board\">ire of conservative politicians\u003c/a> such as Tom McClintock during her tenure, many in the environmental nonprofit and academic California water policy world saw her as an effective champion for fish. They were disappointed with the change in direction, which they saw as backtracking, signaled by her removal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Witnessing the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration has been gut wrenching,” Gomberg wrote in his \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">resignation letter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus it is that while state law has officially afforded greater protections and more water to the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, the fish in that system have not benefited yet. The updates have not been implemented, and the state has not made anyone responsible to provide the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same month the Water Board released its proposal for the first phase of updates, in July 2018, it also signaled that its second phase, covering the Sacramento River and the delta, would \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/bio/doug-obegi/state-water-board-proposes-increased-delta-outflow\">recommend that more water flow\u003c/a> out of the delta and the state divert less water to farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom blocked the first phase of the update from going into effect and the second phase from proceeding, seeking instead to form “\u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/delta_watermaster/docs/frameworkofvolagreementsfnl.pdf\">voluntary agreements\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are governance structures formed by the state, water users and participating conservation groups working together, instead of the rules being written by the Water Board itself. \u003ca href=\"https://voluntaryagreements.org/\">Water agencies\u003c/a> and some conservation groups, such as Ducks Unlimited, support this approach, saying it is more flexible, saves time and avoids litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When Newsom took charge of the state’s vast water infrastructure\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When asked “who is to blame” for the closure of the current salmon season, Baykeeper’s Rosenfield points squarely at the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large — not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board last overhauled these standards in 1995. They are supposed to be reviewed every three years. The current review process began in 2008 and is now stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reports and memos, the State Water Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell have all said the current regulations for the San Francisco Bay Delta do not protect the ecosystem and are not enough to ensure the future of salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield points to a decrease in water quality in the delta, seen in the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms — stagnant, green water that’s toxic to touch. What’s needed, he says, is more flowing water and fewer diversions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are all signs that the water quality standards have been inadequate,” said Rosenfield. “And yet Gov. Newsom has actively blocked updates of those water quality standards in favor of voluntary agreement that he wants to negotiate with water districts and that still haven’t materialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribes, environmental justice organizations and other conservation groups strongly oppose this non-regulatory route, saying the process excludes them when the real, important decisions are being made and still prioritizes water deliveries to grow export crops over native fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield also faults Newsom for, early in his administration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-27/gavin-newsom-vetoes-california-bill-trump-environment-rollbacks\">vetoing a bill, SB1\u003c/a>, passed by wide margins that would have allowed the state to adopt Obama-era federal endangered species regulations as state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was seen as a bulwark against the Trump administration rolling back environmental protections at the federal level,” said Rosenfield. “Gov. Newsom vetoed that legislation over his own party’s majority and said, ‘We have the tools that we need to deal with this. We can protect the fish on our fish and water quality on our own, and we will.’ And he hasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, six out of the last 10 years, and in all of the last three years, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drought/tucp/\">state waived\u003c/a> its basic water quality standards, which means that flows have been reduced both in critically dry years and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/water-board-waives-environmental-rules-delta-water/\">even in wetter-than-normal\u003c/a> years with an abundant snowpack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951544\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1951544 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg\" alt=\"A large fish with a crooked nose and a bright pink belly. \" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1200x674.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This coho salmon’s red belly indicates it is spawning. \u003ccite>(U.S. Geological Survey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What happened to the fish that should have been caught this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eggs from the fish that should have been in the ocean this winter and spring were laid in their natal streams back in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so few survived the warm, shallow river and drought conditions that fisheries managers decided it could imperil species survival for any of them to be caught commercially or recreationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a case of climate whiplash. While 2019 was a wet year, 2020 was dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And even though we had just come off of pretty much full reservoirs in 2019, too much water was delivered [to irrigators] in 2019,” said Rosenfield, who says water managers did not prepare for the 2020 drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Water Resources are sort of notorious for not preparing for drought,” he added. “They treat every wet year as though next year is going to be wet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, when dry years began again in 2020, not much backup water was in reserve. And then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They start asking to cut environmental regulations,” Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to one particular example with the Bureau of Reclamation’s decision to reduce flows below Shasta Dam in the fall of 2020, under the oversight of the State Water Board. Endangered winter-run Chinook salmon were no longer in the river, having spawned the previous spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency was able to deliver water to “their clients downstream,” Rosenfield said. “But they did it in such a way that wound up de-watering the nests — the redds — of fall-run Chinook salmon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These fish make up the heart of the West Coast salmon fishery. The bureau prioritized one group of salmon over the other so they could still serve clients, Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early February through mid-April of 2021, the water temperature below Shasta Dam was too hot. Fish suffocated. The amount of water flowing was too low to meet legal requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the fact that they didn’t even meet the already very low and known-to-be-inadequate river flow standard that applies in a critical dry year,” said Rosenfield, “it tells you that the survival was very bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an experiment, about 1,000 hatchery fish tagged with transmitters were released near Red Bluff on the Sacramento River. Of these, just three survived to swim past Sacramento, and \u003ca href=\"https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/CalFishTrack/pageCNFH_FMR_2021.html\">none survived\u003c/a> to exit the delta and make it into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1945871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1945871 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/GettyImages-53033438-1020x735.jpg\" alt=\"Green and sliver fish swim through grey water. \" width=\"640\" height=\"461\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Chinook salmon, along with a school of shad. \u003ccite>(Photo b Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A long, extended decline for salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that the closure of this year’s salmon season occurred against a backdrop of a century of ecological devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we only focus on this year, it does a disservice to salmon and their legacy,” he told KQED. “Because the reality is since maybe the 1950s, what’s been going on for the populations of salmon is a long, extended decline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to roads, dams and the rest of the built environment affecting salmon, cutting them off from the bulk of their natural habitat. (Two California academics specializing in salmon also pointed to the decades-long degradation of salmon habitat as a key reason for the season’s closure.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Layer on top of that, Bonham says, huge demands for water from 40 million people and the rapidly increasing climate change impacts, Western society has effectively dealt salmon a one-two-three punch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Referencing the critical time period during the spring and summer of 2021, when the fish that could otherwise have been caught in the ocean this year were dying, Bonham said the collection of state and federal agencies that manage flow and temperature below Shasta Dam had to make very challenging decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t do well at it,” he said, speaking frankly. “And as a result, we had increased mortality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, he said, things were different the following year; the collection of agencies learned from missteps in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We — this agency dynamic — did better trying to achieve those flow and temperature objectives below Shasta Dam,” Bonham said. “And we had much lower mortality and impacts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it came at a cost to some water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that also occurred was, in the Sacramento Valley, agriculture fallowed about 500,000 acres, which is an unprecedented result from their perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state gave \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/01/california-drought-state-water-project-will-deliver-no-water-next-year/\">farms and cities virtually no water\u003c/a> from the State Water Project in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the state’s preference for seeking voluntary agreements instead of the normal regulatory route, Bonham acknowledged that many advocates view them as insufficient. But, he said, they’re part of a sincere effort to make progress amid “seemingly unwinnable” water wars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to get something done,” he said. “I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In public comments Gov. Newsom has pushed away the idea of any blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/ytSO6YRNW38?t=1294\">March 24 press conference\u003c/a>, at a ground recharge project in Yolo County, he announced he was easing drought restrictions, aiming to boost water storage. A reporter asked if he thought his policies may have done some harm to salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely not,” Newsom said. He pointed out that what went wrong with this year’s salmon occurred three years ago, implying he could not have played a role. (Newsom was sworn in as governor four years and six months ago.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So anyone who suggests otherwise is being purposely misleading or unknowingly misleading. I think it’s more the former often in terms of what I hear out there and some of the extreme statements that are made,” he said, hinting at the fish activists. He added that he listens to expert advice and takes salmon issues seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll take a back seat to no governor in the United States of America in terms of my environmental stewardship and passion,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983366\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983366\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protestors in colorful clothing stand with banners and signs in front of a white, ornate building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, told the assembled crowd that ‘we cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction,’ at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tribes say the state’s inaction is a violation of civil rights\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>However, several tribal and environmental justice groups, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, along with Little Manila Rising, a neighborhood group from South Stockton, feel so neglected by the state and the current administration, they are \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/2022/12/16/civil-rights-complaint-seeks-us-epa-oversight-of-ca-state-water-board-bay-delta-ecological-crisis-harms-california-tribes-and-delta-ej-communities/\">petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to step in to enforce the Clean Water Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say the State Water Board’s failures to update the Bay-Delta Plan is a violation of their civil rights, and the board’s mismanagement of the Bay delta has disproportionately harmed Native tribes and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing the assembled crowd on Wednesday, Malissa Tayaba, Vice-Chairwoman of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, said, “The state is going against its own policies and commitment to consult with tribes on matters impacting our communities and tribal citizens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voluntary agreements, she said, did not offer a solution as they failed to provide enough ecological protections for the delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, said if the health of salmon cannot be improved, Indigenous people cannot thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The governor’s office has promised California Native people truth and healing and has taken some positive steps,” Gali said. “But he’s made a lot of decisions that favor agriculture over all other interests. We cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"fish\">\u003c/a>A quick primer on California’s confusing water policy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two main canals come out of the delta and deliver water to the Central Valley and Southern California: the federally run Central Valley Project, federally managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, and the state-run State Water Project, managed by the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board (also called the State Water Resources Control Board) sets regulatory standards and is supposed to enforce them. Serving underneath the main board are nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor appoints all members of these boards and the state Senate confirms them. Keeping an eye on fish in the river, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife enforces the state’s endangered species laws, while NOAA Fisheries, or the National Marine Fisheries Service, is in charge of federal endangered species protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the agencies must work together to keep the cogs of California’s water policy wheel spinning, each has a different objective and mission.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Storing, sharing and saving water in California has been a point of social tension for decades. But some conservation groups say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Gov. Gavin Newsom.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704845963,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":78,"wordCount":3441},"headData":{"title":"What Happened to California's Salmon Season This Year? | KQED","description":"Storing, sharing and saving water in California has been a point of social tension for decades. But some conservation groups say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Gov. Gavin Newsom.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"Fisheries","audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/e512e6c4-f0fe-43bc-98f5-b04900ff7cb8/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/science/1983312/what-happened-to-californias-salmon-season-this-year","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento last week, beneath the grand white dome, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/04/11/opinion-californias-salmon-season-shutdown-was-avoidable/\">Sarah Bates\u003c/a> called out the absence of salmon from July 4th holiday celebrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There had been parades and fireworks, said Bates, who commercially fishes out of San Francisco. “But when I sat down for dinner with my family, what was missing? Where’s the fish?” she shouted with disdain, presumably within earshot of some lawmakers. “Where’s the salmon? Where’s my fresh, local salmon? Today’s my baby’s first birthday. She’s not eating salmon tonight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next generation was also on the mind of Jason Jackson-Reed, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. He addressed the crowd as he cradled his 1-month-old son in a carrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our [tribe’s] social well-being, physical, our cultural, our spiritual well-being, it all runs parallel to the salmon,” he said. “If the salmon aren’t doing good, we’re not doing good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He traced the construction of dams and demise of once abundant fishing stocks to hard times and poor health for the Hoopa people, including diabetes, high blood pressure and addiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s not going to change until the Natives start writing the narrative and we start re-Indigenizing [water] management,” Jackson-Reed said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983349\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protesters under colorful umbrellas rally in front of the white, stately Capitol building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-01-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, addresses the crowd at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This spring, fisheries managers closed the commercial and recreational salmon season off the coast of California, owing to cratering fish populations, for the first time since 2009. Every one of the few fish left from the generation of Chinook salmon currently swimming in the ocean are needed to return to their natal streams and spawn, managers decided.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large: not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","citation":"Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist, San Francisco Baykeeper","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On the Capitol steps, Bates, Jackson-Reed and other tribal leaders and environmental activists charged that officials, and the Newsom administration in particular, are failing the people and species that benefit from the Sacramento River system by appeasing wealthy farms and other big water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closure of the fishing season was not an inevitable result of this drought, say members of this \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/wp-content/uploads/Coalition-Statement-Day-of-Action.pdf\">broad coalition\u003c/a>, which includes the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and Restore the Delta. Instead, they say, it was a result of choices made by state and federal officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This view is shared even by some former state employees.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘I just want to get something done. I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","citation":"Chuck Bonham, director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s a damning reflection on the state of California water management and policy and just how degraded our aquatic ecosystems have become,” said Max Gomberg, water consultant and former climate change mitigation strategist at the State Water Resources Control Board (also known as the State Water Board), in an interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The season’s closure, he said, is due to the lack of government action on its legal and moral responsibilities to protect the state’s natural heritage, its wildlife and ecosystems, against the agricultural industry, which he characterized as “overly focused on short-term profits and too used to getting its way with respect to regulatory policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gomberg was so frustrated by what he saw as the Newsom administration’s commitment to a dysfunctional status quo and a desire to control regulatory agencies, that \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">he quit\u003c/a> the water board last summer in protest over its direction, or lack of it — a direction he said comes from the top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It got to a point where [I was] watching on the one hand the [water] board make commitments towards racial justice and equity and environmental restoration, and then on the other hand, being impeded to honor those commitments by the governor’s office,” Gomberg said. “I realized that I could no longer tolerate that state of affairs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storing, sharing and saving water in California is a complex cotillion among federal, state and local agencies — and has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flood-desert-california-water-wars-violent/\">a point of social tension for decades\u003c/a>. But conservation groups, and those aligned with them, say the state has failed in its role for years and the situation has gotten worse under Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#fish\">\u003ci>Confused about who manages California’s water? Jump to a quick primer.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Before Newsom took office\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom and current state officials say they are seeking to balance the needs of the environment and a state full of thirsty people and businesses — and that climate change and a punishing drought have dealt them unprecedented challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was a change in tenor regarding California water policy even before Newsom officially took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under former Gov. Jerry Brown, the California Water Board completed the first phase of its water quality control plan review in 2018 — a scientific review process that tries to ensure fish have what they need. It dramatically increased environmental flow standards for the San Joaquin River’s three lower tributaries — the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced — and was expected to greatly improve the health of the rivers, but it was unpopular among commercial farmers who stood to receive less water. (These plans are supposed to be evaluated, and updated if need be, every three years. In reality, it takes decades.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a major accomplishment,” said Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with San Francisco Baykeeper. But “the Newsom administration, before it even became the Newsom administration, tried to block that update.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23870314-20181106-brown-newsom-ltr-postponing-swrcb-phase-i-process\">Newsom sent a letter to Board Chair Felicia Marcus (PDF)\u003c/a>, dated Nov. 6, 2018, the day he was elected, asking the board to postpone the changes, saying the extension would allow the state and water stakeholders to keep negotiating voluntary agreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Newsom took office in January, he did not reappoint Marcus as Water Board chair. While Marcus had attracted the \u003ca href=\"https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/letter-to-felicia-marcus-chair-california-water-resources-control-board\">ire of conservative politicians\u003c/a> such as Tom McClintock during her tenure, many in the environmental nonprofit and academic California water policy world saw her as an effective champion for fish. They were disappointed with the change in direction, which they saw as backtracking, signaled by her removal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Witnessing the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration has been gut wrenching,” Gomberg wrote in his \u003ca href=\"https://onthepublicrecord.org/2022/07/16/on-your-watch/\">resignation letter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus it is that while state law has officially afforded greater protections and more water to the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, the fish in that system have not benefited yet. The updates have not been implemented, and the state has not made anyone responsible to provide the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same month the Water Board released its proposal for the first phase of updates, in July 2018, it also signaled that its second phase, covering the Sacramento River and the delta, would \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/bio/doug-obegi/state-water-board-proposes-increased-delta-outflow\">recommend that more water flow\u003c/a> out of the delta and the state divert less water to farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom blocked the first phase of the update from going into effect and the second phase from proceeding, seeking instead to form “\u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/delta_watermaster/docs/frameworkofvolagreementsfnl.pdf\">voluntary agreements\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are governance structures formed by the state, water users and participating conservation groups working together, instead of the rules being written by the Water Board itself. \u003ca href=\"https://voluntaryagreements.org/\">Water agencies\u003c/a> and some conservation groups, such as Ducks Unlimited, support this approach, saying it is more flexible, saves time and avoids litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When Newsom took charge of the state’s vast water infrastructure\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When asked “who is to blame” for the closure of the current salmon season, Baykeeper’s Rosenfield points squarely at the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state is responsible for reviewing and updating water quality standards. And for at least 14 years, the state has not acknowledged that its water quality standards are inadequate to protect fisheries and the native fish in the Bay Delta writ large — not just endangered species, not just commercial fisheries, like all of them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board last overhauled these standards in 1995. They are supposed to be reviewed every three years. The current review process began in 2008 and is now stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reports and memos, the State Water Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell have all said the current regulations for the San Francisco Bay Delta do not protect the ecosystem and are not enough to ensure the future of salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield points to a decrease in water quality in the delta, seen in the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms — stagnant, green water that’s toxic to touch. What’s needed, he says, is more flowing water and fewer diversions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are all signs that the water quality standards have been inadequate,” said Rosenfield. “And yet Gov. Newsom has actively blocked updates of those water quality standards in favor of voluntary agreement that he wants to negotiate with water districts and that still haven’t materialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribes, environmental justice organizations and other conservation groups strongly oppose this non-regulatory route, saying the process excludes them when the real, important decisions are being made and still prioritizes water deliveries to grow export crops over native fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield also faults Newsom for, early in his administration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-27/gavin-newsom-vetoes-california-bill-trump-environment-rollbacks\">vetoing a bill, SB1\u003c/a>, passed by wide margins that would have allowed the state to adopt Obama-era federal endangered species regulations as state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was seen as a bulwark against the Trump administration rolling back environmental protections at the federal level,” said Rosenfield. “Gov. Newsom vetoed that legislation over his own party’s majority and said, ‘We have the tools that we need to deal with this. We can protect the fish on our fish and water quality on our own, and we will.’ And he hasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, six out of the last 10 years, and in all of the last three years, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drought/tucp/\">state waived\u003c/a> its basic water quality standards, which means that flows have been reduced both in critically dry years and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/water-board-waives-environmental-rules-delta-water/\">even in wetter-than-normal\u003c/a> years with an abundant snowpack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951544\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1951544 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg\" alt=\"A large fish with a crooked nose and a bright pink belly. \" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning-1200x674.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/CohoSpawning.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This coho salmon’s red belly indicates it is spawning. \u003ccite>(U.S. Geological Survey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What happened to the fish that should have been caught this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eggs from the fish that should have been in the ocean this winter and spring were laid in their natal streams back in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so few survived the warm, shallow river and drought conditions that fisheries managers decided it could imperil species survival for any of them to be caught commercially or recreationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a case of climate whiplash. While 2019 was a wet year, 2020 was dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And even though we had just come off of pretty much full reservoirs in 2019, too much water was delivered [to irrigators] in 2019,” said Rosenfield, who says water managers did not prepare for the 2020 drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Water Resources are sort of notorious for not preparing for drought,” he added. “They treat every wet year as though next year is going to be wet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, when dry years began again in 2020, not much backup water was in reserve. And then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They start asking to cut environmental regulations,” Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to one particular example with the Bureau of Reclamation’s decision to reduce flows below Shasta Dam in the fall of 2020, under the oversight of the State Water Board. Endangered winter-run Chinook salmon were no longer in the river, having spawned the previous spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency was able to deliver water to “their clients downstream,” Rosenfield said. “But they did it in such a way that wound up de-watering the nests — the redds — of fall-run Chinook salmon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These fish make up the heart of the West Coast salmon fishery. The bureau prioritized one group of salmon over the other so they could still serve clients, Rosenfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early February through mid-April of 2021, the water temperature below Shasta Dam was too hot. Fish suffocated. The amount of water flowing was too low to meet legal requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the fact that they didn’t even meet the already very low and known-to-be-inadequate river flow standard that applies in a critical dry year,” said Rosenfield, “it tells you that the survival was very bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an experiment, about 1,000 hatchery fish tagged with transmitters were released near Red Bluff on the Sacramento River. Of these, just three survived to swim past Sacramento, and \u003ca href=\"https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/CalFishTrack/pageCNFH_FMR_2021.html\">none survived\u003c/a> to exit the delta and make it into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1945871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1945871 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/GettyImages-53033438-1020x735.jpg\" alt=\"Green and sliver fish swim through grey water. \" width=\"640\" height=\"461\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Chinook salmon, along with a school of shad. \u003ccite>(Photo b Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A long, extended decline for salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that the closure of this year’s salmon season occurred against a backdrop of a century of ecological devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we only focus on this year, it does a disservice to salmon and their legacy,” he told KQED. “Because the reality is since maybe the 1950s, what’s been going on for the populations of salmon is a long, extended decline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to roads, dams and the rest of the built environment affecting salmon, cutting them off from the bulk of their natural habitat. (Two California academics specializing in salmon also pointed to the decades-long degradation of salmon habitat as a key reason for the season’s closure.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Layer on top of that, Bonham says, huge demands for water from 40 million people and the rapidly increasing climate change impacts, Western society has effectively dealt salmon a one-two-three punch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Referencing the critical time period during the spring and summer of 2021, when the fish that could otherwise have been caught in the ocean this year were dying, Bonham said the collection of state and federal agencies that manage flow and temperature below Shasta Dam had to make very challenging decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t do well at it,” he said, speaking frankly. “And as a result, we had increased mortality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, he said, things were different the following year; the collection of agencies learned from missteps in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We — this agency dynamic — did better trying to achieve those flow and temperature objectives below Shasta Dam,” Bonham said. “And we had much lower mortality and impacts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it came at a cost to some water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that also occurred was, in the Sacramento Valley, agriculture fallowed about 500,000 acres, which is an unprecedented result from their perspective,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state gave \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/01/california-drought-state-water-project-will-deliver-no-water-next-year/\">farms and cities virtually no water\u003c/a> from the State Water Project in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the state’s preference for seeking voluntary agreements instead of the normal regulatory route, Bonham acknowledged that many advocates view them as insufficient. But, he said, they’re part of a sincere effort to make progress amid “seemingly unwinnable” water wars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to get something done,” he said. “I’ve been watching this debate for a long time and I think what’s mostly needed is putting water back in our rivers, combined with significant habitat restoration as fast as we can do it. There’s great promise in the voluntary agreements, but I understand the criticisms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In public comments Gov. Newsom has pushed away the idea of any blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/ytSO6YRNW38?t=1294\">March 24 press conference\u003c/a>, at a ground recharge project in Yolo County, he announced he was easing drought restrictions, aiming to boost water storage. A reporter asked if he thought his policies may have done some harm to salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely not,” Newsom said. He pointed out that what went wrong with this year’s salmon occurred three years ago, implying he could not have played a role. (Newsom was sworn in as governor four years and six months ago.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So anyone who suggests otherwise is being purposely misleading or unknowingly misleading. I think it’s more the former often in terms of what I hear out there and some of the extreme statements that are made,” he said, hinting at the fish activists. He added that he listens to expert advice and takes salmon issues seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll take a back seat to no governor in the United States of America in terms of my environmental stewardship and passion,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983366\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1983366\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A group of protestors in colorful clothing stand with banners and signs in front of a white, ornate building. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/230707-SALMON-RALLY-DV-02-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, told the assembled crowd that ‘we cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction,’ at the Day of Action for California Water Justice and Salmon rally on July 5, 2023, at the state Capitol. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tribes say the state’s inaction is a violation of civil rights\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>However, several tribal and environmental justice groups, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, along with Little Manila Rising, a neighborhood group from South Stockton, feel so neglected by the state and the current administration, they are \u003ca href=\"https://www.restorethedelta.org/2022/12/16/civil-rights-complaint-seeks-us-epa-oversight-of-ca-state-water-board-bay-delta-ecological-crisis-harms-california-tribes-and-delta-ej-communities/\">petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to step in to enforce the Clean Water Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say the State Water Board’s failures to update the Bay-Delta Plan is a violation of their civil rights, and the board’s mismanagement of the Bay delta has disproportionately harmed Native tribes and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing the assembled crowd on Wednesday, Malissa Tayaba, Vice-Chairwoman of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, said, “The state is going against its own policies and commitment to consult with tribes on matters impacting our communities and tribal citizens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voluntary agreements, she said, did not offer a solution as they failed to provide enough ecological protections for the delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morning Star Gali, vice-chairperson of the Pit River Tribe, said if the health of salmon cannot be improved, Indigenous people cannot thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The governor’s office has promised California Native people truth and healing and has taken some positive steps,” Gali said. “But he’s made a lot of decisions that favor agriculture over all other interests. We cannot have truth and healing for California tribes and drive salmon into extinction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"fish\">\u003c/a>A quick primer on California’s confusing water policy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two main canals come out of the delta and deliver water to the Central Valley and Southern California: the federally run Central Valley Project, federally managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, and the state-run State Water Project, managed by the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Board (also called the State Water Resources Control Board) sets regulatory standards and is supposed to enforce them. Serving underneath the main board are nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor appoints all members of these boards and the state Senate confirms them. Keeping an eye on fish in the river, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife enforces the state’s endangered species laws, while NOAA Fisheries, or the National Marine Fisheries Service, is in charge of federal endangered species protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the agencies must work together to keep the cogs of California’s water policy wheel spinning, each has a different objective and mission.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1983312/what-happened-to-californias-salmon-season-this-year","authors":["11088"],"categories":["science_35","science_40","science_4450","science_98"],"tags":["science_202","science_4417","science_1275","science_247","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1945866","label":"source_science_1983312"},"science_1981830":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1981830","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1981830","score":null,"sort":[1678284059000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"threatened-coho-salmon-at-risk-owing-to-federal-mismanagement-groups-allege","title":"Threatened Coho Salmon at Risk Due to Federal Mismanagement, Groups Allege","publishDate":1678284059,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Threatened Coho Salmon at Risk Due to Federal Mismanagement, Groups Allege | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>A few weeks ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/coho-salmon-protected\">federally threatened coho salmon\u003c/a> swam up the Klamath River, spawned and laid egg nests. But some of these nests, or redds, holding as many as 4,000 eggs, may never hatch, owing to reduced water levels in the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the result of a severe water management bungling, say critics, by the Bureau of Reclamation, which controls how much water flows from Upper Klamath Lake into the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My jaw is dropping right now at the way things are being managed,” said Michael Belchik, senior water policy analyst employed by the Yurok Tribe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribal nations and commercial fishing groups argue the agency violated the Endangered Species Act when it reduced river flows in mid-March below a minimum level set in a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biological opinion, a series of recommendations and requirements meant to help the salmon recover and ensure river management decisions don’t push the species to the brink of extinction. The bureau blamed years of drought in the Klamath Basin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Yurok Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations have alerted the Bureau of Reclamation that they intend to sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fish need water. If they don’t get water at any stage of their life, they will die. And so that’s what’s happening right now,” said Amy Cordalis, one of the lawyers bringing the lawsuit. Cordalis is a member of the Yurok Tribe and a commercial fisherwoman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Already, we’ve observed that redds are being stranded. We know that as we get [further] into March, that’s when the juvenile baby fish will be in the river, and those will also be killed,” Cordalis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bureau of Reclamation, which controls flows and water allocation on the Klamath, says it is caught between competing priorities. They need to keep water in Upper Klamath Lake, above the Klamath Project dam, for two species of suckerfish; also known by local tribes as c’waam and koptu, these are federally endangered species. And they need to keep water flowing into the river so it can support all the life that depends upon it, including salmon and all the species that rely on them. But, they say, there is not enough water in the whole system to meet the needs of the protected species in both the lake and the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The adaptive management approach aims to address limited available water supply in the Klamath Basin, given potential future hydrology scenarios and competing needs for listed species in Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River,” said the bureau in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/news-release/4423\">Feb. 14 press release\u003c/a>. The agency declined multiple requests for comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cuts to river flows could get more drastic as spring begins. Despite wet weather in the basin, the bureau has not yet signaled that it will increase water in the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://twitter.com/MichaelBelchik/status/1630257416444182528\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every year is treated like a drought in the Klamath now,” said Craig Tucker, natural resources policy consultant for the Karuk Tribe. “So despite the fact we’ve had an above-average winter so far and it’s still snowing and raining as we speak in the Klamath Basin, the bureau is taking these extraordinary measures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1981845\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1981845\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A blue river winds through green trees rising above a valley. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In an aerial view, the Klamath River flows by the Yurok Tribe headquarters on June 9, 2021, in Weitchpec. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Beyond suckers vs. salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The suckers-vs.-salmon framing obscures a mistake in judgment made by the bureau last summer, critics say: allocating too much water to farmers for irrigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They gave away too much water last year and so there’s a deficit this year,” said Glen Spain, regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “We can’t let that cycle go on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of times this gets portrayed as a clash between two endangered species,” said Belchik, of the Yurok Tribe. “That’s not what’s happening here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer the bureau allocated more water to agricultural users than it initially planned. In April, the bureau said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/news-release/4168\">press release\u003c/a> that the Klamath Irrigation Project would be allocated approximately 50,000 acre-feet of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=470\">irrigation project\u003c/a> provides water to approximately 240,000 acres of cropland in south-central Oregon and north-central California. Farmers in the region grow potatoes and other crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, bureau staff records reviewed by KQED list the actual amount of water delivered to the Klamath Irrigation Project during the 2022 water year as 95,000 acre-feet. If that extra allocation had not been made then, the lake levels would likely have been many tens of thousands of acre-feet higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why it was really surprising to me when [the bureau] started talking about the need to cut river flows in early October. I was like, ‘What is going on here?’” said Belchik. “This was entirely preventable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Worries of an ecological collapse\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The dire situation now on the river echoes uncomfortably with a devastating year from two decades ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last time the bureau cut close to these levels, it caused the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/california_waterfix/exhibits/docs/PCFFA&IGFR/part2/pcffa_155.pdf\">2002 Klamath River fish kill (PDF)\u003c/a>,” said Cordalis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.karuk.us/images/docs/press/press%20&%20campaigns/Bring%20the%20Salmon%20Home%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf\">biggest fish kills in U.S. history (PDF)\u003c/a>, leading to the closure of 700 miles of the West Coast commercial ocean salmon fishery in 2006 between northern Oregon and Monterey, California, because there were \u003ca href=\"https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/dam-migration/30_west_salmon_determination_noaa-sf.pdf\">insufficient Klamath River stocks (PDF)\u003c/a>. The U.S. Commerce Department estimated the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-11-me-salmon11-story.html\">loss in revenue\u003c/a> to fishermen at $16 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so the potential implication of this year’s management decision from the Bureau of Reclamation and cutting these flows is that in two, three, four years, we could see [additional] closure[s] of the West Coast salmon fishery because the Klamath stocks are so important,” said Cordalis. “That’s what’s at stake here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reduced flows could also harm Chinook salmon, which are important food for endangered populations of orcas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1981846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1981846\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Klamath River coho salmon. \u003ccite>(Jimmy Peterson and Will Harling/Mid Klamath Watershed Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Prompting a lawsuit\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oOQYk5ndZebYJQhSW1K-NtqXPuKx4A3O/view\">lawsuit being filed\u003c/a> by the Yurok Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Earthjustice will request an emergency injunction to immediately return water flows to the minimum amount required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s simply not legal in our view, for them to take that water from the fish,” said Spain, with the PCFFA. “Fish need actual real water in the river. And that’s what our lawsuit is going to demand, pointing out that it is illegal to go below the minimum flows. That’s what minimum flows mean. That is the minimum. You don’t go below the minimum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the Endangered Species Act, the Bureau of Reclamation must consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to analyze the implications of a decision that deviates from how it is normally supposed to operate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit contends this consultation was not completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So that means two things,” said Cordalis. “One, they’re not meeting the requirements of the ESA. But two, which I think is even more concerning, is that the federal government has no idea really the scope of harm that will be created by this management decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(A National Marine Fisheries Service spokesperson declined to comment on whether the requirement had been met, citing pending litigation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a joint \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao/docs/doi-noaa-term-sheet2023-klamath-project-operations-final-all-signatures.pdf\">Feb. 13 statement (PDF)\u003c/a>, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife said that water retained in the lake as a result of flows dipping below the minimum must be used only for fish. They also said they would continue meeting and engaging with Klamath Basin tribes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spain said the bureau has an outdated mindset — they used to be all about providing irrigation water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of very good people and very good scientists within the Bureau of Reclamation,” he said. “But the culture of the agency has always been that their job is to provide irrigation water. There’s some of that old culture still left. It’s not a science-based decision to prioritize irrigation water over fish and wildlife needs. That’s a political decision.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Tribes along the Klamath River and commercial fishing groups say the Bureau of Reclamation released too much water for farmers last summer, and not enough for federally threatened coho salmon eggs to hatch this year.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704846075,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":34,"wordCount":1441},"headData":{"title":"Threatened Coho Salmon at Risk Due to Federal Mismanagement, Groups Allege | KQED","description":"Tribes along the Klamath River and commercial fishing groups say the Bureau of Reclamation released too much water for farmers last summer, and not enough for federally threatened coho salmon eggs to hatch this year.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"Fisheries","sticky":false,"subhead":"How Many Klamath Coho Will Survive Until Summer?","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/science/1981830/threatened-coho-salmon-at-risk-owing-to-federal-mismanagement-groups-allege","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A few weeks ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/coho-salmon-protected\">federally threatened coho salmon\u003c/a> swam up the Klamath River, spawned and laid egg nests. But some of these nests, or redds, holding as many as 4,000 eggs, may never hatch, owing to reduced water levels in the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the result of a severe water management bungling, say critics, by the Bureau of Reclamation, which controls how much water flows from Upper Klamath Lake into the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My jaw is dropping right now at the way things are being managed,” said Michael Belchik, senior water policy analyst employed by the Yurok Tribe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribal nations and commercial fishing groups argue the agency violated the Endangered Species Act when it reduced river flows in mid-March below a minimum level set in a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biological opinion, a series of recommendations and requirements meant to help the salmon recover and ensure river management decisions don’t push the species to the brink of extinction. The bureau blamed years of drought in the Klamath Basin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Yurok Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations have alerted the Bureau of Reclamation that they intend to sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fish need water. If they don’t get water at any stage of their life, they will die. And so that’s what’s happening right now,” said Amy Cordalis, one of the lawyers bringing the lawsuit. Cordalis is a member of the Yurok Tribe and a commercial fisherwoman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Already, we’ve observed that redds are being stranded. We know that as we get [further] into March, that’s when the juvenile baby fish will be in the river, and those will also be killed,” Cordalis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bureau of Reclamation, which controls flows and water allocation on the Klamath, says it is caught between competing priorities. They need to keep water in Upper Klamath Lake, above the Klamath Project dam, for two species of suckerfish; also known by local tribes as c’waam and koptu, these are federally endangered species. And they need to keep water flowing into the river so it can support all the life that depends upon it, including salmon and all the species that rely on them. But, they say, there is not enough water in the whole system to meet the needs of the protected species in both the lake and the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The adaptive management approach aims to address limited available water supply in the Klamath Basin, given potential future hydrology scenarios and competing needs for listed species in Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River,” said the bureau in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/news-release/4423\">Feb. 14 press release\u003c/a>. The agency declined multiple requests for comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cuts to river flows could get more drastic as spring begins. Despite wet weather in the basin, the bureau has not yet signaled that it will increase water in the river.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"1630257416444182528"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>“Every year is treated like a drought in the Klamath now,” said Craig Tucker, natural resources policy consultant for the Karuk Tribe. “So despite the fact we’ve had an above-average winter so far and it’s still snowing and raining as we speak in the Klamath Basin, the bureau is taking these extraordinary measures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1981845\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1981845\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"A blue river winds through green trees rising above a valley. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS63513_GettyImages-1322779946-2-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In an aerial view, the Klamath River flows by the Yurok Tribe headquarters on June 9, 2021, in Weitchpec. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Beyond suckers vs. salmon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The suckers-vs.-salmon framing obscures a mistake in judgment made by the bureau last summer, critics say: allocating too much water to farmers for irrigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They gave away too much water last year and so there’s a deficit this year,” said Glen Spain, regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “We can’t let that cycle go on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of times this gets portrayed as a clash between two endangered species,” said Belchik, of the Yurok Tribe. “That’s not what’s happening here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer the bureau allocated more water to agricultural users than it initially planned. In April, the bureau said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/news-release/4168\">press release\u003c/a> that the Klamath Irrigation Project would be allocated approximately 50,000 acre-feet of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=470\">irrigation project\u003c/a> provides water to approximately 240,000 acres of cropland in south-central Oregon and north-central California. Farmers in the region grow potatoes and other crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, bureau staff records reviewed by KQED list the actual amount of water delivered to the Klamath Irrigation Project during the 2022 water year as 95,000 acre-feet. If that extra allocation had not been made then, the lake levels would likely have been many tens of thousands of acre-feet higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why it was really surprising to me when [the bureau] started talking about the need to cut river flows in early October. I was like, ‘What is going on here?’” said Belchik. “This was entirely preventable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Worries of an ecological collapse\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The dire situation now on the river echoes uncomfortably with a devastating year from two decades ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last time the bureau cut close to these levels, it caused the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/california_waterfix/exhibits/docs/PCFFA&IGFR/part2/pcffa_155.pdf\">2002 Klamath River fish kill (PDF)\u003c/a>,” said Cordalis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.karuk.us/images/docs/press/press%20&%20campaigns/Bring%20the%20Salmon%20Home%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf\">biggest fish kills in U.S. history (PDF)\u003c/a>, leading to the closure of 700 miles of the West Coast commercial ocean salmon fishery in 2006 between northern Oregon and Monterey, California, because there were \u003ca href=\"https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/dam-migration/30_west_salmon_determination_noaa-sf.pdf\">insufficient Klamath River stocks (PDF)\u003c/a>. The U.S. Commerce Department estimated the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-11-me-salmon11-story.html\">loss in revenue\u003c/a> to fishermen at $16 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so the potential implication of this year’s management decision from the Bureau of Reclamation and cutting these flows is that in two, three, four years, we could see [additional] closure[s] of the West Coast salmon fishery because the Klamath stocks are so important,” said Cordalis. “That’s what’s at stake here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reduced flows could also harm Chinook salmon, which are important food for endangered populations of orcas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1981846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1981846\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/03/RS22170_IMG_6678-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Klamath River coho salmon. \u003ccite>(Jimmy Peterson and Will Harling/Mid Klamath Watershed Council)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Prompting a lawsuit\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oOQYk5ndZebYJQhSW1K-NtqXPuKx4A3O/view\">lawsuit being filed\u003c/a> by the Yurok Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Earthjustice will request an emergency injunction to immediately return water flows to the minimum amount required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s simply not legal in our view, for them to take that water from the fish,” said Spain, with the PCFFA. “Fish need actual real water in the river. And that’s what our lawsuit is going to demand, pointing out that it is illegal to go below the minimum flows. That’s what minimum flows mean. That is the minimum. You don’t go below the minimum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the Endangered Species Act, the Bureau of Reclamation must consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to analyze the implications of a decision that deviates from how it is normally supposed to operate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit contends this consultation was not completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So that means two things,” said Cordalis. “One, they’re not meeting the requirements of the ESA. But two, which I think is even more concerning, is that the federal government has no idea really the scope of harm that will be created by this management decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(A National Marine Fisheries Service spokesperson declined to comment on whether the requirement had been met, citing pending litigation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a joint \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao/docs/doi-noaa-term-sheet2023-klamath-project-operations-final-all-signatures.pdf\">Feb. 13 statement (PDF)\u003c/a>, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife said that water retained in the lake as a result of flows dipping below the minimum must be used only for fish. They also said they would continue meeting and engaging with Klamath Basin tribes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spain said the bureau has an outdated mindset — they used to be all about providing irrigation water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of very good people and very good scientists within the Bureau of Reclamation,” he said. “But the culture of the agency has always been that their job is to provide irrigation water. There’s some of that old culture still left. It’s not a science-based decision to prioritize irrigation water over fish and wildlife needs. That’s a political decision.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1981830/threatened-coho-salmon-at-risk-owing-to-federal-mismanagement-groups-allege","authors":["11088"],"categories":["science_2874","science_35","science_40","science_2873","science_4450","science_98"],"tags":["science_1275","science_247","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1981838","label":"source_science_1981830"},"science_1951545":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1951545","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1951545","score":null,"sort":[1576483283000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"restoration-of-a-san-mateo-county-creek-reopens-a-gateway-for-endangered-salmon","title":"Restoration of a San Mateo County Creek Reopens a Gateway for Endangered Salmon","publishDate":1576483283,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Restoration of a San Mateo County Creek Reopens a Gateway for Endangered Salmon | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]magine you’re a fish. A coho salmon, to be specific. Your every instinct is telling you it’s time to migrate upstream from the ocean to spawn in the rivers and streams beyond. But instead of reaching those mountain tributaries and completing your life cycle, you’re blocked at every turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gateway to your spawning grounds has closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how Kellyx Nelson describes the predicament for coho in Butano Creek, a stream just outside the tiny farming town of Pescadero on the San Mateo County coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951603\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve, an estuary on the San Mateo County coast. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nelson is executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sanmateorcd.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Mateo Resource Conservation District\u003c/a>. The agency is working to restore the wetlands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.coastsidestateparks.org/pescadero-marsh-natural-preserve\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pescasdero Marsh Natural Preserve\u003c/a> for endangered coho and other native species on the brink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A year or two ago I walked down the creek with my waders on and all of a sudden you’re walking uphill and you’re on land,” Nelson said. “The creek was gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lower Butano Creek had been clogged by a mile-and-a-half long plug of sediment where the stream once flowed through the marsh to meet the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over one stretch, a forest had grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson says the blockage was the result of nearly two centuries of farming, logging and re-engineering the local streams, all of which triggered severe erosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dirt from upstream bled into the creek and washed down to the area near town, where the stream flattens out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s more than 10 miles of spawning and rearing habitat in that watershed that has been lost,” Nelson said. “We basically caused a dam to be formed so that the fish could almost never get upstream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the resource conservation district, in partnership with California State Parks and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, embarked on a $7 million \u003ca href=\"http://www.sanmateorcd.org/project/butano-creek-reconnection-project/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">restoration project\u003c/a> to remove the sediment dam blocking Butano Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hope is the restoration can reconnect coho with their historic spawning range upstream in Butano State Park and ultimately aid in the species’ recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3sG28/33/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" height=\"569\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Species in Decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coho once thrived in California’s coastal rivers and creeks from Santa Cruz County to the Oregon border. Like other salmon, coho are known for what Nelson calls “this extraordinary life story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They begin life in freshwater streams, where they spend more than a year rearing until they make their way to the ocean. Typically, after a year and a half in salt water, they return to their home creeks and rivers to spawn, then die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other salmon species, they’re known for their physical transformation from silver to various shades of crimson when they re-enter to reproduce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951609\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951609\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Coho-in-California-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coho once thrived in California’s coastal rivers and streams. Pictured above, a 2018 coho migration in Marin County’s Lagunitas Creek, another site of habitat restoration. \u003ccite>(Harry McGrath/Turtle Island Restoration Network)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re gorgeous and charismatic and mysterious,” Nelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Fishes/Coho-Salmon\">California’s coho\u003c/a>, once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, have disappeared from a large part of their range. South of the Golden Gate, the species is virtually extinct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habitat loss is a major factor driving the decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Butano Creek restoration aims to solve another problem created by humans re-engineering the local landscape: \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/06/pescadero-more-steelhead-deaths-frustrate-residents/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">frequent die-offs\u003c/a> of threatened steelhead, which once thrived in the watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These fish — ocean-going rainbow trout — spawn in nearby Pescadero Creek and grow large as they feed in the adjoining marsh. But here they face what amounts to a death trap before they can migrate into the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologists believe the steelhead suffocate when they encounter stagnant, oxygen-depleted water that has formed in deep pits excavated in the marsh over the years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This anoxic water, which engulfs the fish as it rushes out of the marsh with the first storms of the rainy season, is thought to be responsible for killing thousands of steelhead over the last few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restoration project is addressing the problem by using the sediment removed from Butano Creek to fill the pits in the marsh. That should reduce or eliminate the volume of anoxic water there and improve conditions for fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major Flooding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local support for the project was bolstered by another consequence of the dam blocking Butano Creek: flooding on Pescadero Creek Road, the main road in and out of town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951608\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951608\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Creek-Road-Flooding-800x597.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"597\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The blockage on Butano Creek contributed to major flooding on Pescadero Creek Road, pictured in 2016, and nearby farmland. \u003ccite>(San Mateo Resource Conservation District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When it rains, people get anxious,” said Nic Erridge, who chairs the Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erridge says any time there’s a big rainstorm, the road and surrounding farmland are inundated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It becomes a wetland,” Erridge said, “Water just flows through, the creek just spreads out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, locals are stranded, sometimes unable to reach homes, jobs and school. Nearby farms, which help drive the town’s economy, are damaged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Solving this flooding issue is huge,” Erridge said. “Hopefully this project is really gonna help us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Resetting the Baseline’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For five months this summer and fall, crews used pontoon excavators, bulldozers, and dredge pumps to dig out the dirt, muck and debris from Butano Creek. Nearly 70,000 cubic yards of sediment were removed, and the stream now flows continuously from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Pecharich, a fisheries biologist with the NOAA Restoration Center, says he sees the restoration project as “resetting the baseline” for Butano Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildlife officials estimate the Pescadero-Butano Creek watershed has the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.fisheries.noaa.gov/wcr/protected_species/salmon_steelhead/recovery_planning_and_implementation/north_central_california_coast/central_california_coast_coho_recovery_plan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">potential\u003c/a> to support 2,300 spawning coho and similar numbers of steelhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So it really could provide an opportunity to really jump-start some recovery of coho south of the Golden Gate,” Pecharich said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If coho don’t naturally return to the system, he says, fish could be transplanted from other watersheds or breeding programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951604\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951604\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In October, the San Mateo Resource Conservation District, along with state and federal agencies, completed a five-month restoration of Butano Creek and surrounding Pescadero Marsh. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the San Mateo Resource Conservation District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What those fish will find is a creek that is still hospitable to their kind. For instance, the stream features the type of gravel female coho need to dig their nests. In these burrows, they can deposit up to 3,000 eggs. The stream and marsh can also provide young salmon the natural protection and food they need to fuel their journey into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Pecharich, reopening Butano Creek for coho could also benefit the greater coastal ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When coho and other salmon spawn, their bodies break down, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1915421/theres-something-fishy-about-these-trees-deep-look\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">feeding the surrounding environment\u003c/a>. Birds, foxes and other scavengers feed on the fish carcasses and distribute them on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pecharich says scientists now understand that salmon streams have contributed to the growth and health of redwood forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s definitely no coincidence that coho and the range of the species extends to pretty much the range of the redwoods,” Pecharich said. “They’ve actually found marine-derived nutrients within these trees, which is pretty amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951600\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951600\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excavation crews removed nearly 70,000 cubic yards of sediment to reopen Butano Creek for endangered coho salmon. The channel now flows from the mountains to the ocean. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In turn, the trees shade and nourish the streams for fish. Pecharich says that type of exchange could happen upstream in Butano Creek, where it ends up in the redwood groves of Butano State Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Signs of Life\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s too early to tell if coho will return to Butano Creek in large numbers, or if removing the sediment dam will prevent the road from flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kellyx Nelson says there are already signs of life returning to the stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The other day, about a mile and a half from the ocean, we saw a Dungeness crab. Right there in this creek, which had previously been completely disconnected,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means as California’s first big winter rains arrive, signaling the remaining Central Coast coho to begin their spawning migration, they’ll have one more path upstream.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A $7 million project on Butano Creek, just outside the town of Pescadero, aims to reconnect coho salmon with spawning grounds and remove a deadly threat for steelhead. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704847999,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3sG28/33/"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":51,"wordCount":1417},"headData":{"title":"Restoration of a San Mateo County Creek Reopens a Gateway for Endangered Salmon | KQED","description":"A $7 million project on Butano Creek, just outside the town of Pescadero, aims to reconnect coho salmon with spawning grounds and remove a deadly threat for steelhead. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"Environment","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/2019/12/ArcuniButanoCreek.mp3","sticky":false,"audioTrackLength":304,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","path":"/science/1951545/restoration-of-a-san-mateo-county-creek-reopens-a-gateway-for-endangered-salmon","parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>magine you’re a fish. A coho salmon, to be specific. Your every instinct is telling you it’s time to migrate upstream from the ocean to spawn in the rivers and streams beyond. But instead of reaching those mountain tributaries and completing your life cycle, you’re blocked at every turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gateway to your spawning grounds has closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how Kellyx Nelson describes the predicament for coho in Butano Creek, a stream just outside the tiny farming town of Pescadero on the San Mateo County coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951603\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Marsh-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve, an estuary on the San Mateo County coast. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nelson is executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sanmateorcd.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Mateo Resource Conservation District\u003c/a>. The agency is working to restore the wetlands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.coastsidestateparks.org/pescadero-marsh-natural-preserve\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pescasdero Marsh Natural Preserve\u003c/a> for endangered coho and other native species on the brink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A year or two ago I walked down the creek with my waders on and all of a sudden you’re walking uphill and you’re on land,” Nelson said. “The creek was gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lower Butano Creek had been clogged by a mile-and-a-half long plug of sediment where the stream once flowed through the marsh to meet the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over one stretch, a forest had grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson says the blockage was the result of nearly two centuries of farming, logging and re-engineering the local streams, all of which triggered severe erosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dirt from upstream bled into the creek and washed down to the area near town, where the stream flattens out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s more than 10 miles of spawning and rearing habitat in that watershed that has been lost,” Nelson said. “We basically caused a dam to be formed so that the fish could almost never get upstream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the resource conservation district, in partnership with California State Parks and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, embarked on a $7 million \u003ca href=\"http://www.sanmateorcd.org/project/butano-creek-reconnection-project/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">restoration project\u003c/a> to remove the sediment dam blocking Butano Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hope is the restoration can reconnect coho with their historic spawning range upstream in Butano State Park and ultimately aid in the species’ recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3sG28/33/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" height=\"569\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Species in Decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coho once thrived in California’s coastal rivers and creeks from Santa Cruz County to the Oregon border. Like other salmon, coho are known for what Nelson calls “this extraordinary life story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They begin life in freshwater streams, where they spend more than a year rearing until they make their way to the ocean. Typically, after a year and a half in salt water, they return to their home creeks and rivers to spawn, then die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other salmon species, they’re known for their physical transformation from silver to various shades of crimson when they re-enter to reproduce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951609\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951609\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Coho-in-California-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coho once thrived in California’s coastal rivers and streams. Pictured above, a 2018 coho migration in Marin County’s Lagunitas Creek, another site of habitat restoration. \u003ccite>(Harry McGrath/Turtle Island Restoration Network)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re gorgeous and charismatic and mysterious,” Nelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Fishes/Coho-Salmon\">California’s coho\u003c/a>, once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, have disappeared from a large part of their range. South of the Golden Gate, the species is virtually extinct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habitat loss is a major factor driving the decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Butano Creek restoration aims to solve another problem created by humans re-engineering the local landscape: \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/06/pescadero-more-steelhead-deaths-frustrate-residents/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">frequent die-offs\u003c/a> of threatened steelhead, which once thrived in the watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These fish — ocean-going rainbow trout — spawn in nearby Pescadero Creek and grow large as they feed in the adjoining marsh. But here they face what amounts to a death trap before they can migrate into the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologists believe the steelhead suffocate when they encounter stagnant, oxygen-depleted water that has formed in deep pits excavated in the marsh over the years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This anoxic water, which engulfs the fish as it rushes out of the marsh with the first storms of the rainy season, is thought to be responsible for killing thousands of steelhead over the last few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restoration project is addressing the problem by using the sediment removed from Butano Creek to fill the pits in the marsh. That should reduce or eliminate the volume of anoxic water there and improve conditions for fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major Flooding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local support for the project was bolstered by another consequence of the dam blocking Butano Creek: flooding on Pescadero Creek Road, the main road in and out of town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951608\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951608\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Pescadero-Creek-Road-Flooding-800x597.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"597\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The blockage on Butano Creek contributed to major flooding on Pescadero Creek Road, pictured in 2016, and nearby farmland. \u003ccite>(San Mateo Resource Conservation District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When it rains, people get anxious,” said Nic Erridge, who chairs the Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erridge says any time there’s a big rainstorm, the road and surrounding farmland are inundated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It becomes a wetland,” Erridge said, “Water just flows through, the creek just spreads out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, locals are stranded, sometimes unable to reach homes, jobs and school. Nearby farms, which help drive the town’s economy, are damaged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Solving this flooding issue is huge,” Erridge said. “Hopefully this project is really gonna help us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Resetting the Baseline’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For five months this summer and fall, crews used pontoon excavators, bulldozers, and dredge pumps to dig out the dirt, muck and debris from Butano Creek. Nearly 70,000 cubic yards of sediment were removed, and the stream now flows continuously from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Pecharich, a fisheries biologist with the NOAA Restoration Center, says he sees the restoration project as “resetting the baseline” for Butano Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildlife officials estimate the Pescadero-Butano Creek watershed has the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.fisheries.noaa.gov/wcr/protected_species/salmon_steelhead/recovery_planning_and_implementation/north_central_california_coast/central_california_coast_coho_recovery_plan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">potential\u003c/a> to support 2,300 spawning coho and similar numbers of steelhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So it really could provide an opportunity to really jump-start some recovery of coho south of the Golden Gate,” Pecharich said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If coho don’t naturally return to the system, he says, fish could be transplanted from other watersheds or breeding programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951604\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951604\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Pescadero-Marsh-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In October, the San Mateo Resource Conservation District, along with state and federal agencies, completed a five-month restoration of Butano Creek and surrounding Pescadero Marsh. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the San Mateo Resource Conservation District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What those fish will find is a creek that is still hospitable to their kind. For instance, the stream features the type of gravel female coho need to dig their nests. In these burrows, they can deposit up to 3,000 eggs. The stream and marsh can also provide young salmon the natural protection and food they need to fuel their journey into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Pecharich, reopening Butano Creek for coho could also benefit the greater coastal ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When coho and other salmon spawn, their bodies break down, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1915421/theres-something-fishy-about-these-trees-deep-look\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">feeding the surrounding environment\u003c/a>. Birds, foxes and other scavengers feed on the fish carcasses and distribute them on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pecharich says scientists now understand that salmon streams have contributed to the growth and health of redwood forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s definitely no coincidence that coho and the range of the species extends to pretty much the range of the redwoods,” Pecharich said. “They’ve actually found marine-derived nutrients within these trees, which is pretty amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1951600\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1951600\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/Restored-Butano-Creek-Channel-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excavation crews removed nearly 70,000 cubic yards of sediment to reopen Butano Creek for endangered coho salmon. The channel now flows from the mountains to the ocean. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In turn, the trees shade and nourish the streams for fish. Pecharich says that type of exchange could happen upstream in Butano Creek, where it ends up in the redwood groves of Butano State Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Signs of Life\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s too early to tell if coho will return to Butano Creek in large numbers, or if removing the sediment dam will prevent the road from flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kellyx Nelson says there are already signs of life returning to the stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The other day, about a mile and a half from the ocean, we saw a Dungeness crab. Right there in this creek, which had previously been completely disconnected,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means as California’s first big winter rains arrive, signaling the remaining Central Coast coho to begin their spawning migration, they’ll have one more path upstream.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1951545/restoration-of-a-san-mateo-county-creek-reopens-a-gateway-for-endangered-salmon","authors":["11368"],"categories":["science_2874","science_35","science_40","science_3423","science_98"],"tags":["science_3370","science_247"],"featImg":"science_1951544","label":"source_science_1951545"},"science_1945864":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1945864","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1945864","score":null,"sort":[1564521762000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"climate-change-pushing-western-salmon-toward-extinction","title":"Climate Change Pushing Western Salmon Toward Extinction","publishDate":1564521762,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Climate Change Pushing Western Salmon Toward Extinction | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/Neq_CwpkPvsGmMG7hVOy7A?domain=insideclimatenews.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">InsideClimate News\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter \u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/pD-rCxklQwf1V61yTviMEq?domain=insideclimatenews.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pacific salmon that spawn in Western streams and rivers have been struggling for decades to survive water diversions, dams and logging. Now, global warming is pushing four important populations in California, Oregon and Idaho toward extinction, federal scientists warn in a new study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217711\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research\u003c/a> shows that several of the region’s salmon populations are now bumping into temperature limits, with those that spawn far inland after lengthy summer stream migrations and those that spend a lot of time in coastal habitats like river estuaries among the most at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That includes Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley and in the Columbia and Willamette River basins in Oregon; coho salmon in parts of Northern California and Oregon; and sockeye salmon that reach the Snake River Basin in Idaho, all of which are already on the federal endangered species list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These populations will need help to survive the warmer waters, more acidic oceans and changed seasonal streamflow patterns caused by global warming and other human impacts, said Lisa Crozier, a salmon researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries program and lead author of the study, published July 24 in the journal PLOS One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are very resilient and opportunistic. That’s why we have hope. We just have to give them half a chance,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The salmon live much of their lives in the ocean, but they swim far upstream to spawn. In the process, they’re a key part of the food chain, including for bears and whales, and they are important to indigenous groups and fisheries along the U.S. West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Human infrastructure, including dams and water diversions, were already affecting their streams, reducing the flow and reducing access to the coldest habitats that can serve as a hiding place for salmon during heat waves or drought. Global warming is now intensifying those impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The salmon populations that have persisted in Western rivers since the dam-building era have adapted to some of that warming, and their sensitivity to climate factors has been incorporated in conservation plans, Crozier said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But beyond 2 degrees Celsius of warming (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to the pre-industrial era, all bets are off, she said, because then the chances increase for significant changes in the ocean that could lead to a catastrophic failure of salmon populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Timing Is Everything\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some salmon migrations coincide with high spring runoff from melting mountain snows, while juvenile salmon return to the sea in sync with seasonal plankton blooms off the coasts.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1945867 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/Salmon-Pacific-Climate-Risk529px.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"529\" height=\"822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/Salmon-Pacific-Climate-Risk529px.png 529w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/Salmon-Pacific-Climate-Risk529px-160x249.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global warming is already disrupting those cycles for some salmon populations, including sockeye that swim 900 miles to spawn in streams high in the mountains of Idaho.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To spawn successfully, they need exactly the right combination of stream flows and temperatures at exactly the right time of year. But warmer temperatures are rapidly \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15012018/snow-drought-ski-western-water-supply-risk-climate-change-economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changing the timing of snowmelt and runoff\u003c/a> in Western mountains, making it harder for the fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snake River sockeye are \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/status_reviews/salmon_steelhead/2016_status_review.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">listed as endangered\u003c/a>. In some streams, only a small number reach their spawning grounds. Their overall numbers \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/status_reviews/salmon_steelhead/multiple_species/final_2016_5-yr_review_snake_river_species.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grew slightly\u003c/a> between 2008 and 2014 (the most recent numbers available), thanks mainly to conservation measures, including the introduction of hatchery-raised fish to bolster the population after Snake River sockeye nearly disappeared from the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes they need human help to reach their goal, so they’re transported past dams in an “assisted migration,” which might become an important (and expensive) strategy to adapt to global warming for other species, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley face even more daunting challenges, and some of those populations might be the first to blink out, said University of California, Santa Cruz, researcher Mark Carr, who studies salmon in their coastal habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These runs down in central California may simply not persist in the face of a changing climate and water conflicts. Can’t say they are lost causes, but they are the most likely candidates,” said Carr, a co-author on the new study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s frustrating,” he said. “I work on many species other than salmon, so it’s pretty overwhelming to try to identify how to mitigate or adapt to the growing impacts to so many species simultaneously. It’s even more frustrating to know that some policies, particularly the current administration’s, are fully counterproductive to the work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Central Valley Chinook also have to compete with humans for water, and they are already losing that contest. The greatest salmon declines are where the greatest conflicts over water occur, including the demand for agricultural water in the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has a long history of destroying the freshwater ecosystems required to maintain strong salmon runs,” Carr said. “If we want salmon around in the future, we need to start working to ensure we have healthy freshwater ecosystems that will better tolerate the changing environmental conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Change Threatens Salmon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study covered 33 salmon populations along the U.S. Pacific Coast, from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, assessing how local environmental conditions will change and whether salmon populations will be able to adapt to the changing climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research spells out several ways that global warming endangers the fish. Among them:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Young salmon die when the water warms above a certain threshold, and droughts can leave salmon stranded or exposed to predators by low water levels.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Flooding can also flush eggs and young fish from their nests, so the scientists included projections of how global warming will affect extreme atmospheric river rain storms in California as one of the ways to measure the growing threat.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Warmer stream temperatures have also \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01092016/yellowstone-river-fish-dying-kill-tied-global-warming-climate-change-parasite-montana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">increased outbreaks of fish disease\u003c/a> that can affect salmon, including pathogenic parasites. In May, a toxic algae bloom along the coast of Norway \u003ca href=\"https://www.tnp.no/norway/panorama/salmon-disaster-in-norway-connected-to-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killed 8 million farmed salmon\u003c/a> at an estimated cost of about $82 million. In Alaska’s Yukon River, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-15-na-ichfish15-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a parasite linked with global warming\u003c/a> has taken a big toll on the salmon fishery. And in recent weeks, local indigenous observers in Alaska have \u003ca href=\"https://www.leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/42B577D1-90C1-4B4B-AD7C-DA9BEAB09C69\">posted\u003c/a> numerous reports of dead salmon in rivers in the western part of the state, as water temperatures reached record highs during \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11072019/arctic-wildfires-alaska-climate-change-heat-wave-2019-university-funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alaska’s record-setting heat wave\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Salmon are also sensitive to \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12072016/ocean-currents-intensifying-bringing-stronger-storms-research-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changes in ocean currents\u003c/a> that carry nutrients, as well as sea level rise, which affects the physical connection between ocean and stream ecosystems, like \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21022018/sea-level-rise-coastal-wetlands-global-warming-mitigation-wildlife-habitat-storm-surge-usgs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">coastal wetlands in California\u003c/a>. Some salmon populations living near the edge of the range of suitable conditions will start to cluster in rivers near the coast, unable to reach their historic spawning grounds unless “access to higher-elevation habitats is restored and habitat quality in rearing areas and migration corridors is improved,” the scientists wrote.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Crozier said scientists worldwide have been documenting “almost synchronous declines in salmon populations. Time after time, we see the same patterns of long-term decline.” For example, global research shows that climate change is expected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.fed.us/rmrs/news-releases/global-warming-salmon-and-trout-northwestern-us-road-ruin-or-path-through-purgatory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reduce reproductive success\u003c/a> and jeopardize salmon migration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most types of fish are affected by global warming. \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16052018/fish-species-climate-change-migration-pacific-northwest-alaska-atlantic-gulf-maine-cod-pollock\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Research\u003c/a> last year showed many species important to U.S. coastal communities will move hundreds of miles northward during the next few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some salmon will also move northward seeking cooler waters, and that is bad news for West Coast tribes whose place-based fishing rights are linked to pre-colonization fishing grounds. Native American communities can’t just relocate to another area to catch their allocation if the fish move away, said Tom Moore, an oceanographer with the \u003ca href=\"https://nwifc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Protecting Salmon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maintaining any salmon populations will require significant restoration efforts to make sure they have large areas of connected habitat, the researchers wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other conservation strategies include releasing hatchery-spawned salmon, boosting streamflows at the right time with water releases from reservoirs, and even assisted migration, in which some fish are trapped, transported over dams and then released in rivers above the dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carr said the study will help conservation efforts because it shows exactly when and how salmon vulnerability is highest at different stages, with the freshwater environment the key.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To sustain themselves, adults need to be able to successfully migrate to spawning habitat, and survival of the eggs and larvae require cool water temperatures, appropriate gravel structure, sufficient water flow and oxygen while eggs are in the sediments. And finally, there has to be enough water flow to allow them to migrate back to the sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of these are changing in ways that threaten the survival of salmon runs,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Critical to local economies and the food chain, the fish were already under pressure from human infrastructure like dams. But climate change has put salmon even more at risk.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704848453,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":33,"wordCount":1504},"headData":{"title":"Climate Change Pushing Western Salmon Toward Extinction | KQED","description":"Critical to local economies and the food chain, the fish were already under pressure from human infrastructure like dams. But climate change has put salmon even more at risk.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"InsideClimate News","sticky":false,"nprByline":"Bob Berwyn \u003cbr/>InsideClimate News \u003cbr>","path":"/science/1945864/climate-change-pushing-western-salmon-toward-extinction","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/Neq_CwpkPvsGmMG7hVOy7A?domain=insideclimatenews.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">InsideClimate News\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter \u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/pD-rCxklQwf1V61yTviMEq?domain=insideclimatenews.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pacific salmon that spawn in Western streams and rivers have been struggling for decades to survive water diversions, dams and logging. Now, global warming is pushing four important populations in California, Oregon and Idaho toward extinction, federal scientists warn in a new study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217711\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research\u003c/a> shows that several of the region’s salmon populations are now bumping into temperature limits, with those that spawn far inland after lengthy summer stream migrations and those that spend a lot of time in coastal habitats like river estuaries among the most at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That includes Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley and in the Columbia and Willamette River basins in Oregon; coho salmon in parts of Northern California and Oregon; and sockeye salmon that reach the Snake River Basin in Idaho, all of which are already on the federal endangered species list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These populations will need help to survive the warmer waters, more acidic oceans and changed seasonal streamflow patterns caused by global warming and other human impacts, said Lisa Crozier, a salmon researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries program and lead author of the study, published July 24 in the journal PLOS One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are very resilient and opportunistic. That’s why we have hope. We just have to give them half a chance,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The salmon live much of their lives in the ocean, but they swim far upstream to spawn. In the process, they’re a key part of the food chain, including for bears and whales, and they are important to indigenous groups and fisheries along the U.S. West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Human infrastructure, including dams and water diversions, were already affecting their streams, reducing the flow and reducing access to the coldest habitats that can serve as a hiding place for salmon during heat waves or drought. Global warming is now intensifying those impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The salmon populations that have persisted in Western rivers since the dam-building era have adapted to some of that warming, and their sensitivity to climate factors has been incorporated in conservation plans, Crozier said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But beyond 2 degrees Celsius of warming (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to the pre-industrial era, all bets are off, she said, because then the chances increase for significant changes in the ocean that could lead to a catastrophic failure of salmon populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Timing Is Everything\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some salmon migrations coincide with high spring runoff from melting mountain snows, while juvenile salmon return to the sea in sync with seasonal plankton blooms off the coasts.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1945867 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/Salmon-Pacific-Climate-Risk529px.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"529\" height=\"822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/Salmon-Pacific-Climate-Risk529px.png 529w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/07/Salmon-Pacific-Climate-Risk529px-160x249.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global warming is already disrupting those cycles for some salmon populations, including sockeye that swim 900 miles to spawn in streams high in the mountains of Idaho.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To spawn successfully, they need exactly the right combination of stream flows and temperatures at exactly the right time of year. But warmer temperatures are rapidly \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15012018/snow-drought-ski-western-water-supply-risk-climate-change-economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changing the timing of snowmelt and runoff\u003c/a> in Western mountains, making it harder for the fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snake River sockeye are \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/status_reviews/salmon_steelhead/2016_status_review.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">listed as endangered\u003c/a>. In some streams, only a small number reach their spawning grounds. Their overall numbers \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/status_reviews/salmon_steelhead/multiple_species/final_2016_5-yr_review_snake_river_species.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grew slightly\u003c/a> between 2008 and 2014 (the most recent numbers available), thanks mainly to conservation measures, including the introduction of hatchery-raised fish to bolster the population after Snake River sockeye nearly disappeared from the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes they need human help to reach their goal, so they’re transported past dams in an “assisted migration,” which might become an important (and expensive) strategy to adapt to global warming for other species, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley face even more daunting challenges, and some of those populations might be the first to blink out, said University of California, Santa Cruz, researcher Mark Carr, who studies salmon in their coastal habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These runs down in central California may simply not persist in the face of a changing climate and water conflicts. Can’t say they are lost causes, but they are the most likely candidates,” said Carr, a co-author on the new study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s frustrating,” he said. “I work on many species other than salmon, so it’s pretty overwhelming to try to identify how to mitigate or adapt to the growing impacts to so many species simultaneously. It’s even more frustrating to know that some policies, particularly the current administration’s, are fully counterproductive to the work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Central Valley Chinook also have to compete with humans for water, and they are already losing that contest. The greatest salmon declines are where the greatest conflicts over water occur, including the demand for agricultural water in the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has a long history of destroying the freshwater ecosystems required to maintain strong salmon runs,” Carr said. “If we want salmon around in the future, we need to start working to ensure we have healthy freshwater ecosystems that will better tolerate the changing environmental conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Change Threatens Salmon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study covered 33 salmon populations along the U.S. Pacific Coast, from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, assessing how local environmental conditions will change and whether salmon populations will be able to adapt to the changing climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research spells out several ways that global warming endangers the fish. Among them:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Young salmon die when the water warms above a certain threshold, and droughts can leave salmon stranded or exposed to predators by low water levels.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Flooding can also flush eggs and young fish from their nests, so the scientists included projections of how global warming will affect extreme atmospheric river rain storms in California as one of the ways to measure the growing threat.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Warmer stream temperatures have also \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01092016/yellowstone-river-fish-dying-kill-tied-global-warming-climate-change-parasite-montana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">increased outbreaks of fish disease\u003c/a> that can affect salmon, including pathogenic parasites. In May, a toxic algae bloom along the coast of Norway \u003ca href=\"https://www.tnp.no/norway/panorama/salmon-disaster-in-norway-connected-to-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killed 8 million farmed salmon\u003c/a> at an estimated cost of about $82 million. In Alaska’s Yukon River, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-15-na-ichfish15-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a parasite linked with global warming\u003c/a> has taken a big toll on the salmon fishery. And in recent weeks, local indigenous observers in Alaska have \u003ca href=\"https://www.leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/42B577D1-90C1-4B4B-AD7C-DA9BEAB09C69\">posted\u003c/a> numerous reports of dead salmon in rivers in the western part of the state, as water temperatures reached record highs during \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11072019/arctic-wildfires-alaska-climate-change-heat-wave-2019-university-funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alaska’s record-setting heat wave\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Salmon are also sensitive to \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12072016/ocean-currents-intensifying-bringing-stronger-storms-research-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changes in ocean currents\u003c/a> that carry nutrients, as well as sea level rise, which affects the physical connection between ocean and stream ecosystems, like \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21022018/sea-level-rise-coastal-wetlands-global-warming-mitigation-wildlife-habitat-storm-surge-usgs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">coastal wetlands in California\u003c/a>. Some salmon populations living near the edge of the range of suitable conditions will start to cluster in rivers near the coast, unable to reach their historic spawning grounds unless “access to higher-elevation habitats is restored and habitat quality in rearing areas and migration corridors is improved,” the scientists wrote.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Crozier said scientists worldwide have been documenting “almost synchronous declines in salmon populations. Time after time, we see the same patterns of long-term decline.” For example, global research shows that climate change is expected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.fed.us/rmrs/news-releases/global-warming-salmon-and-trout-northwestern-us-road-ruin-or-path-through-purgatory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reduce reproductive success\u003c/a> and jeopardize salmon migration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most types of fish are affected by global warming. \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16052018/fish-species-climate-change-migration-pacific-northwest-alaska-atlantic-gulf-maine-cod-pollock\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Research\u003c/a> last year showed many species important to U.S. coastal communities will move hundreds of miles northward during the next few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some salmon will also move northward seeking cooler waters, and that is bad news for West Coast tribes whose place-based fishing rights are linked to pre-colonization fishing grounds. Native American communities can’t just relocate to another area to catch their allocation if the fish move away, said Tom Moore, an oceanographer with the \u003ca href=\"https://nwifc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Protecting Salmon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maintaining any salmon populations will require significant restoration efforts to make sure they have large areas of connected habitat, the researchers wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other conservation strategies include releasing hatchery-spawned salmon, boosting streamflows at the right time with water releases from reservoirs, and even assisted migration, in which some fish are trapped, transported over dams and then released in rivers above the dams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carr said the study will help conservation efforts because it shows exactly when and how salmon vulnerability is highest at different stages, with the freshwater environment the key.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To sustain themselves, adults need to be able to successfully migrate to spawning habitat, and survival of the eggs and larvae require cool water temperatures, appropriate gravel structure, sufficient water flow and oxygen while eggs are in the sediments. And finally, there has to be enough water flow to allow them to migrate back to the sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of these are changing in ways that threaten the survival of salmon runs,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1945864/climate-change-pushing-western-salmon-toward-extinction","authors":["byline_science_1945864"],"categories":["science_2874","science_35","science_40","science_98"],"tags":["science_3370","science_3838","science_247","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1945871","label":"source_science_1945864"},"science_1944904":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1944904","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1944904","score":null,"sort":[1562962888000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"administration-sidelines-federal-biologists-who-could-stand-in-way-of-more-water-for-california-farmers","title":"Administration Sidelines Federal Biologists Who Could Stand in Way of More Water for Calif. Farmers","publishDate":1562962888,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Administration Sidelines Federal Biologists Who Could Stand in Way of More Water for Calif. Farmers | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>After rushing forward on a plan to send more water to California’s Central Valley, the Trump Administration has unexpectedly hit the brakes and ordered the work already done by federal scientists to be completed by a different team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just days before federal biologists were set to release new rules governing the future of endangered salmon and drinking water for two-thirds of Californians, the administration replaced them with an almost entirely new group of lawyers, administrators and biologists to “refine” and “improve” the rules, according to an email obtained by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups said the Department of the Interior is interfering with the science and that bringing in a new team to re-write the scientific documents was, to their knowledge, unprecedented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an outrageous assault on California’s fish and wildlife, and the thousands of fishing jobs that depend on their health,” said Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal biologists in two wildlife agencies, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have been analyzing the Bureau of Reclamation’s water plan, as required by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They must ensure it doesn’t drive threatened species, like endangered salmon and delta smelt, to extinction. If the plan jeopardizes the future of endangered fish, these biologists are required to put limits on it, like restricting how much water can be pumped to farms from the state’s rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe the record will ultimately show that the Trump Administration simply didn’t like the truth, and so they’re taking steps to replace their own staff who told the truth with new staff who will give them an answer they want to hear,” said John McManus, president of the Golden Gate Salmon Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service declined an interview but responded in an email to questions about the purpose of the delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about taking the time we need to ensure we get this right,” said Paul Souza, regional director at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “The decision was made to bring in a mix of additional expertise in science, law, policy and regulation to help our local representatives work through finalizing the biological opinions and to help ensure the highest quality of our respective biological opinions and underlying individual agency decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Souza also wrote that the new team will be “working with” the original team of scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘We Will Have It Done Very, Very Quickly’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump in October 2018 ordered the incredibly complex rules governing California’s water supply to be drafted faster than ever before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will have it done very, very quickly,” Trump said to members of the California GOP congressional delegation last October, as he signed an executive order. “I hope you enjoy the water that you’re going to have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some see the fingerprints of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt; he is under scrutiny after a February New York Times \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/climate/david-bernhardt-endangered-species.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">story\u003c/a> reported that shortly after joining the Interior Department in 2017, he directly advocated on behalf of his former employer, the agricultural giant Westlands Water District, to get more water for farmers at the expense of endangered fish, even though federal rules preclude him from lobbying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed water rules govern a delicate balancing act, determining how much water is pumped to cities and farmland and how much must remain in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem for threatened wildlife, like endangered salmon. That’s made the rules a target for Central Valley agricultural interests, because in dry years, the rules can limit their water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Trump’s new plan, the federal government is proposing to pump more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, an estuary that is the hub of the state’s water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1938750/trump-pressure-on-california-water-plan-excludes-public-rushes-science-emails-show\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emails obtained last winter by KQED\u003c/a>, NOAA Fisheries scientists were concerned they didn’t have the resources to analyze the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Independent scientific reviewers who evaluated the government’s plan also said the tight timeline hurt their ability to thoroughly vet it, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944278/trumps-pending-rules-on-california-water-marked-by-missing-documents-and-hurried-reviews-say-scientists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">other documents obtained by KQED\u003c/a>. Several also wrote that the plan could have a devastating impact on fish species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, in late June, the federal scientists’ analyses, known as “biological opinions,” were nearly complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in early July, the government called for an unexpected two-month delay. A predominantly new group of 12 federal employees had taken over, made up of lawyers, biologists and staff, several from outside of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now have the chance to improve these important documents even more,” Souza wrote to the new team in the email obtained by KQED. “These ‘fresh eyes’ — in concert with our local experts — will help ensure the highest quality of our respective documents and ultimate individual agency decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the two-month extension, the new federal team will seek a new independent scientific review, and, by law, will also seek feedback from the agricultural water districts who use the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2018, Souza was designated as the lead official to carry out Trump’s October water memo, which, in addition to imposing a tight deadline, ordered the government “to minimize unnecessary regulatory burdens.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Despite a deadline from President Trump, the water rules have been delayed two months so a new group of lawyers and biologists can step in.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704848512,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":25,"wordCount":909},"headData":{"title":"Administration Sidelines Federal Biologists Who Could Stand in Way of More Water for Calif. Farmers | KQED","description":"Despite a deadline from President Trump, the water rules have been delayed two months so a new group of lawyers and biologists can step in.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"Trump and California Water","sticky":false,"path":"/science/1944904/administration-sidelines-federal-biologists-who-could-stand-in-way-of-more-water-for-california-farmers","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After rushing forward on a plan to send more water to California’s Central Valley, the Trump Administration has unexpectedly hit the brakes and ordered the work already done by federal scientists to be completed by a different team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just days before federal biologists were set to release new rules governing the future of endangered salmon and drinking water for two-thirds of Californians, the administration replaced them with an almost entirely new group of lawyers, administrators and biologists to “refine” and “improve” the rules, according to an email obtained by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups said the Department of the Interior is interfering with the science and that bringing in a new team to re-write the scientific documents was, to their knowledge, unprecedented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an outrageous assault on California’s fish and wildlife, and the thousands of fishing jobs that depend on their health,” said Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal biologists in two wildlife agencies, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have been analyzing the Bureau of Reclamation’s water plan, as required by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They must ensure it doesn’t drive threatened species, like endangered salmon and delta smelt, to extinction. If the plan jeopardizes the future of endangered fish, these biologists are required to put limits on it, like restricting how much water can be pumped to farms from the state’s rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe the record will ultimately show that the Trump Administration simply didn’t like the truth, and so they’re taking steps to replace their own staff who told the truth with new staff who will give them an answer they want to hear,” said John McManus, president of the Golden Gate Salmon Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service declined an interview but responded in an email to questions about the purpose of the delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about taking the time we need to ensure we get this right,” said Paul Souza, regional director at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “The decision was made to bring in a mix of additional expertise in science, law, policy and regulation to help our local representatives work through finalizing the biological opinions and to help ensure the highest quality of our respective biological opinions and underlying individual agency decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Souza also wrote that the new team will be “working with” the original team of scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘We Will Have It Done Very, Very Quickly’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump in October 2018 ordered the incredibly complex rules governing California’s water supply to be drafted faster than ever before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will have it done very, very quickly,” Trump said to members of the California GOP congressional delegation last October, as he signed an executive order. “I hope you enjoy the water that you’re going to have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some see the fingerprints of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt; he is under scrutiny after a February New York Times \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/climate/david-bernhardt-endangered-species.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">story\u003c/a> reported that shortly after joining the Interior Department in 2017, he directly advocated on behalf of his former employer, the agricultural giant Westlands Water District, to get more water for farmers at the expense of endangered fish, even though federal rules preclude him from lobbying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed water rules govern a delicate balancing act, determining how much water is pumped to cities and farmland and how much must remain in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem for threatened wildlife, like endangered salmon. That’s made the rules a target for Central Valley agricultural interests, because in dry years, the rules can limit their water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Trump’s new plan, the federal government is proposing to pump more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, an estuary that is the hub of the state’s water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1938750/trump-pressure-on-california-water-plan-excludes-public-rushes-science-emails-show\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emails obtained last winter by KQED\u003c/a>, NOAA Fisheries scientists were concerned they didn’t have the resources to analyze the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Independent scientific reviewers who evaluated the government’s plan also said the tight timeline hurt their ability to thoroughly vet it, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944278/trumps-pending-rules-on-california-water-marked-by-missing-documents-and-hurried-reviews-say-scientists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">other documents obtained by KQED\u003c/a>. Several also wrote that the plan could have a devastating impact on fish species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, in late June, the federal scientists’ analyses, known as “biological opinions,” were nearly complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in early July, the government called for an unexpected two-month delay. A predominantly new group of 12 federal employees had taken over, made up of lawyers, biologists and staff, several from outside of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now have the chance to improve these important documents even more,” Souza wrote to the new team in the email obtained by KQED. “These ‘fresh eyes’ — in concert with our local experts — will help ensure the highest quality of our respective documents and ultimate individual agency decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the two-month extension, the new federal team will seek a new independent scientific review, and, by law, will also seek feedback from the agricultural water districts who use the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2018, Souza was designated as the lead official to carry out Trump’s October water memo, which, in addition to imposing a tight deadline, ordered the government “to minimize unnecessary regulatory burdens.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1944904/administration-sidelines-federal-biologists-who-could-stand-in-way-of-more-water-for-california-farmers","authors":["239"],"categories":["science_35","science_40","science_98"],"tags":["science_202","science_2833","science_3370","science_3832","science_247","science_3830","science_3514","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1944905","label":"source_science_1944904"},"science_1938750":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1938750","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1938750","score":null,"sort":[1551945705000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"trump-pressure-on-california-water-plan-excludes-public-rushes-science-emails-show","title":"Trump's California Water Order Rushes Science and Cuts Out Public, Emails Show","publishDate":1551945705,"format":"image","headTitle":"Trump’s California Water Order Rushes Science and Cuts Out Public, Emails Show | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>The Trump Administration has ordered federal biologists to speed up critical decisions about whether to send more water from Northern California to farmers in the Central Valley, a move that critics say threatens the integrity of the science and cuts the public out of the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decisions will control irrigation for millions of acres of farmland in the country’s biggest agricultural economy, drinking water for two-thirds of Californians from Silicon Valley to San Diego, and the fate of endangered salmon and other fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal biologists will set these rules after completing an intricate scientific analysis, and they are the final word on how much and when water can be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘I think this is a proposal for extinction.’\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite>Doug Obegi, Natural Resources Defense Council\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>An investigation by KQED found that the analysis will be done under unprecedented time pressure, with less transparency, less outside scientific scrutiny, and without, say federal scientists, the resources to do it properly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a very aggressive schedule,” said a former federal biologist familiar with the matter who did not want to be identified. “And I think it runs the risk of forcing them to make dangerous shortcuts in the scientific analysis that the decisions demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to internal emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, federal scientists raised two major concerns: that their agency lacks the staff to undertake the analysis and that the Trump Administration is skewing the rules to boost the water supply for Central Valley farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some see the fingerprints of acting interior secretary David Bernhardt, who once helped lead the charge to increase pumping and weaken environmental standards in the Delta. He was then a lawyer for the Fresno-based Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water agency in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernhardt is already under scrutiny after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/climate/david-bernhardt-endangered-species.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent New York Times story\u003c/a> reported that, shortly after joining the Interior Department in 2017, he directly advocated on Westlands’ behalf to get more water for farmers at the expense of endangered fish, even though federal rules precluded him from lobbying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit ethics organization in Washington, D.C., \u003ca href=\"https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/2-28-19%20Bernhardt%20CLC%20Complaint%20FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filed a complaint\u003c/a> demanding that the Interior Department’s inspector general open an investigation into whether Bernhardt is using his public office to benefit his former client.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernhardt now oversees two of the three agencies under orders from the White House to expedite the new rules shaping California’s water future: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At stake is the future of fish teetering on the edge of existence, a salmon fishing industry in crisis, and the ample supply of water flowing through millions of California faucets and fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Trump’s Campaign Promise\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just five years ago, Bernhardt stood before a panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He was there arguing on behalf of Westlands Water District, and its 600,000 acres of farmland, that federal environmental rules protecting salmon should be thrown out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as head of the agency that controls decisions affecting his former client, Bernhardt is leading the charge to replace those rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Agricultural water districts have long disdained the current rules (called “biological opinions” and written in \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/cvp-swp/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2008\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/central_valley/water_operations/ocap.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2009\u003c/a>). The rules require state and federal pumps in the Delta to slow down when endangered salmon, smelt and other fish are nearby, in order to protect them. That diminishes the water supply for farmers, leaving them scrambling to fill the gap. When people shout “fish vs. farms,” that’s usually what they’re talking about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During President Trump’s 2016 campaign, he promised Central Valley farmers he would send them more water. As a step toward keeping that promise, Trump signed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-memorandum-promoting-reliable-supply-delivery-water-west/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">October 2018 memo\u003c/a> ordering the rapid scientific review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1938792\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1938792\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water from the Delta reaches millions of Californians and millions of acres of farmland. \u003ccite>(Paul Hames / California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s definitely on our mind,” says Erin Curtis, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. “The president has outlined in his memo that we need to take a new look at how we’re operating these projects in a way that we can maximize water deliveries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a first step, the Bureau, which operates dams and water pumps, released an \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/newsrelease/detail.cfm?RecordID=64503\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">871-page proposal\u003c/a> in early February for how it would like the rules to operate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan, called a “biological assessment,” would provide billions of gallons more water for agricultural and urban water districts, an increase of 10 to 15 percent depending on the year. That would leave less in the Delta for endangered fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups are alarmed at the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think this is a proposal for extinction,” says Doug Obegi, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. “What we decide to do in the Delta really will determine if we drive our native species extinct and threaten thousands of fishing jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Not Enough Staff To Do the Job\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to federal law, two federal wildlife agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, must now review the Bureau of Reclamation’s plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it doesn’t do enough to protect threatened fish, the agencies have the obligation and legal authority to write rules that do. These biological opinions will replace the current ones, although they could be challenged in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under President Trump’s decree, federal biologists must write those opinions in 135 days, the minimal amount of time guaranteed under the Endangered Species Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given the complexity of the issues, the agencies have previously needed more time than that to complete their analysis, from 60 to 80 percent more time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They must look at how water flows across hundreds of miles through different rivers, dams and levees, and then forecast how it would affect the life cycle of half a dozen threatened species. These include endangered Chinook salmon and threatened steelhead and green sturgeon, as well as endangered killer whales in the Pacific Ocean, which depend on salmon for food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How often does the interior secretary write a memo forcing that an opinion happens in 135 days?” says Cay Goude, former assistant field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Sacramento. “It’s never happened to my knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goude worked on a previous biological opinion for the agency, on the Delta smelt, before retiring. “You don’t want to rush anything and do a poor job,” she said, “because it’s very important to have the scientific facts accurate and appropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before Trump tightened the timeline, one of the agencies, NOAA Fisheries, warned that it did not have the resources to do the analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1938778\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1938778\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-800x314.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-800x314.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-160x63.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-768x302.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-1020x401.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-1200x471.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3.jpg 1576w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excerpt from an internal NOAA email.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In July 2018, Maria Rea, the assistant regional administrator in the California Central Valley Office of NOAA, described the agency’s dilemma in an email to her internal staff. She said it took 30 part-time staff and 10 full-time staff to complete the previous biological opinion in 2009, which took 246 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not have resources to undertake this consultation,” Rea wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA is working to reassign staff, currently on other projects, to at least achieve similar staffing levels, according to agency staff who spoke on the condition they not be identified. The federal government shutdown in January slowed that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Eliminating Protections for Fish\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the emails obtained by KQED, federal wildlife scientists also are concerned that the Bureau of Reclamation is pushing to give more water to agriculture at the expense of threatened species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email to fellow NOAA Fisheries staff last summer, Water Operations and Delta Consultations Branch Chief Garwin Yip outlined his misgivings about cases where there is scientific debate about what the fish need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absence of definitive science should not be the reason to propose actions more aggressive towards water supply,” Yip wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Yip and Rea declined to comment about their emails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Bureau of Reclamation has updated its proposal since then, it’s unclear whether those concerns have been addressed. Some say the agency has cherry-picked the science in favor of boosting water for farmers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not science, basically,” says Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental group in San Francisco. “It’s an extraordinarily selective read and deliberate misinterpretation of the information that we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield points to several of the protections the Bureau of Reclamation is proposing to eliminate, such as rules that guarantee water flows through crucial parts of the estuary when fish are most at risk because they are closer to the pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1938783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1938783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-800x458.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"458\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-800x458.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-160x92.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-768x440.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-1020x584.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-1200x688.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Trump Administration is rewriting rules governing how water flows through massive pumping plants in the Delta. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The agency says “dynamic rules,” which rely on new technology that monitors where the fish are in the Delta, can do a better job than fixed rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We feel that what we’ve proposed both helps protect listed species as well as provides more water supply flexibility,” says Russ Callejo, assistant regional director for the Mid-Pacific Region of the Bureau of Reclamation in Sacramento. “We think it does both.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups are skeptical of that claim, saying the Bureau is proposing to dial back water pumping only after the fish are significantly harmed. The wildlife agencies will have to evaluate that during their biological reviews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where some see the influence of Bernhardt, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/climate/david-bernhardt-endangered-species.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">who told\u003c/a> The New York Times that he directed a senior official to weaken protections for fish and divert water to farms as part of a broader administration policy to help rural America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>No Public Review\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The internal emails also show the new environmental rules will receive less outside scientific review than ever before, which eliminates public involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peer review, in which independent scientists assess other researchers’ work, is a core practice of science, and previous biological opinions have received that scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the current rules were written in 2008, the draft biological opinion from NOAA Fisheries \u003ca href=\"http://www.science.calwater.ca.gov/events/reviews/review_ocap.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">underwent an independent review by a panel of scientists\u003c/a>. The review included a meeting where the public could attend and comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, wildlife agencies say the Trump Administration’s deadline won’t allow for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA Fisheries, which is writing the environmental rules for salmon and other fish, plans to have some independent scientific review, according to agency staff. The draft biological opinion will be sent out to individual scientists, but without public involvement or comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is writing the environmental rules for delta smelt, says the agency is planning some form of peer review as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We intend to incorporate peer review into the development of our biological opinion,” said Shane Hunt, spokesman for the federal agency’s Bay-Delta Fish & Wildlife Office. “We are still ironing out the details.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Districts Gain Access\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, as the public is frozen out, water districts will be given unprecedented access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first time, public water agencies, keen to boost their supply, are invited to be heavily involved in the development of the environmental rules in the biological opinions, which are legally mandated to protect fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, Congress passed, and President Obama signed, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/612/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WIIN Act\u003c/a>, giving water contractors the power to “have routine and continuing opportunities to discuss and submit information” to federal agencies developing the biological opinions. The act, pushed by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Central Valley Republicans, was an effort at compromise after years of water battles in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the Bureau of Reclamation even finished its proposed plan, water agencies had the chance to submit their take on endangered species protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have adhered to the WIIN Act,” says the Bureau’s Callejo. “We have involved the public water agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Westlands Water District did not respond to questions about its involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water agencies will also receive drafts of the biological opinions from wildlife agencies. Under the law, their comments must be “afforded due consideration” by wildlife biologists. If the comments aren’t adopted, those biologists must explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no plans to release the drafts to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s always a red flag when you have the regulated entity, the entity that stands to lose something, having control over the regulation process,” says Rosenfield. “We don’t let the tobacco companies determine what level of smoking is safe.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"KQED investigation finds federal biologists concerned that shortened deadline from president cuts time needed to protect fish on brink of extinction. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704848817,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":65,"wordCount":2171},"headData":{"title":"Trump's California Water Order Rushes Science and Cuts Out Public, Emails Show | KQED","description":"KQED investigation finds federal biologists concerned that shortened deadline from president cuts time needed to protect fish on brink of extinction. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"Water","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/2019/03/SomnerWaterInvestigation.mp3","sticky":false,"audioTrackLength":231,"path":"/science/1938750/trump-pressure-on-california-water-plan-excludes-public-rushes-science-emails-show","parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Trump Administration has ordered federal biologists to speed up critical decisions about whether to send more water from Northern California to farmers in the Central Valley, a move that critics say threatens the integrity of the science and cuts the public out of the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decisions will control irrigation for millions of acres of farmland in the country’s biggest agricultural economy, drinking water for two-thirds of Californians from Silicon Valley to San Diego, and the fate of endangered salmon and other fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal biologists will set these rules after completing an intricate scientific analysis, and they are the final word on how much and when water can be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘I think this is a proposal for extinction.’\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite>Doug Obegi, Natural Resources Defense Council\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>An investigation by KQED found that the analysis will be done under unprecedented time pressure, with less transparency, less outside scientific scrutiny, and without, say federal scientists, the resources to do it properly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a very aggressive schedule,” said a former federal biologist familiar with the matter who did not want to be identified. “And I think it runs the risk of forcing them to make dangerous shortcuts in the scientific analysis that the decisions demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to internal emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, federal scientists raised two major concerns: that their agency lacks the staff to undertake the analysis and that the Trump Administration is skewing the rules to boost the water supply for Central Valley farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some see the fingerprints of acting interior secretary David Bernhardt, who once helped lead the charge to increase pumping and weaken environmental standards in the Delta. He was then a lawyer for the Fresno-based Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water agency in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernhardt is already under scrutiny after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/climate/david-bernhardt-endangered-species.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent New York Times story\u003c/a> reported that, shortly after joining the Interior Department in 2017, he directly advocated on Westlands’ behalf to get more water for farmers at the expense of endangered fish, even though federal rules precluded him from lobbying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit ethics organization in Washington, D.C., \u003ca href=\"https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/2-28-19%20Bernhardt%20CLC%20Complaint%20FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filed a complaint\u003c/a> demanding that the Interior Department’s inspector general open an investigation into whether Bernhardt is using his public office to benefit his former client.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernhardt now oversees two of the three agencies under orders from the White House to expedite the new rules shaping California’s water future: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At stake is the future of fish teetering on the edge of existence, a salmon fishing industry in crisis, and the ample supply of water flowing through millions of California faucets and fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Trump’s Campaign Promise\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just five years ago, Bernhardt stood before a panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He was there arguing on behalf of Westlands Water District, and its 600,000 acres of farmland, that federal environmental rules protecting salmon should be thrown out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as head of the agency that controls decisions affecting his former client, Bernhardt is leading the charge to replace those rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Agricultural water districts have long disdained the current rules (called “biological opinions” and written in \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/cvp-swp/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2008\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/central_valley/water_operations/ocap.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2009\u003c/a>). The rules require state and federal pumps in the Delta to slow down when endangered salmon, smelt and other fish are nearby, in order to protect them. That diminishes the water supply for farmers, leaving them scrambling to fill the gap. When people shout “fish vs. farms,” that’s usually what they’re talking about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During President Trump’s 2016 campaign, he promised Central Valley farmers he would send them more water. As a step toward keeping that promise, Trump signed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-memorandum-promoting-reliable-supply-delivery-water-west/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">October 2018 memo\u003c/a> ordering the rapid scientific review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1938792\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1938792\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/PJH_Intertie-076-web2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water from the Delta reaches millions of Californians and millions of acres of farmland. \u003ccite>(Paul Hames / California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s definitely on our mind,” says Erin Curtis, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. “The president has outlined in his memo that we need to take a new look at how we’re operating these projects in a way that we can maximize water deliveries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a first step, the Bureau, which operates dams and water pumps, released an \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/newsrelease/detail.cfm?RecordID=64503\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">871-page proposal\u003c/a> in early February for how it would like the rules to operate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan, called a “biological assessment,” would provide billions of gallons more water for agricultural and urban water districts, an increase of 10 to 15 percent depending on the year. That would leave less in the Delta for endangered fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups are alarmed at the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think this is a proposal for extinction,” says Doug Obegi, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. “What we decide to do in the Delta really will determine if we drive our native species extinct and threaten thousands of fishing jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Not Enough Staff To Do the Job\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to federal law, two federal wildlife agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, must now review the Bureau of Reclamation’s plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it doesn’t do enough to protect threatened fish, the agencies have the obligation and legal authority to write rules that do. These biological opinions will replace the current ones, although they could be challenged in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under President Trump’s decree, federal biologists must write those opinions in 135 days, the minimal amount of time guaranteed under the Endangered Species Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given the complexity of the issues, the agencies have previously needed more time than that to complete their analysis, from 60 to 80 percent more time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They must look at how water flows across hundreds of miles through different rivers, dams and levees, and then forecast how it would affect the life cycle of half a dozen threatened species. These include endangered Chinook salmon and threatened steelhead and green sturgeon, as well as endangered killer whales in the Pacific Ocean, which depend on salmon for food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How often does the interior secretary write a memo forcing that an opinion happens in 135 days?” says Cay Goude, former assistant field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Sacramento. “It’s never happened to my knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goude worked on a previous biological opinion for the agency, on the Delta smelt, before retiring. “You don’t want to rush anything and do a poor job,” she said, “because it’s very important to have the scientific facts accurate and appropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before Trump tightened the timeline, one of the agencies, NOAA Fisheries, warned that it did not have the resources to do the analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1938778\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1938778\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-800x314.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-800x314.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-160x63.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-768x302.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-1020x401.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3-1200x471.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/email-3.jpg 1576w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excerpt from an internal NOAA email.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In July 2018, Maria Rea, the assistant regional administrator in the California Central Valley Office of NOAA, described the agency’s dilemma in an email to her internal staff. She said it took 30 part-time staff and 10 full-time staff to complete the previous biological opinion in 2009, which took 246 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not have resources to undertake this consultation,” Rea wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA is working to reassign staff, currently on other projects, to at least achieve similar staffing levels, according to agency staff who spoke on the condition they not be identified. The federal government shutdown in January slowed that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Eliminating Protections for Fish\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the emails obtained by KQED, federal wildlife scientists also are concerned that the Bureau of Reclamation is pushing to give more water to agriculture at the expense of threatened species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email to fellow NOAA Fisheries staff last summer, Water Operations and Delta Consultations Branch Chief Garwin Yip outlined his misgivings about cases where there is scientific debate about what the fish need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absence of definitive science should not be the reason to propose actions more aggressive towards water supply,” Yip wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Yip and Rea declined to comment about their emails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Bureau of Reclamation has updated its proposal since then, it’s unclear whether those concerns have been addressed. Some say the agency has cherry-picked the science in favor of boosting water for farmers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not science, basically,” says Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental group in San Francisco. “It’s an extraordinarily selective read and deliberate misinterpretation of the information that we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield points to several of the protections the Bureau of Reclamation is proposing to eliminate, such as rules that guarantee water flows through crucial parts of the estuary when fish are most at risk because they are closer to the pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1938783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1938783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-800x458.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"458\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-800x458.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-160x92.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-768x440.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-1020x584.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant-1200x688.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/pumpingplant.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Trump Administration is rewriting rules governing how water flows through massive pumping plants in the Delta. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The agency says “dynamic rules,” which rely on new technology that monitors where the fish are in the Delta, can do a better job than fixed rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We feel that what we’ve proposed both helps protect listed species as well as provides more water supply flexibility,” says Russ Callejo, assistant regional director for the Mid-Pacific Region of the Bureau of Reclamation in Sacramento. “We think it does both.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups are skeptical of that claim, saying the Bureau is proposing to dial back water pumping only after the fish are significantly harmed. The wildlife agencies will have to evaluate that during their biological reviews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where some see the influence of Bernhardt, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/climate/david-bernhardt-endangered-species.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">who told\u003c/a> The New York Times that he directed a senior official to weaken protections for fish and divert water to farms as part of a broader administration policy to help rural America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>No Public Review\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The internal emails also show the new environmental rules will receive less outside scientific review than ever before, which eliminates public involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peer review, in which independent scientists assess other researchers’ work, is a core practice of science, and previous biological opinions have received that scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the current rules were written in 2008, the draft biological opinion from NOAA Fisheries \u003ca href=\"http://www.science.calwater.ca.gov/events/reviews/review_ocap.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">underwent an independent review by a panel of scientists\u003c/a>. The review included a meeting where the public could attend and comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, wildlife agencies say the Trump Administration’s deadline won’t allow for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA Fisheries, which is writing the environmental rules for salmon and other fish, plans to have some independent scientific review, according to agency staff. The draft biological opinion will be sent out to individual scientists, but without public involvement or comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is writing the environmental rules for delta smelt, says the agency is planning some form of peer review as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We intend to incorporate peer review into the development of our biological opinion,” said Shane Hunt, spokesman for the federal agency’s Bay-Delta Fish & Wildlife Office. “We are still ironing out the details.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Districts Gain Access\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, as the public is frozen out, water districts will be given unprecedented access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first time, public water agencies, keen to boost their supply, are invited to be heavily involved in the development of the environmental rules in the biological opinions, which are legally mandated to protect fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, Congress passed, and President Obama signed, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/612/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WIIN Act\u003c/a>, giving water contractors the power to “have routine and continuing opportunities to discuss and submit information” to federal agencies developing the biological opinions. The act, pushed by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Central Valley Republicans, was an effort at compromise after years of water battles in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the Bureau of Reclamation even finished its proposed plan, water agencies had the chance to submit their take on endangered species protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have adhered to the WIIN Act,” says the Bureau’s Callejo. “We have involved the public water agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Westlands Water District did not respond to questions about its involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water agencies will also receive drafts of the biological opinions from wildlife agencies. Under the law, their comments must be “afforded due consideration” by wildlife biologists. If the comments aren’t adopted, those biologists must explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no plans to release the drafts to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s always a red flag when you have the regulated entity, the entity that stands to lose something, having control over the regulation process,” says Rosenfield. “We don’t let the tobacco companies determine what level of smoking is safe.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1938750/trump-pressure-on-california-water-plan-excludes-public-rushes-science-emails-show","authors":["239"],"categories":["science_2874","science_46","science_40","science_43","science_3423","science_98"],"tags":["science_3905","science_202","science_3370","science_3832","science_248","science_247","science_3830","science_804"],"featImg":"science_1938773","label":"source_science_1938750"},"science_1935707":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1935707","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1935707","score":null,"sort":[1544688104000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-water-officials-say-find-way-to-share-water-or-well-do-it-for-you","title":"California Adopts Landmark River Plan to Bring Back Salmon","publishDate":1544688104,"format":"audio","headTitle":"California Adopts Landmark River Plan to Bring Back Salmon | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"science"},"content":"\u003cp>In a landmark vote, California water officials adopted a revolutionary water plan on Wednesday, aimed at restoring the state’s ailing rivers. But they left the door open for a future compromise with the water districts that would bear the brunt of the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">The vote means that some water districts, such as San Francisco’s, would likely get less water in order to keep more in the rivers where salmon populations have crashed.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The state water board’s plan, almost 10 years in the making and delayed several times, was thrown another curveball by last-minute negotiations between water districts and the Brown Administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the face of tightening supplies, the board asked water users several years ago to put together their own agreement to share water and boost habitat for salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the hours before the water board’s vote, a tentative agreement had been reached on one river, but not others, so the board voted 4-1 to move ahead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Commercial salmon fisherman have experienced decades of disastrous decline,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://pcffa.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association\u003c/a>. “Today’s vote could be the turning of the tide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote means that some water districts, such as San Francisco’s, would likely get less water in order to keep more in the rivers where salmon populations have crashed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The voluntary agreements are still on the table and could be adopted later on. State officials say they could include an even broader array of water districts with millions of dollars in restoration, potentially becoming a “great compromise” of California’s water wars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s at Stake\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan affects rivers flowing down from the Sierra Nevada, which are heavily used by both farms and cities. In some years, 90 percent of the water is siphoned off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s contributed to a crash in salmon populations, down from around 70,000 in the mid-1980s to about 10,000 in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, the state water board has drafted a plan to boost the flows on three rivers, the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced, as part of a water quality analysis for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that hasn’t been updated for more than 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Science shows the delta has been out of balance far too long and is in ecological crisis,” said water board chair Felicia Marcus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”YIKuSncntQlR9ObBU4KKB35GeoqzG0XQ”]Water districts cried foul, saying the plan would mean losing water that feeds their local economies. That included the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which supplies millions of Bay Area residents with water from the Tuolumne River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildlife groups said the flows wouldn’t be nearly enough to bring salmon back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not easy,” said Marcus. “This is one of the hardest decisions the board has had to make.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The divisive debate fit a familiar script in California water of “fish vs. farms,” so the water board put out a challenge: Water districts could come up with their own plan to share water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The negotiations began, stalled and picked up again. The water board delayed its vote, twice, to give the parties more time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, state officials presented the water board with the outline of a settlement on the Tuolumne River. Water users on the Stanislaus and Merced couldn’t come to an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the agreement went beyond the Tuolumne River, including the Sacramento River and other tributaries. The water board is scheduled to consider the flows on those rivers in the next phase of its water quality plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on your view, the agreements are either a rare moment of groundbreaking cooperation or a last-ditch effort to delay something long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I view this as a way to come up with a comprehensive solution for the Bay-Delta,” said Michael Carlin of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. “If you look at the whole system, that’s how you recover the fishery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plans include habitat restoration, seasonal water flows for salmon and fallowing thousands of acres of land to free up water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, environmental groups were quick to point out, the plans likely won’t provide the river flows currently in the water board’s plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On the Tuolumne River, it really doesn’t represent that significant an improvement over existing conditions in many ways,” said Gary Bobker of the Bay Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While there was a lot of lipstick that was presented today, underlying that seems to be a pig in the poke,” said Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water board plans to do an environmental analysis on the voluntary agreements, which are expected to be more fleshed out by March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some water districts cautioned that the agreements may fall apart if the board voted to adopt the flow plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a risk, in my opinion, that we’re all going to be diverted into other processes and that very elusive thing called momentum might be lost,” said Kevin O’Brien, an attorney representing water districts on the Sacramento River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To actually return water to the rivers, the water board will undertake a water rights review, which could limit some of the oldest water rights holders in the state. Litigation will almost certainly follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"San Francisco and other water users will have to give up some of their water, unless they can agree on a way to share.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704927251,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":31,"wordCount":920},"headData":{"title":"California Adopts Landmark River Plan to Bring Back Salmon | KQED","description":"San Francisco and other water users will have to give up some of their water, unless they can agree on a way to share.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/tcr/2018/12/SommerWaterShare.mp3","sticky":false,"audioTrackLength":66,"path":"/science/1935707/california-water-officials-say-find-way-to-share-water-or-well-do-it-for-you","parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a landmark vote, California water officials adopted a revolutionary water plan on Wednesday, aimed at restoring the state’s ailing rivers. But they left the door open for a future compromise with the water districts that would bear the brunt of the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">The vote means that some water districts, such as San Francisco’s, would likely get less water in order to keep more in the rivers where salmon populations have crashed.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The state water board’s plan, almost 10 years in the making and delayed several times, was thrown another curveball by last-minute negotiations between water districts and the Brown Administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the face of tightening supplies, the board asked water users several years ago to put together their own agreement to share water and boost habitat for salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the hours before the water board’s vote, a tentative agreement had been reached on one river, but not others, so the board voted 4-1 to move ahead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Commercial salmon fisherman have experienced decades of disastrous decline,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://pcffa.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association\u003c/a>. “Today’s vote could be the turning of the tide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote means that some water districts, such as San Francisco’s, would likely get less water in order to keep more in the rivers where salmon populations have crashed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The voluntary agreements are still on the table and could be adopted later on. State officials say they could include an even broader array of water districts with millions of dollars in restoration, potentially becoming a “great compromise” of California’s water wars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s at Stake\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan affects rivers flowing down from the Sierra Nevada, which are heavily used by both farms and cities. In some years, 90 percent of the water is siphoned off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s contributed to a crash in salmon populations, down from around 70,000 in the mid-1980s to about 10,000 in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, the state water board has drafted a plan to boost the flows on three rivers, the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced, as part of a water quality analysis for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that hasn’t been updated for more than 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Science shows the delta has been out of balance far too long and is in ecological crisis,” said water board chair Felicia Marcus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>Water districts cried foul, saying the plan would mean losing water that feeds their local economies. That included the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which supplies millions of Bay Area residents with water from the Tuolumne River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildlife groups said the flows wouldn’t be nearly enough to bring salmon back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not easy,” said Marcus. “This is one of the hardest decisions the board has had to make.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The divisive debate fit a familiar script in California water of “fish vs. farms,” so the water board put out a challenge: Water districts could come up with their own plan to share water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The negotiations began, stalled and picked up again. The water board delayed its vote, twice, to give the parties more time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, state officials presented the water board with the outline of a settlement on the Tuolumne River. Water users on the Stanislaus and Merced couldn’t come to an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the agreement went beyond the Tuolumne River, including the Sacramento River and other tributaries. The water board is scheduled to consider the flows on those rivers in the next phase of its water quality plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on your view, the agreements are either a rare moment of groundbreaking cooperation or a last-ditch effort to delay something long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I view this as a way to come up with a comprehensive solution for the Bay-Delta,” said Michael Carlin of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. “If you look at the whole system, that’s how you recover the fishery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plans include habitat restoration, seasonal water flows for salmon and fallowing thousands of acres of land to free up water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, environmental groups were quick to point out, the plans likely won’t provide the river flows currently in the water board’s plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On the Tuolumne River, it really doesn’t represent that significant an improvement over existing conditions in many ways,” said Gary Bobker of the Bay Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While there was a lot of lipstick that was presented today, underlying that seems to be a pig in the poke,” said Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water board plans to do an environmental analysis on the voluntary agreements, which are expected to be more fleshed out by March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some water districts cautioned that the agreements may fall apart if the board voted to adopt the flow plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a risk, in my opinion, that we’re all going to be diverted into other processes and that very elusive thing called momentum might be lost,” said Kevin O’Brien, an attorney representing water districts on the Sacramento River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To actually return water to the rivers, the water board will undertake a water rights review, which could limit some of the oldest water rights holders in the state. Litigation will almost certainly follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1935707/california-water-officials-say-find-way-to-share-water-or-well-do-it-for-you","authors":["239"],"categories":["science_35","science_40","science_98"],"tags":["science_3832","science_247","science_3830","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1935708","label":"science"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. 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But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED Bay Curious","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/baycurious","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"4"},"link":"/podcasts/baycurious","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"}},"bbc-world-service":{"id":"bbc-world-service","title":"BBC World Service","info":"The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service","meta":{"site":"news","source":"BBC World Service"},"link":"/radio/program/bbc-world-service","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/","rss":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"}},"code-switch-life-kit":{"id":"code-switch-life-kit","title":"Code Switch / Life Kit","info":"\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />","airtime":"SUN 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"}},"commonwealth-club":{"id":"commonwealth-club","title":"Commonwealth Club of California Podcast","info":"The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. 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