What Happened to California's Salmon Season This Year?
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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":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What Happened to California's Salmon Season This Year?","datePublished":"2023-07-11T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T00:19:23.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"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_1983092":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1983092","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1983092","score":null,"sort":[1687376605000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-lawmakers-wage-delta-water-war-with-newsom","title":"California Lawmakers Wage Delta Water War With Newsom","publishDate":1687376605,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California Lawmakers Wage Delta Water War With Newsom | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Amping up their concerns as a deadline looms, key California legislators today escalated their pushback on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to streamline the Delta water tunnel and other infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stalemate could become a critical lever while lawmakers haggle with Newsom over the 2023–2024 budget leading up to his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">June 27 deadline for approving the spending plan\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bipartisan group of \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsmVillapudua/status/1671286825888129027?s=20\">10 lawmakers from the Assembly and the Senate signed on to a letter today\u003c/a> urging Newsom and legislative leaders to stall Newsom’s package of infrastructure bills “for as long as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">the Delta Conveyance Project\u003c/a> remains a part of the proposal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislators said Newsom’s proposals — which would overhaul permitting and litigation for expansive projects like the controversial tunnel plan to replumb the Delta and send more water south — could cause environmental harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rather than taking up a few blocks like a stadium, the tunnel would span multiple counties and impose water and air quality concerns throughout the region. If the project is litigated under (the California Environmental Quality Act), the process should not be rushed,” said the letter, spearheaded by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://a13.asmdc.org/\">Carlos Villapudua\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Stockton and a member of the Delta Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In mid-May, Newsom unveiled an executive order and package of wide-ranging proposals to streamline state approval of major infrastructure projects, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/19/governor-newsom-unveils-new-proposals-to-build-californias-clean-future-faster/\">such as bridges, reservoirs, semiconductor plants and the Delta tunnel\u003c/a>. Some of his proposals aim to keep transportation, energy and water projects from stalling under legal challenges related to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/05/gavin-newsom-ceqa-reform/\">California Environmental Quality Act\u003c/a> and make the state more appealing for federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fight pits Newsom against lawmakers who say they feel “jammed” by Newsom’s use of the budget process to fast-track the bills. Environmental groups and salmon fishermen are squaring off against building and labor groups. And Delta counties are once again waging \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">a decades-long battle against a massive water project\u003c/a> that would reshape their region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration says the changes are urgent because California needs to more rapidly build water and energy projects to prepare for climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposals that the governor brings forward we don’t bring forward lightly into the budget process, but because we have to take action now,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said at a joint hearing of the Assembly Judiciary and Natural Resources committees in early June. “We need to be in a dead sprint implementing what we call our water supply strategy for a hotter, drier future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s Deputy Communications Director Alex Stack said the package “ensures California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final budget is not contingent on Newsom’s infrastructure proposals, and they could be enacted after it’s signed. But experts suspect they will be used as a political lever while negotiations hashing out the budget continue through the end of this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Introduced as budget trailer bills less than a month before the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">Legislature’s June 15 budget deadline\u003c/a>, Newsom’s proposals bypass the typical legislative policy committee lineup and give lawmakers and the public less opportunity for deliberation or amendments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels disrespectful to the process, to all the work that we’ve done … to have something come at this late date and want to be rushed through that has had such an impact on my district, and the state and the 4 million people who reside in that area,” Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, said in a committee hearing this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly consultants warned in a report that this approach “significantly limits transparency and public input” and “increases the potential for creating unintended consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They (Newsom officials) want to rewrite more than a century of California law in a backroom deal,” Doug Obegi, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Alex Stack, deputy communications director for Gov. Newsom']‘California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During informational hearings held in early June, lawmakers noted that this is not the first time that the Newsom administration has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/energy-deal-budget-talks/\">brought policy proposals into the budget process\u003c/a>. “It is starting to feel like we are being jammed by design,” Sen. Monique Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, said at the Senate Natural Resources and Water hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Overly onerous’ regulations or ‘railroading’ projects in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Water providers, business interests and several labor unions have voiced support for Newsom’s policy package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Major infrastructure projects are too often bogged down in overly onerous regulatory processes and a siloed approach to permitting approvals, which increases overall costs and delays critical projects,” the Association of California Water Agencies, Mojave Water Agency, and the Almond Alliance all wrote in individual letters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the opposition stressed the impact on the tunnel project, including a coalition of the five counties ringing the Delta — Sacramento, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Yolo.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Doug Obegi, senior attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council']‘They want to rewrite more than a century of California law in a backroom deal.’[/pullquote]“The Legislature is being asked to railroad over the objections of 4 million people and the 25 county supervisors that represent them and are trying to protect their homes and communities,” said Karen Lange on behalf of the Delta Counties Coalition at an informational hearing of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. “In the case of the tunnel, every county and city that is affected by it opposes it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stockton community organizations, salmon fishers and environmental groups said Newsom’s plan would remove guardrails and hamper litigation against the Delta tunnel and other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Newsom proposal, for instance, would exclude \u003ca href=\"https://esd.dof.ca.gov/trailer-bill/public/trailerBill/pdf/954\">certain internal communications (PDF)\u003c/a> such as emails from the administrative record prepared for litigation if they didn’t ultimately reach the final decision-making body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly \u003ca href=\"https://antr.assembly.ca.gov/sites/antr.assembly.ca.gov/files/June%207%2C%202022%20Info%20Hearing%20Documents.pdf\">analysts warned that this “allows the agency to pick and choose what documents to include in the record” (PDF)\u003c/a>. Though these records could be available under a separate California Public Records Act request, this too can lead to lawsuits and delays and “could prove very costly to public agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In today’s letter, legislators criticized parts of the package that would set a time limit for lawsuits challenging the tunnel and other projects and reduce protections against killing certain wildlife species, such as sandhill cranes that winter in the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told CalMatters that the proposals were not developed specifically to push through the tunnel project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I haven’t been part of any internal conversation on fully protected species and our need to modernize it that discuss the Sandhill crane or its relationship to the project,” he said. “The intent is not to short circuit any environmental review or public input, but it is to ultimately get to an answer around whether this project can be supported and move forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">Decades in the making yet still decades from completion\u003c/a>, the proposed tunnel has been called both a water grab and a critical update to water supplies for 27 million people, mostly in Southern California, and 750,000 acres of farmland. State officials say it would protect a vital water artery from earthquakes, sea level rise and extreme swings from wet to dry, while local communities and environmental groups say it would upend the way of life and sensitive ecosystems of the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The estimated price tag, last updated in 2020, is around $16 billion, which would eventually be paid back by water agencies receiving its supplies. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/07/delta-tunnel-water-report/\">a draft state environmental report\u003c/a> warned that the tunnel project would harm endangered and threatened species, convert 2,300 acres of farmland, and disrupt cultural and historic sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked why the administration included such a fiercely contested issue in the infrastructure package as part of the budget process, Crowfoot said in an interview, “We simply can’t kick the can down the road on this question because it generates disagreements and controversy.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Legislators threatened to reject Newsom's infrastructure package if he won't remove the Delta water tunnel. The issue could be ammunition as the budget deadline looms.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704845979,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":31,"wordCount":1428},"headData":{"title":"California Lawmakers Wage Delta Water War With Newsom | KQED","description":"Legislators threatened to reject Newsom's infrastructure package if he won't remove the Delta water tunnel. The issue could be ammunition as the budget deadline looms.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"California Lawmakers Wage Delta Water War With Newsom","datePublished":"2023-06-21T19:43:25.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T00:19:39.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"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/1983092/california-lawmakers-wage-delta-water-war-with-newsom","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Amping up their concerns as a deadline looms, key California legislators today escalated their pushback on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to streamline the Delta water tunnel and other infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stalemate could become a critical lever while lawmakers haggle with Newsom over the 2023–2024 budget leading up to his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">June 27 deadline for approving the spending plan\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bipartisan group of \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsmVillapudua/status/1671286825888129027?s=20\">10 lawmakers from the Assembly and the Senate signed on to a letter today\u003c/a> urging Newsom and legislative leaders to stall Newsom’s package of infrastructure bills “for as long as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">the Delta Conveyance Project\u003c/a> remains a part of the proposal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislators said Newsom’s proposals — which would overhaul permitting and litigation for expansive projects like the controversial tunnel plan to replumb the Delta and send more water south — could cause environmental harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rather than taking up a few blocks like a stadium, the tunnel would span multiple counties and impose water and air quality concerns throughout the region. If the project is litigated under (the California Environmental Quality Act), the process should not be rushed,” said the letter, spearheaded by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://a13.asmdc.org/\">Carlos Villapudua\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Stockton and a member of the Delta Caucus.\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>In mid-May, Newsom unveiled an executive order and package of wide-ranging proposals to streamline state approval of major infrastructure projects, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/19/governor-newsom-unveils-new-proposals-to-build-californias-clean-future-faster/\">such as bridges, reservoirs, semiconductor plants and the Delta tunnel\u003c/a>. Some of his proposals aim to keep transportation, energy and water projects from stalling under legal challenges related to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/05/gavin-newsom-ceqa-reform/\">California Environmental Quality Act\u003c/a> and make the state more appealing for federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fight pits Newsom against lawmakers who say they feel “jammed” by Newsom’s use of the budget process to fast-track the bills. Environmental groups and salmon fishermen are squaring off against building and labor groups. And Delta counties are once again waging \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">a decades-long battle against a massive water project\u003c/a> that would reshape their region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration says the changes are urgent because California needs to more rapidly build water and energy projects to prepare for climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposals that the governor brings forward we don’t bring forward lightly into the budget process, but because we have to take action now,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said at a joint hearing of the Assembly Judiciary and Natural Resources committees in early June. “We need to be in a dead sprint implementing what we call our water supply strategy for a hotter, drier future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s Deputy Communications Director Alex Stack said the package “ensures California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final budget is not contingent on Newsom’s infrastructure proposals, and they could be enacted after it’s signed. But experts suspect they will be used as a political lever while negotiations hashing out the budget continue through the end of this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Introduced as budget trailer bills less than a month before the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-budget-2023/\">Legislature’s June 15 budget deadline\u003c/a>, Newsom’s proposals bypass the typical legislative policy committee lineup and give lawmakers and the public less opportunity for deliberation or amendments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels disrespectful to the process, to all the work that we’ve done … to have something come at this late date and want to be rushed through that has had such an impact on my district, and the state and the 4 million people who reside in that area,” Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, said in a committee hearing this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly consultants warned in a report that this approach “significantly limits transparency and public input” and “increases the potential for creating unintended consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They (Newsom officials) want to rewrite more than a century of California law in a backroom deal,” Doug Obegi, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘California would still have the same nation-leading environmental protections while also cutting unnecessary red tape that has stalled key climate projects for years.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Alex Stack, deputy communications director for Gov. Newsom","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During informational hearings held in early June, lawmakers noted that this is not the first time that the Newsom administration has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/energy-deal-budget-talks/\">brought policy proposals into the budget process\u003c/a>. “It is starting to feel like we are being jammed by design,” Sen. Monique Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, said at the Senate Natural Resources and Water hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Overly onerous’ regulations or ‘railroading’ projects in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Water providers, business interests and several labor unions have voiced support for Newsom’s policy package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Major infrastructure projects are too often bogged down in overly onerous regulatory processes and a siloed approach to permitting approvals, which increases overall costs and delays critical projects,” the Association of California Water Agencies, Mojave Water Agency, and the Almond Alliance all wrote in individual letters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the opposition stressed the impact on the tunnel project, including a coalition of the five counties ringing the Delta — Sacramento, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Yolo.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘They want to rewrite more than a century of California law in a backroom deal.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Doug Obegi, senior attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The Legislature is being asked to railroad over the objections of 4 million people and the 25 county supervisors that represent them and are trying to protect their homes and communities,” said Karen Lange on behalf of the Delta Counties Coalition at an informational hearing of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. “In the case of the tunnel, every county and city that is affected by it opposes it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stockton community organizations, salmon fishers and environmental groups said Newsom’s plan would remove guardrails and hamper litigation against the Delta tunnel and other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Newsom proposal, for instance, would exclude \u003ca href=\"https://esd.dof.ca.gov/trailer-bill/public/trailerBill/pdf/954\">certain internal communications (PDF)\u003c/a> such as emails from the administrative record prepared for litigation if they didn’t ultimately reach the final decision-making body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly \u003ca href=\"https://antr.assembly.ca.gov/sites/antr.assembly.ca.gov/files/June%207%2C%202022%20Info%20Hearing%20Documents.pdf\">analysts warned that this “allows the agency to pick and choose what documents to include in the record” (PDF)\u003c/a>. Though these records could be available under a separate California Public Records Act request, this too can lead to lawsuits and delays and “could prove very costly to public agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In today’s letter, legislators criticized parts of the package that would set a time limit for lawsuits challenging the tunnel and other projects and reduce protections against killing certain wildlife species, such as sandhill cranes that winter in the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told CalMatters that the proposals were not developed specifically to push through the tunnel project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I haven’t been part of any internal conversation on fully protected species and our need to modernize it that discuss the Sandhill crane or its relationship to the project,” he said. “The intent is not to short circuit any environmental review or public input, but it is to ultimately get to an answer around whether this project can be supported and move forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/06/california-water-delta-tunnel/\">Decades in the making yet still decades from completion\u003c/a>, the proposed tunnel has been called both a water grab and a critical update to water supplies for 27 million people, mostly in Southern California, and 750,000 acres of farmland. State officials say it would protect a vital water artery from earthquakes, sea level rise and extreme swings from wet to dry, while local communities and environmental groups say it would upend the way of life and sensitive ecosystems of the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The estimated price tag, last updated in 2020, is around $16 billion, which would eventually be paid back by water agencies receiving its supplies. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/07/delta-tunnel-water-report/\">a draft state environmental report\u003c/a> warned that the tunnel project would harm endangered and threatened species, convert 2,300 acres of farmland, and disrupt cultural and historic sites.\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>Asked why the administration included such a fiercely contested issue in the infrastructure package as part of the budget process, Crowfoot said in an interview, “We simply can’t kick the can down the road on this question because it generates disagreements and controversy.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1983092/california-lawmakers-wage-delta-water-war-with-newsom","authors":["byline_science_1983092"],"categories":["science_31","science_40","science_4450","science_98"],"tags":["science_5178","science_3905","science_202","science_192"],"featImg":"science_1983093","label":"source_science_1983092"},"science_1964080":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1964080","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1964080","score":null,"sort":[1589309271000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"trumps-california-water-plan-temporarily-blocked-by-federal-judge","title":"Trump's California Water Plan Temporarily Blocked by Federal Judge","publishDate":1589309271,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Trump’s California Water Plan Temporarily Blocked by Federal Judge | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">A federal court on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to pump more water to the agricultural Central Valley, which critics said would threaten endangered species and salmon runs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">A judge issued a preliminary injunction in two lawsuits brought against the administration by California’s Natural Resources Agency and Environmental Protection Agency, and by a half-dozen environmental groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">The order bars the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation until May 31 from going ahead with expanding the amount of water it pumps from the San Joaquin Delta through the federal Central Valley Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">The suits argued that the exports would cause irreparable harm to species protected by state and federal law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">President Donald Trump has denounced rules meant to ensure that enough fresh water stayed in rivers and the San Francisco Bay to sustain more than a dozen endangered fish and other native species, which are struggling as agriculture and development diverts more water and land from wildlife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">But especially in the wake of a long drought, farmers in the Central Valley — a Republican enclave in a Democrat-controlled state — are thirsty for more water. The valley is the heartland for the state’s $50 billion agricultural industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">The administration says its proposed changes will allow for more flexibility in water deliveries. In California’s heavily engineered water system, giant state and federal water projects made up of hundreds of miles of pipes, canals, pumps and dams, carry runoff from rain and Sierra Nevada snow melt from north to south — and serve as the field of battle for lawsuits and regional political fights over competing demands for water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">“Today’s victory is critical, but the fight is not over,” state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “We have the facts, science, and the law behind us, and we look forward to making our case in court.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A federal court temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to pump more water to Central Valley farms.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704847432,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":2,"wordCount":324},"headData":{"title":"Trump's California Water Plan Temporarily Blocked by Federal Judge | KQED","description":"A federal court temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to pump more water to Central Valley farms.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Trump's California Water Plan Temporarily Blocked by Federal Judge","datePublished":"2020-05-12T18:47:51.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T00:43:52.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Associated Press","sticky":false,"nprByline":"Associated Press","path":"/science/1964080/trumps-california-water-plan-temporarily-blocked-by-federal-judge","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">A federal court on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to pump more water to the agricultural Central Valley, which critics said would threaten endangered species and salmon runs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">A judge issued a preliminary injunction in two lawsuits brought against the administration by California’s Natural Resources Agency and Environmental Protection Agency, and by a half-dozen environmental groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">The order bars the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation until May 31 from going ahead with expanding the amount of water it pumps from the San Joaquin Delta through the federal Central Valley Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">The suits argued that the exports would cause irreparable harm to species protected by state and federal law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">President Donald Trump has denounced rules meant to ensure that enough fresh water stayed in rivers and the San Francisco Bay to sustain more than a dozen endangered fish and other native species, which are struggling as agriculture and development diverts more water and land from wildlife.\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 class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">But especially in the wake of a long drought, farmers in the Central Valley — a Republican enclave in a Democrat-controlled state — are thirsty for more water. The valley is the heartland for the state’s $50 billion agricultural industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">The administration says its proposed changes will allow for more flexibility in water deliveries. In California’s heavily engineered water system, giant state and federal water projects made up of hundreds of miles of pipes, canals, pumps and dams, carry runoff from rain and Sierra Nevada snow melt from north to south — and serve as the field of battle for lawsuits and regional political fights over competing demands for water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-42 Component-p-0-2-34\">“Today’s victory is critical, but the fight is not over,” state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “We have the facts, science, and the law behind us, and we look forward to making our case in court.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1964080/trumps-california-water-plan-temporarily-blocked-by-federal-judge","authors":["byline_science_1964080"],"categories":["science_35","science_40","science_4450","science_98"],"tags":["science_202","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1944905","label":"source_science_1964080"},"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":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Administration Sidelines Federal Biologists Who Could Stand in Way of More Water for Calif. Farmers","datePublished":"2019-07-12T20:21:28.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T01:01:52.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"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":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Trump's California Water Order Rushes Science and Cuts Out Public, Emails Show","datePublished":"2019-03-07T08:01:45.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T01:06:57.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"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_1929999":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1929999","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1929999","score":null,"sort":[1534748514000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"san-francisco-is-fighting-californias-plan-to-save-salmon-wait-what","title":"San Francisco Is Fighting California’s Plan to Save Salmon. Wait. What?","publishDate":1534748514,"format":"standard","headTitle":"San Francisco Is Fighting California’s Plan to Save Salmon. Wait. What? | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>California water officials are poised to approve a revolutionary plan that could redefine the way water is allocated.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a big deal and trying to fix it is not for the faint of heart.’\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite>Felicia Marcus, State Water Resources Control Board\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>At stake are the state’s oldest water rights, known as “senior rights,” which have long been seen as untouchable, and that includes San Francisco’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a century, San Francisco has enjoyed a pristine source of water, dodging the shortages others have faced during California’s chronic water wars. Now, as key rivers continue a downward ecological spiral, the city is being pulled into the fray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state plan has sparked a fierce debate. Environmental groups say it doesn’t go far enough to save imperiled salmon. San Francisco doesn’t agree and it’s allied itself with some unexpected bedfellows: conservative agricultural districts in the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That might be surprising for San Francisco, known for its a solar-powered, food-composting climate-friendly reputation. Yet when it comes to water, some say the city is lagging behind others that are on the leading edge of reusing and recycling their supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Separate Piece\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like most California cities, San Francisco gets the majority of its from far beyond its borders; in this case, it’s 150 miles away in Yosemite National Park. That’s where Hetch Hetchy Reservoir traps snowmelt that feeds the Tuolumne River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From there, the water \u003ca href=\"https://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flows through a chain of reservoirs\u003c/a> and pipelines that carry it directly to San Francisco. It also supplies much of the Bay Area. About 2.7 million people from Alameda County to Silicon Valley rely on it as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s right to the water goes back to 1901, when leaders in the booming city were desperately searching for a new supply. As the story goes, the claim was tacked to an 8-inch diameter oak tree on a riverbank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1930074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-520x293.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flows on the Tuolumne River in 1912. \u003ccite>(J.G. Spaack, USGS)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you filed for water rights, you basically had to post a notice where you proposed to divert water from,” explains Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, “which in effect was filing a piece of paper to a tree that was hanging over the Tuolumne River.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following its natural course, water in the Tuolumne flows into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the great nexus of California’s supply and the trenches of the fiercest battles over water. By sinking a straw into the Tuolumne to take out water far upstream of the Delta, San Francisco has avoided those fights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco has been able to stay out of the water wars because the San Francisco system is separate from other systems,” says Ritchie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Wars Flow Uphill\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the ecological crisis in the Delta has gotten so bad, the water wars are reaching all the way upstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before it gets to the Delta, the Tuolumne joins up with the San Joaquin, a major river that often runs completely dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some years, up to 90 percent of the water is taken out of the river by humans,” says Jon Rosenfield, a biologist with the Bay Institute, an environmental group. “Once the river loses that much, it’s not really functioning like a river anymore. The salmon fishery has plummeted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinook salmon, the species that fishermen catch in the Pacific Ocean, must return to California’s rivers to reproduce and lay their eggs. In 1984, about 70,000 Chinook returned to the San Joaquin River basin. By 2014, it was down to 8,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914724\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-914724\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dry channel of the San Joaquin River in 2014. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California is required by federal law to regulate water quality in the Delta. \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/bay_delta_plan/water_quality_control_planning/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan\u003c/a>, as it’s known, was last updated more than 20 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the State Water Resources Control Board has put together a new plan that attempts to balance both the health of the environment and the needs of farms and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big deal and trying to fix it is not for the faint of heart,” says Felicia Marcus, chair of the water board. “We’re simply bound to rebalance a system that has had too much water removed from it for it to survive as a healthy ecosystem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan marks a new approach to how the Delta would be managed. Traditionally, protecting water quality and endangered species there has fallen to a few water users that have major pumping infrastructure in the Delta. They’re the ones who’ve faced cutbacks when water quality has degraded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in 2009, California lawmakers passed legislation requiring agencies to look at upstream river flows or “flow criteria.” It’s a more holistic approach, looking at the entire watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really a now-or-never moment,” says Rosenfield. “This proposal is the single most important event in California water in a generation. And it will take a generation to correct any mistakes that are made now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/deltaflow/docs/final_rpt080310.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scientific report\u003c/a> that followed passage of the law, recommended restoring a natural springtime surge of water to help both the San Joaquin River and the Delta ecosystem. On the San Joaquin, the report concluded that the ecosystem needs 60 percent of “unimpaired flow,” meaning the flow that would naturally go down the river if humans weren’t siphoning off water along the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state water board considered that number, but also is charged with balancing it with the needs of farms and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue isn’t about choosing one over the other,” says Marcus. “It’s about sharing the river as thoughtfully as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1930078\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"791\" height=\"522\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815.jpg 791w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-240x158.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-375x247.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-520x343.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a final draft plan released this year, the water board proposed returning 40 percent of the unimpaired flow to the San Joaquin and three of its tributaries: the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced Rivers. The flows could fluctuate within a flexible range of 30 to 50 percent. Currently, flows range from 21 to 40 percent on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The numbers disappointed environmental groups, which argued the science supported higher flow in the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thirty to 50 percent of unimpaired flow is not going to address the problems the board is required to address,” says Rosenfield. “State and federal policy is not just to keep salmon from going extinct, but actually to restore them to benefit all of us and the commercial fishery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also disappointed the water districts faced with giving up some of their water, including San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bottom Feeders\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an aggressive stance to take because it means a lot of water,” says SFPUC’s Steve Ritchie. “It’s a big deal for the Bay Area, not the just the city and county of San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with its senior water rights, San Francisco has found itself, for the first time, at the bottom of the food chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Tuolumne River, the two other major water users, the Turlock Irrigation District and the Merced Irrigation District, have even earlier water rights, making them more senior. In California, the doctrine is generally “first in time, first in right,” so San Francisco would be facing cutbacks before those rural districts do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”vFeAvG9iemwhdcApFXA9HCYCL4l6E5NH”]In wet years, there would be plenty of water. But with the Bay Area growing, SFPUC predicts the cuts would mean rationing during droughts and billions of dollars of economic impact, though state board staff have challenged those numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We might have to, in the second year of a drought, go to 30 or 40 percent rationing and get to 50 percent in the fourth or fifth year,” says Ritchie. “All of a sudden, you’re having to save a lot more water really fast to know you have enough to get to the end of a drought.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the last drought, SFPUC’s customers conserved about 13 percent compared to pre-drought water use. Ritchie says to get deeper cuts, commercial and industrial customers would have to cut back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Finding New Water\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As SFPUC and other water districts filed increasingly alarmed comments on the proposed plan, the state board had a response: Get creative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Water users can adapt by switching crops, become more efficient, and putting more water away in wet or normal times for the inevitable dry times,” says Marcus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s been common in some Southern California cities, which have led the way in water recycling, conservation and capturing storm water runoff for reuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has been a bit late to the party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you just look at their recycled water numbers, they’re pretty low,” says Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute, a water policy think tank. “They certainly could do more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, SFPUC broke ground on its first water recycling project. The \u003ca href=\"https://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=144\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Westside Enhanced Water Recycling Project\u003c/a> will clean up wastewater and use it to irrigate Golden Gate Park and local golf courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities have already taken water recycling to the next level. Orange County and San Jose treat some of their wastewater to drinking water quality so it can be added back to the area’s water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritchie says SFPUC is in very early conversations for a similar project, but they take time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re being as progressive as we can,” says Ritchie. “We’re looking at taking wastewater from the Peninsula, treating it to a high level and put it in Crystal Springs reservoir, and blend it there into our local Bay Area supplies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930082\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1930082\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-520x293.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SFPUC’s new water recycling project under construction. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Public Utilities Commission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, San Francisco residents use less water than average Californians do, thanks to a cool climate and the city’s lack of expansive lawns. Other parts of the Bay Area that use SFPUC’s water have higher water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco certainly trails behind Los Angeles in terms of its efforts to conserve water,” says Rosenfield. “Los Angeles has grown its population by over a million people and reduced its total water demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, San Francisco has a groundbreaking water efficiency policy, passed in 2012. New buildings of 250,000 square feet or more must have “\u003ca href=\"https://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=686\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on-site reuse systems\u003c/a>,” which could include recycling potable water and using it a second time to flush toilets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re the first city in California that has done that,” says Cooley. “It’s an innovative strategy for leveraging private investment in recycled water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If SFPUC does face cutbacks during a drought, the agency could buy water from farmers who would in turn fallow their land, a strategy known as “water transfers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritchie says SFPUC tried it during the last drought, but was unsuccessful in finding farmers willing to sell. Several other California water districts were able complete water transfer deals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a long-term drought, the SFPUC could buy water from an irrigation district at a price that would compensate farmers, laborers, processors and distributors for what they would have made — but without having to do any work, and at a price lower than what the SFPUC charges its wholesale customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Peter Drekmeier of the Tuolumne River Trust, “That’s a pretty sweet incentive for irrigation districts to sell water to the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Road to Compromise\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the nearly inevitable course of water battles in California, the water board’s plan is likely headed to court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked whether San Francisco will be in line at the courthouse steps if the plan is formally adopted, Ritchie doesn’t shrink from the question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, that’s a very real possibility because the consequences are so great,” he replies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To avoid that, the water board has repeatedly asked for a deal to be struck. Water users, including SFPUC, could come up with a different plan that includes strategies to help salmon and other fish, like restoring floodplain habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite several years of negotiations, a deal still isn’t on the table. SFPUC has argued that the “unimpaired flow” approach — leaving more water in the Tuolumne River — isn’t necessary and that restoration and other projects should be enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials and biologists, so far, haven’t agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Habitat restoration alone is not going to cut it,” says Rosenfield. “In order for restored habitat to work, there needs to be enough water for fish to use that habitat and migrate out of the river.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state water board delayed its final vote on the plan and will be taking more comments on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whichever way it goes, it could be a wake-up call for San Francisco, which is now facing the same water-strapped realities as the rest of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The future is challenging no matter what happens,” Ritchie says.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"It's been called 'the single most important event in California water in a generation.' It might also be among the least popular.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704927558,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":69,"wordCount":2250},"headData":{"title":"San Francisco Is Fighting California’s Plan to Save Salmon. Wait. What? | KQED","description":"It's been called 'the single most important event in California water in a generation.' It might also be among the least popular.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"San Francisco Is Fighting California’s Plan to Save Salmon. Wait. What?","datePublished":"2018-08-20T07:01:54.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T22:59:18.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Water","sticky":false,"path":"/science/1929999/san-francisco-is-fighting-californias-plan-to-save-salmon-wait-what","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California water officials are poised to approve a revolutionary plan that could redefine the way water is allocated.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a big deal and trying to fix it is not for the faint of heart.’\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite>Felicia Marcus, State Water Resources Control Board\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>At stake are the state’s oldest water rights, known as “senior rights,” which have long been seen as untouchable, and that includes San Francisco’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a century, San Francisco has enjoyed a pristine source of water, dodging the shortages others have faced during California’s chronic water wars. Now, as key rivers continue a downward ecological spiral, the city is being pulled into the fray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state plan has sparked a fierce debate. Environmental groups say it doesn’t go far enough to save imperiled salmon. San Francisco doesn’t agree and it’s allied itself with some unexpected bedfellows: conservative agricultural districts in the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That might be surprising for San Francisco, known for its a solar-powered, food-composting climate-friendly reputation. Yet when it comes to water, some say the city is lagging behind others that are on the leading edge of reusing and recycling their supplies.\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>A Separate Piece\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like most California cities, San Francisco gets the majority of its from far beyond its borders; in this case, it’s 150 miles away in Yosemite National Park. That’s where Hetch Hetchy Reservoir traps snowmelt that feeds the Tuolumne River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From there, the water \u003ca href=\"https://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flows through a chain of reservoirs\u003c/a> and pipelines that carry it directly to San Francisco. It also supplies much of the Bay Area. About 2.7 million people from Alameda County to Silicon Valley rely on it as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s right to the water goes back to 1901, when leaders in the booming city were desperately searching for a new supply. As the story goes, the claim was tacked to an 8-inch diameter oak tree on a riverbank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1930074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs-520x293.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/tuolumne-usgs.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flows on the Tuolumne River in 1912. \u003ccite>(J.G. Spaack, USGS)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you filed for water rights, you basically had to post a notice where you proposed to divert water from,” explains Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, “which in effect was filing a piece of paper to a tree that was hanging over the Tuolumne River.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following its natural course, water in the Tuolumne flows into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the great nexus of California’s supply and the trenches of the fiercest battles over water. By sinking a straw into the Tuolumne to take out water far upstream of the Delta, San Francisco has avoided those fights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco has been able to stay out of the water wars because the San Francisco system is separate from other systems,” says Ritchie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water Wars Flow Uphill\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the ecological crisis in the Delta has gotten so bad, the water wars are reaching all the way upstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before it gets to the Delta, the Tuolumne joins up with the San Joaquin, a major river that often runs completely dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some years, up to 90 percent of the water is taken out of the river by humans,” says Jon Rosenfield, a biologist with the Bay Institute, an environmental group. “Once the river loses that much, it’s not really functioning like a river anymore. The salmon fishery has plummeted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinook salmon, the species that fishermen catch in the Pacific Ocean, must return to California’s rivers to reproduce and lay their eggs. In 1984, about 70,000 Chinook returned to the San Joaquin River basin. By 2014, it was down to 8,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914724\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-914724\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dry channel of the San Joaquin River in 2014. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California is required by federal law to regulate water quality in the Delta. \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/bay_delta_plan/water_quality_control_planning/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan\u003c/a>, as it’s known, was last updated more than 20 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the State Water Resources Control Board has put together a new plan that attempts to balance both the health of the environment and the needs of farms and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big deal and trying to fix it is not for the faint of heart,” says Felicia Marcus, chair of the water board. “We’re simply bound to rebalance a system that has had too much water removed from it for it to survive as a healthy ecosystem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan marks a new approach to how the Delta would be managed. Traditionally, protecting water quality and endangered species there has fallen to a few water users that have major pumping infrastructure in the Delta. They’re the ones who’ve faced cutbacks when water quality has degraded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in 2009, California lawmakers passed legislation requiring agencies to look at upstream river flows or “flow criteria.” It’s a more holistic approach, looking at the entire watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really a now-or-never moment,” says Rosenfield. “This proposal is the single most important event in California water in a generation. And it will take a generation to correct any mistakes that are made now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/deltaflow/docs/final_rpt080310.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scientific report\u003c/a> that followed passage of the law, recommended restoring a natural springtime surge of water to help both the San Joaquin River and the Delta ecosystem. On the San Joaquin, the report concluded that the ecosystem needs 60 percent of “unimpaired flow,” meaning the flow that would naturally go down the river if humans weren’t siphoning off water along the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state water board considered that number, but also is charged with balancing it with the needs of farms and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue isn’t about choosing one over the other,” says Marcus. “It’s about sharing the river as thoughtfully as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1930078\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"791\" height=\"522\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815.jpg 791w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-240x158.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-375x247.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/DeltaAnimation_01_160815-520x343.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a final draft plan released this year, the water board proposed returning 40 percent of the unimpaired flow to the San Joaquin and three of its tributaries: the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced Rivers. The flows could fluctuate within a flexible range of 30 to 50 percent. Currently, flows range from 21 to 40 percent on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The numbers disappointed environmental groups, which argued the science supported higher flow in the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thirty to 50 percent of unimpaired flow is not going to address the problems the board is required to address,” says Rosenfield. “State and federal policy is not just to keep salmon from going extinct, but actually to restore them to benefit all of us and the commercial fishery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also disappointed the water districts faced with giving up some of their water, including San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bottom Feeders\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an aggressive stance to take because it means a lot of water,” says SFPUC’s Steve Ritchie. “It’s a big deal for the Bay Area, not the just the city and county of San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with its senior water rights, San Francisco has found itself, for the first time, at the bottom of the food chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Tuolumne River, the two other major water users, the Turlock Irrigation District and the Merced Irrigation District, have even earlier water rights, making them more senior. In California, the doctrine is generally “first in time, first in right,” so San Francisco would be facing cutbacks before those rural districts do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>In wet years, there would be plenty of water. But with the Bay Area growing, SFPUC predicts the cuts would mean rationing during droughts and billions of dollars of economic impact, though state board staff have challenged those numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We might have to, in the second year of a drought, go to 30 or 40 percent rationing and get to 50 percent in the fourth or fifth year,” says Ritchie. “All of a sudden, you’re having to save a lot more water really fast to know you have enough to get to the end of a drought.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the last drought, SFPUC’s customers conserved about 13 percent compared to pre-drought water use. Ritchie says to get deeper cuts, commercial and industrial customers would have to cut back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Finding New Water\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As SFPUC and other water districts filed increasingly alarmed comments on the proposed plan, the state board had a response: Get creative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Water users can adapt by switching crops, become more efficient, and putting more water away in wet or normal times for the inevitable dry times,” says Marcus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s been common in some Southern California cities, which have led the way in water recycling, conservation and capturing storm water runoff for reuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has been a bit late to the party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you just look at their recycled water numbers, they’re pretty low,” says Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute, a water policy think tank. “They certainly could do more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, SFPUC broke ground on its first water recycling project. The \u003ca href=\"https://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=144\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Westside Enhanced Water Recycling Project\u003c/a> will clean up wastewater and use it to irrigate Golden Gate Park and local golf courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities have already taken water recycling to the next level. Orange County and San Jose treat some of their wastewater to drinking water quality so it can be added back to the area’s water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritchie says SFPUC is in very early conversations for a similar project, but they take time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re being as progressive as we can,” says Ritchie. “We’re looking at taking wastewater from the Peninsula, treating it to a high level and put it in Crystal Springs reservoir, and blend it there into our local Bay Area supplies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1930082\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1930082\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc-520x293.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/sfpuc.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SFPUC’s new water recycling project under construction. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Public Utilities Commission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, San Francisco residents use less water than average Californians do, thanks to a cool climate and the city’s lack of expansive lawns. Other parts of the Bay Area that use SFPUC’s water have higher water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco certainly trails behind Los Angeles in terms of its efforts to conserve water,” says Rosenfield. “Los Angeles has grown its population by over a million people and reduced its total water demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, San Francisco has a groundbreaking water efficiency policy, passed in 2012. New buildings of 250,000 square feet or more must have “\u003ca href=\"https://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=686\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on-site reuse systems\u003c/a>,” which could include recycling potable water and using it a second time to flush toilets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re the first city in California that has done that,” says Cooley. “It’s an innovative strategy for leveraging private investment in recycled water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If SFPUC does face cutbacks during a drought, the agency could buy water from farmers who would in turn fallow their land, a strategy known as “water transfers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritchie says SFPUC tried it during the last drought, but was unsuccessful in finding farmers willing to sell. Several other California water districts were able complete water transfer deals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a long-term drought, the SFPUC could buy water from an irrigation district at a price that would compensate farmers, laborers, processors and distributors for what they would have made — but without having to do any work, and at a price lower than what the SFPUC charges its wholesale customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Peter Drekmeier of the Tuolumne River Trust, “That’s a pretty sweet incentive for irrigation districts to sell water to the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Road to Compromise\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the nearly inevitable course of water battles in California, the water board’s plan is likely headed to court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked whether San Francisco will be in line at the courthouse steps if the plan is formally adopted, Ritchie doesn’t shrink from the question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, that’s a very real possibility because the consequences are so great,” he replies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To avoid that, the water board has repeatedly asked for a deal to be struck. Water users, including SFPUC, could come up with a different plan that includes strategies to help salmon and other fish, like restoring floodplain habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite several years of negotiations, a deal still isn’t on the table. SFPUC has argued that the “unimpaired flow” approach — leaving more water in the Tuolumne River — isn’t necessary and that restoration and other projects should be enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials and biologists, so far, haven’t agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Habitat restoration alone is not going to cut it,” says Rosenfield. “In order for restored habitat to work, there needs to be enough water for fish to use that habitat and migrate out of the river.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state water board delayed its final vote on the plan and will be taking more comments on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whichever way it goes, it could be a wake-up call for San Francisco, which is now facing the same water-strapped realities as the rest of California.\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>“The future is challenging no matter what happens,” Ritchie says.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1929999/san-francisco-is-fighting-californias-plan-to-save-salmon-wait-what","authors":["239"],"categories":["science_35","science_40","science_98"],"tags":["science_202","science_572","science_3370","science_2078","science_247","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1930006","label":"source_science_1929999"},"science_1921022":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1921022","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1921022","score":null,"sort":[1520902036000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"new-report-sparks-debate-delta-tunnels-could-help-save-fish-species","title":"New Report Sparks Debate: Delta Tunnels Could Help Save Fish Species","publishDate":1520902036,"format":"standard","headTitle":"New Report Sparks Debate: Delta Tunnels Could Help Save Fish Species | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>One of California’s foremost experts on freshwater fish believes there may be hope for restoring native salmon to abundance – but there’s a catch: California must build the controversial Delta tunnels, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The expected costs are tremendous and there is a lot of concern over that, but our paper is about what’s good for fish,” said \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/people/pbmoyle\">Peter Moyle\u003c/a>, a professor of fisheries with the University of California, Davis \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Watershed Sciences\u003c/a>. “Will the Delta tunnels be good for fish or not? I think they will.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle co-authored a \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.coastkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Delta-White-Paper_completed-3.6.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">63-page report\u003c/a> with colleagues John Durand and Carson Jeffres that was released on Tuesday. It proposes a comprehensive game plan for restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and saving native fish from extinction. Achieving this goal, according to the report, will require restoring a great deal of riverside habitat in the northern and western Delta. Saving the native fish, the report says, will also probably require building the Delta tunnels, or something resembling them.[contextly_sidebar id=”ZNa7EivuxUmiiCSjqiv7hAV37IKMFxQ1″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tunnels, known officially as California \u003ca href=\"https://www.californiawaterfix.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WaterFix\u003c/a>, would create a new conveyance system under the delta at an estimated cost of $17 billion. Such an alternative water diversion system, the authors explain in their paper, could help alleviate strains on the Delta currently caused by powerful water pumps at the south edge of the estuary, as long it is coupled with large-scale habitat restoration projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper was commissioned by \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.coastkeeper.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Orange County Coastkeeper\u003c/a>, which received guidance and direction in the effort by the Municipal Water District of Orange County, according to meeting reports from \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.mwdoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/111616BOD_FINAL.pdf\">late 2016\u003c/a> and early 2017. Garry Brown, the executive director of Orange County Coastkeeper, said his organization funded the paper and that no funding came from water agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conflict Of Interest?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nBut Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"http://www.restorethedelta.org/\">Restore the Delta\u003c/a>, which opposes the tunnel project, believes the paper’s findings were influenced by the MWD. The district receives water from the Delta via the State Water Project and potentially has much to gain from the tunnels, which its supporters say will improve the consistency and reliability of deliveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe Dr. Moyle delivered a theory based on the opinions of the people who funded his work,” Barrigan-Parrilla said. “It’s really heartbreaking. [Peter Moyle] is going to wind up on the wrong side of history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle said that for him, “What matters is being on the right side of protecting native fishes. Critics need to come up with a comprehensive, realistic plan for fish conservation that takes into account major changes to the delta that are likely to happen in the not-too-distant future.”[contextly_sidebar id=”SESip0mwjDHlPmRknDzv4AAzFIQl6cdh”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new report comes at a time when the Delta smelt is nearer to extinction than it has ever been and when Chinook salmon numbers have plunged following years of drought-related stress. In fact, Moyle co-authored a report just 10 months ago predicting that most of California’s native salmon and trout would vanish over the next few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We predicted they’d go extinct if present trends continue,” he said. “The new report is a plan to make present trends \u003cem>not\u003c/em> continue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper – entitled “Making the Delta a Better Place for Native Fishes” – aims to provide lawmakers and policy directors with a framework to reverse the trends that have made the Delta such a hostile place for native fish that evolved to thrive in an estuary environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Broken Ecosystem\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAfter decades of aggressive water diversions, much of the Delta now functions ecologically more like a Mississippi basin swamp than like an estuary. One key feature of an estuary is that freshwater flows relatively consistently through the system, toward the sea. That flow pattern has been disrupted in much of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Moyle explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have an ecosystem in most of the central and south Delta that just isn’t suitable for most of the native fishes we want to have around,” he said.[contextly_sidebar id=”dt6ORmIOjyltDK7Qr6OpJRRt9s0xR4LW”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, two large pumping stations at the south edge of the Delta draw water into a pair of canals taking the water south and west. The pumps, run by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources, are so powerful that they actually reverse the flow of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers at times, confusing migrating fish and drawing them toward remote backwaters and the pumps themselves. This phenomenon has killed many millions of salmon, smelt and other native species over several decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_14545\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-14545\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/02/DSC01081.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man holds up a tagged Chinook salmon for a photograph before it’s released into the San Joaquin River. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new report outlines a state-mandated project called EcoRestore, initially introduced several years ago as a mitigation to the Delta tunnels project. EcoRestore would protect or revive about 30,000 acres in the Delta region – mainly floodplain and inter-tidal habitat. The report’s authors suggest expanding this project while focusing restoration efforts on a region of the estuary sometimes called the “North Delta Habitat Arc.” This area begins in the Yolo Bypass floodplain region southwest of Sacramento and extends south and west along the course of the Sacramento River. It has been spared some of the most drastic impacts and landscape alterations seen in the south Delta and to biologists is a key area of focus for habitat restoration projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is where the best opportunities are for habitat restoration, and the best place to spend money for restoration,” Moyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sparking Debate\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe paper doesn’t exactly introduce any new concepts in Delta restoration. What it does do, Moyle said, is present the needs of the Delta in one cohesive document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People know what the fish need,” he said. “It’s more a matter of connecting all the dots to make a coherent restoration program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where the report is likely to fire up debate and criticism is its discussion of the hotly contested Delta tunnels. The project’s detractors have long warned the tunnels could easily lead to increased volumes of water being removed from the Delta – which they say could push salmon and other species over the brink.[contextly_sidebar id=”A29mpotHTm0AeeMiKPynWklPIMruGxvh”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they build it, salmon will do worse than they are now, and we’ll lose Delta smelt,” Barrigan-Parrilla said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle acknowledged there are risks associated with building and operating the tunnels, but it’s still a project he stands behind. Moyle said he feels the objections to WaterFix are misguided – at least as far as rebuilding salmon runs is concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The status quo is not sustainable; it will result in the likely collapse of many remaining stocks of desirable fishes even with large investment in restoration projects,” the new report warns, referring to the existing water diversion system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Weighing Risks\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Moyle and his co-authors make the case that a pair of tunnels could alleviate the reverse-flow problem by diverting water from the north end of the estuary. This water would be moved underground and would connect to the existing conveyance system. The south Delta pumps would be throttled back, or even shut down for much of the year, and the end effect would be an uninterrupted seaward flow of water – exactly what could restore the Delta to health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But there are a lot of ifs, buts and ands here,” Moyle said.[contextly_sidebar id=”M2fw5fqr5nNNhXxF2LG5VxbSX2nFr8tU”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one thing, huge fish screens must be installed in front of the tunnel intakes to prevent increased mortality of salmon – barriers that the report cautions might not be effective. The report also cautions that the tunnels will only benefit fish populations if all possible mitigations, including floodplain habitat restoration, are completed. Moreover, the authors warn that, once the tunnels are built, total water exports must not increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s what John McManus worries will happen. The executive director of the \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"http://www.goldengatesalmon.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Golden Gate Salmon Association\u003c/a>, a fishery advocacy group, McManus agrees with Moyle that the existing water diversion system threatens to annihilate Central Valley Chinook. However, he says the huge size of the proposed tunnels is reason to believe they will be used to take unsustainable volumes of water from the Sacramento River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McManus added that a single-tunnel version of the project – now being considered by the state – could also be harmful to fish. Moyle’s report assessed a single-tunnel alternative but decided it would be little better than the status quo “because it lacks flexibility” and would mean running the Delta pumps at relatively high rates.[contextly_sidebar id=”GHmUsyZfpUCh2MDK2hYC4Ak75px9dYJy”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research community seems generally skeptical of the capacity for the proposed tunnels to benefit fish. A \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20181028\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study\u003c/a> published in February by the \u003cspan class=\"caps\">U.S.\u003c/span> Geological Survey concluded that the project would likely increase negative impacts on juvenile Chinook salmon. Rene Henery, California science director for the group \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.tu.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trout Unlimited\u003c/a>, feels Moyle has endorsed the tunnels because he considers the better alternative – reducing overall water exports – politically unfeasible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But so many things, until they happen, are politically unfeasible,” Henery said. He added that “forcing an infrastructure project that is so controversial” could widen society’s political fissures and make progress in environmental restoration an even more arduous task than it already is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown, at Orange County Coastkeeper, said his group does not necessarily support the tunnels.[contextly_sidebar id=”El9wuMXx11S8FZbK9cd9EQMlzP7Gvncv”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But I think it’s okay to have a discussion about them,” he said. “Some people have become so committed to the fight against California WaterFix that they will overlook the finer points in the paper about habitat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle says saving fish species was just one reason he wrote the report. He also was eager to help bridge a significant political gap between Northern and Southern Californians. Decades ago, Delta water was exported primarily for use by San Joaquin Valley farmers and cities in Southern California. Today, millions of people in the Bay Area use the Delta’s water, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"fin\">“The idea is to present this as a common problem,” Moyle said. “We all get water from the Delta now, so it’s a statewide problem. It’s everyone’s problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2018/03/09/california-fish-experts-delta-tunnels-could-help-save-native-species\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Some fish experts say that the controversial Delta tunnels would benefit ailing fish species like salmon.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704928123,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":35,"wordCount":1865},"headData":{"title":"New Report Sparks Debate: Delta Tunnels Could Help Save Fish Species | KQED","description":"Some fish experts say that the controversial Delta tunnels would benefit ailing fish species like salmon.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"New Report Sparks Debate: Delta Tunnels Could Help Save Fish Species","datePublished":"2018-03-13T00:47:16.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T23:08:43.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Environment","sticky":false,"nprByline":"Alastair Bland\u003cbr />Water Deeply","path":"/science/1921022/new-report-sparks-debate-delta-tunnels-could-help-save-fish-species","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>One of California’s foremost experts on freshwater fish believes there may be hope for restoring native salmon to abundance – but there’s a catch: California must build the controversial Delta tunnels, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The expected costs are tremendous and there is a lot of concern over that, but our paper is about what’s good for fish,” said \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/people/pbmoyle\">Peter Moyle\u003c/a>, a professor of fisheries with the University of California, Davis \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Watershed Sciences\u003c/a>. “Will the Delta tunnels be good for fish or not? I think they will.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle co-authored a \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.coastkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Delta-White-Paper_completed-3.6.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">63-page report\u003c/a> with colleagues John Durand and Carson Jeffres that was released on Tuesday. It proposes a comprehensive game plan for restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and saving native fish from extinction. Achieving this goal, according to the report, will require restoring a great deal of riverside habitat in the northern and western Delta. Saving the native fish, the report says, will also probably require building the Delta tunnels, or something resembling them.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tunnels, known officially as California \u003ca href=\"https://www.californiawaterfix.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WaterFix\u003c/a>, would create a new conveyance system under the delta at an estimated cost of $17 billion. Such an alternative water diversion system, the authors explain in their paper, could help alleviate strains on the Delta currently caused by powerful water pumps at the south edge of the estuary, as long it is coupled with large-scale habitat restoration projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper was commissioned by \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.coastkeeper.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Orange County Coastkeeper\u003c/a>, which received guidance and direction in the effort by the Municipal Water District of Orange County, according to meeting reports from \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.mwdoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/111616BOD_FINAL.pdf\">late 2016\u003c/a> and early 2017. Garry Brown, the executive director of Orange County Coastkeeper, said his organization funded the paper and that no funding came from water agencies.\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>Conflict Of Interest?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nBut Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"http://www.restorethedelta.org/\">Restore the Delta\u003c/a>, which opposes the tunnel project, believes the paper’s findings were influenced by the MWD. The district receives water from the Delta via the State Water Project and potentially has much to gain from the tunnels, which its supporters say will improve the consistency and reliability of deliveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe Dr. Moyle delivered a theory based on the opinions of the people who funded his work,” Barrigan-Parrilla said. “It’s really heartbreaking. [Peter Moyle] is going to wind up on the wrong side of history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle said that for him, “What matters is being on the right side of protecting native fishes. Critics need to come up with a comprehensive, realistic plan for fish conservation that takes into account major changes to the delta that are likely to happen in the not-too-distant future.”\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new report comes at a time when the Delta smelt is nearer to extinction than it has ever been and when Chinook salmon numbers have plunged following years of drought-related stress. In fact, Moyle co-authored a report just 10 months ago predicting that most of California’s native salmon and trout would vanish over the next few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We predicted they’d go extinct if present trends continue,” he said. “The new report is a plan to make present trends \u003cem>not\u003c/em> continue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper – entitled “Making the Delta a Better Place for Native Fishes” – aims to provide lawmakers and policy directors with a framework to reverse the trends that have made the Delta such a hostile place for native fish that evolved to thrive in an estuary environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Broken Ecosystem\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAfter decades of aggressive water diversions, much of the Delta now functions ecologically more like a Mississippi basin swamp than like an estuary. One key feature of an estuary is that freshwater flows relatively consistently through the system, toward the sea. That flow pattern has been disrupted in much of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Moyle explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have an ecosystem in most of the central and south Delta that just isn’t suitable for most of the native fishes we want to have around,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, two large pumping stations at the south edge of the Delta draw water into a pair of canals taking the water south and west. The pumps, run by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources, are so powerful that they actually reverse the flow of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers at times, confusing migrating fish and drawing them toward remote backwaters and the pumps themselves. This phenomenon has killed many millions of salmon, smelt and other native species over several decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_14545\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-14545\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2014/02/DSC01081.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man holds up a tagged Chinook salmon for a photograph before it’s released into the San Joaquin River. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new report outlines a state-mandated project called EcoRestore, initially introduced several years ago as a mitigation to the Delta tunnels project. EcoRestore would protect or revive about 30,000 acres in the Delta region – mainly floodplain and inter-tidal habitat. The report’s authors suggest expanding this project while focusing restoration efforts on a region of the estuary sometimes called the “North Delta Habitat Arc.” This area begins in the Yolo Bypass floodplain region southwest of Sacramento and extends south and west along the course of the Sacramento River. It has been spared some of the most drastic impacts and landscape alterations seen in the south Delta and to biologists is a key area of focus for habitat restoration projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is where the best opportunities are for habitat restoration, and the best place to spend money for restoration,” Moyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sparking Debate\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe paper doesn’t exactly introduce any new concepts in Delta restoration. What it does do, Moyle said, is present the needs of the Delta in one cohesive document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People know what the fish need,” he said. “It’s more a matter of connecting all the dots to make a coherent restoration program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where the report is likely to fire up debate and criticism is its discussion of the hotly contested Delta tunnels. The project’s detractors have long warned the tunnels could easily lead to increased volumes of water being removed from the Delta – which they say could push salmon and other species over the brink.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they build it, salmon will do worse than they are now, and we’ll lose Delta smelt,” Barrigan-Parrilla said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle acknowledged there are risks associated with building and operating the tunnels, but it’s still a project he stands behind. Moyle said he feels the objections to WaterFix are misguided – at least as far as rebuilding salmon runs is concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The status quo is not sustainable; it will result in the likely collapse of many remaining stocks of desirable fishes even with large investment in restoration projects,” the new report warns, referring to the existing water diversion system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Weighing Risks\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Moyle and his co-authors make the case that a pair of tunnels could alleviate the reverse-flow problem by diverting water from the north end of the estuary. This water would be moved underground and would connect to the existing conveyance system. The south Delta pumps would be throttled back, or even shut down for much of the year, and the end effect would be an uninterrupted seaward flow of water – exactly what could restore the Delta to health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But there are a lot of ifs, buts and ands here,” Moyle said.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one thing, huge fish screens must be installed in front of the tunnel intakes to prevent increased mortality of salmon – barriers that the report cautions might not be effective. The report also cautions that the tunnels will only benefit fish populations if all possible mitigations, including floodplain habitat restoration, are completed. Moreover, the authors warn that, once the tunnels are built, total water exports must not increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s what John McManus worries will happen. The executive director of the \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"http://www.goldengatesalmon.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Golden Gate Salmon Association\u003c/a>, a fishery advocacy group, McManus agrees with Moyle that the existing water diversion system threatens to annihilate Central Valley Chinook. However, he says the huge size of the proposed tunnels is reason to believe they will be used to take unsustainable volumes of water from the Sacramento River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McManus added that a single-tunnel version of the project – now being considered by the state – could also be harmful to fish. Moyle’s report assessed a single-tunnel alternative but decided it would be little better than the status quo “because it lacks flexibility” and would mean running the Delta pumps at relatively high rates.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research community seems generally skeptical of the capacity for the proposed tunnels to benefit fish. A \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20181028\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study\u003c/a> published in February by the \u003cspan class=\"caps\">U.S.\u003c/span> Geological Survey concluded that the project would likely increase negative impacts on juvenile Chinook salmon. Rene Henery, California science director for the group \u003ca class=\"preview-link\" href=\"https://www.tu.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trout Unlimited\u003c/a>, feels Moyle has endorsed the tunnels because he considers the better alternative – reducing overall water exports – politically unfeasible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But so many things, until they happen, are politically unfeasible,” Henery said. He added that “forcing an infrastructure project that is so controversial” could widen society’s political fissures and make progress in environmental restoration an even more arduous task than it already is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown, at Orange County Coastkeeper, said his group does not necessarily support the tunnels.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But I think it’s okay to have a discussion about them,” he said. “Some people have become so committed to the fight against California WaterFix that they will overlook the finer points in the paper about habitat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moyle says saving fish species was just one reason he wrote the report. He also was eager to help bridge a significant political gap between Northern and Southern Californians. Decades ago, Delta water was exported primarily for use by San Joaquin Valley farmers and cities in Southern California. Today, millions of people in the Bay Area use the Delta’s water, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"fin\">“The idea is to present this as a common problem,” Moyle said. “We all get water from the Delta now, so it’s a statewide problem. It’s everyone’s problem.”\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>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This article originally appeared on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://mail.kqed.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=9e4bb0e1a7d74f24ba4684ef2533053d&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.newsdeeply.com%2fwater\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water Deeply\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and you can find it \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2018/03/09/california-fish-experts-delta-tunnels-could-help-save-native-species\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For important news about the California drought, you can \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=2947becb78\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sign up\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the Water Deeply email list.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1921022/new-report-sparks-debate-delta-tunnels-could-help-save-fish-species","authors":["byline_science_1921022"],"categories":["science_31","science_35","science_36","science_40","science_2873","science_98"],"tags":["science_202","science_261","science_248","science_247","science_3153"],"featImg":"science_1921027","label":"source_science_1921022"},"science_1919615":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1919615","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1919615","score":null,"sort":[1518056610000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"gov-jerry-brown-scales-back-plan-for-giant-water-project","title":"Gov. Jerry Brown Scales Back Plan for Giant Water Project","publishDate":1518056610,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Gov. Jerry Brown Scales Back Plan for Giant Water Project | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":87,"site":"science"},"content":"\u003cp>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration announced Wednesday that it was scaling back his troubled four-decade effort to redo California’s north-south water system, cutting plans to build giant water tunnels from two to one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing the number of tunnels — at least for now — would help with California’s quest to line up enough funding and ease environmental concerns over tapping directly into the state’s largest river, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters also hope the trimmed-down project will have a better chance of winning approval before the 79-year-old governor leaves office in January. The single tunnel still would be California’s biggest water project in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tunnel would pipe water from Northern California through a four-story-high tunnel. Los Angeles’ giant Metropolitan Water District and its millions of urban customers are expected to be some of the main beneficiaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California water districts had balked at the $16 billion cost of the two tunnels, stalling that version late last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources, wrote in a memo to water agencies Wednesday that the state would still proceed with a second tunnel if the money is found. The state put the cost of the single tunnel at $10.7 billion, all to be paid by water districts that use the supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Club in California and other environmental groups alleged that the state is saying the two-tunnel plan still survives only to avoid seeking new permits and approval on a single-tunnel project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new plan marks the latest in Brown’s lengthy effort to redo the water system left by his father, the late Gov. Pat Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original project built by the late Brown has helped hasten the decline of California’s chinook salmon and other native species in the largest estuary on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the tunnels say the new project would help the environment. Opponents fear the project — built with one tunnel or two — would take too much fresh water from the vital waterway.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Governor Jerry Brown’s administration announced Wednesday that it was cutting plans to build giant water tunnels from two to one.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704928209,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":12,"wordCount":360},"headData":{"title":"Gov. Jerry Brown Scales Back Plan for Giant Water Project | KQED","description":"Governor Jerry Brown’s administration announced Wednesday that it was cutting plans to build giant water tunnels from two to one.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Gov. Jerry Brown Scales Back Plan for Giant Water Project","datePublished":"2018-02-08T02:23:30.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T23:10:09.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Associated Press","path":"/science/1919615/gov-jerry-brown-scales-back-plan-for-giant-water-project","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration announced Wednesday that it was scaling back his troubled four-decade effort to redo California’s north-south water system, cutting plans to build giant water tunnels from two to one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing the number of tunnels — at least for now — would help with California’s quest to line up enough funding and ease environmental concerns over tapping directly into the state’s largest river, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters also hope the trimmed-down project will have a better chance of winning approval before the 79-year-old governor leaves office in January. The single tunnel still would be California’s biggest water project in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tunnel would pipe water from Northern California through a four-story-high tunnel. Los Angeles’ giant Metropolitan Water District and its millions of urban customers are expected to be some of the main beneficiaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California water districts had balked at the $16 billion cost of the two tunnels, stalling that version late last year.\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>Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources, wrote in a memo to water agencies Wednesday that the state would still proceed with a second tunnel if the money is found. The state put the cost of the single tunnel at $10.7 billion, all to be paid by water districts that use the supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Club in California and other environmental groups alleged that the state is saying the two-tunnel plan still survives only to avoid seeking new permits and approval on a single-tunnel project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new plan marks the latest in Brown’s lengthy effort to redo the water system left by his father, the late Gov. Pat Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original project built by the late Brown has helped hasten the decline of California’s chinook salmon and other native species in the largest estuary on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the tunnels say the new project would help the environment. Opponents fear the project — built with one tunnel or two — would take too much fresh water from the vital waterway.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1919615/gov-jerry-brown-scales-back-plan-for-giant-water-project","authors":["byline_science_1919615"],"series":["science_87"],"categories":["science_89","science_35","science_40","science_98"],"tags":["science_202","science_192","science_813","science_309","science_201"],"featImg":"science_1254089","label":"science_87"},"science_914603":{"type":"posts","id":"science_914603","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"914603","score":null,"sort":[1471617054000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"the-biggest-california-water-decision-youve-never-heard-of","title":"The Biggest California Water Decision You’ve Never Heard Of","publishDate":1471617054,"format":"image","headTitle":"The Biggest California Water Decision You’ve Never Heard Of | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":87,"site":"science"},"content":"\u003cp>Many of California’s farmers, facing severe water cutbacks yet again this year, are blaming the hand they’ve been dealt on environmental protections for endangered fish. The protections limit how much water can be taken up by the huge pumps that serve much of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s another root of the problem, often overlooked, that controls both the state’s water supply and the fate of endangered fish: the San Joaquin River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, state officials will make a pivotal decision about how much water should flow down that river each year and the decision will stick for years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some say it could be the most revolutionary change in decades for the West’s largest estuary and the site of California’s fiercest water battles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Joaquin is arguably the most heavily tapped river in the state, sometimes going completely dry before it reaches the hub of the state’s water supply, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a few weeks, the State Water Resources Control Board will release a draft of \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/bay_delta_plan/water_quality_control_planning/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an obscure water quality plan\u003c/a> that could dramatically increase the flow of the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to manage the Delta ecosystem.’\u003ccite> Jon Rosenfield, The Bay Institute\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>In the process, the board will have to answer a fundamental question: how much water do Californians need and how much should be left for endangered fish?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board’s decision could have cascading effects across the water system, even for farmers and water suppliers with some of the oldest and most secure water rights in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Players\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With salmon and Delta smelt populations driven to the brink of extinction during the drought, the water quality plan comes at a vital moment for some because the water board has the authority to restore freshwater flows that scientists say are sorely lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to manage the Delta ecosystem,” says Jon Rosenfield, biologist at The Bay Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To boost the flow of the San Joaquin River, state officials could reallocate water from upstream agricultural water districts with “senior” rights, long-considered untouchable. San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area, which tap into a water source more than 100 miles away, could also be facing cutbacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in an odd and unintended twist, cutbacks in one place could benefit farms and cities elsewhere in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-914708 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis.jpg\" alt=\"San Luis Reservoir, which serves the Central Valley and Bay Area, is filled entirely by water from the Delta pumping plants.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Luis Reservoir, which serves the Central Valley and Bay Area, is filled entirely by water from the Delta pumping plants. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many Central Valley farms and cities from San Jose to San Diego rely on water that’s delivered by huge pumping plants in the Delta. When endangered salmon and steelhead are at risk, those pumps must slow down and pump less water\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a higher flow from the San Joaquin River generally improves the environmental conditions that trigger the pumping limits. With fewer limits, the Delta pumps could run more of the time, providing more water to those cities and to farmers who have fallowed thousands of acres in recent years.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s at Stake\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Joaquin River and its tributaries, the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced, were dammed a century ago, turning the southern Central Valley into one of the most productive farming areas in the country. But the dams had a huge impact on California’s second-largest river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Characterizing it as a river is a misnomer,” says Rosenfield. “It goes dry for many, many miles – a completely dry sand bed. It’s been destroyed as a river.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some spring months, as much as 90 percent of the water is diverted to Central Valley farms and cities. Salmon and steelhead that depend on the river to reproduce often run into a dry riverbed and lack the cool, winding flows they need for their young to survive.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The San Joaquin River used to support some of the largest Chinook salmon populations in the world,” Rosenfield says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s something officials at the State Water Resources Control Board have to take into consideration, as they update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. Federal law requires the plan, under the the Clean Water Act, to safeguard drinking water quality and protect local ecosystems. Its last substantial revision was in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914712\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1006px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-914712 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web.jpg\" alt=\"This past year, the most of the water from the San Joaquin River has been diverted.\" width=\"1006\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web.jpg 1006w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-400x261.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-800x522.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-960x627.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1006px) 100vw, 1006px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This past year, most of the water from the San Joaquin River has been diverted. \u003ccite>(Source: The Bay Institute)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, as part of that update, the water board must decide how much freshwater should flow down the San Joaquin River tributaries. In a later step, the water board will write another plan for the Sacramento River and the rest of the Delta\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, a state report found that restoring native fish like salmon and steelhead would \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/deltaflow/docs/draft_report072010.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">require 60 percent\u003c/a> of the San Joaquin River’s unimpaired flow, or the flow that would come down the river in the absence of human use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the water board says it’s required to consider human needs for water, in addition to the needs of the ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re interested in protecting the agricultural economy, you come up with a different number than 60 percent,” says Les Grober, Assistant Deputy Director for Water Rights at the water board. “This is when the board revisits that fundamental question about how we balance these uses of water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, the water board released its first draft of the water quality control plan update, recommending 35 percent unimpaired flow on the San Joaquin River between February and June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reaction was swift from both environmental groups and agricultural water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a contrived plan to get at the senior water rights holders of the state.’\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> Steve Knell, Oakdale Irrigation District\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“The 35 percent number was pathetic,” says Rosenfield. “By some measures, it was just maintaining the status quo. Nothing less than 50 percent of the flow is going to restore that river.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State wildlife officials \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/hearings/baydelta_pdsed/docs/comments032913/scott_cantrell.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found it wouldn’t be enough water\u003c/a> to restore salmon to the river. The federal Environmental Protection Agency \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/sfdelta-epa-comments-swrcb-wqcp-phase1-sed3-28-2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">agreed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Upstream water districts saw the 35 percent proposal as far too high, since they’d likely have to give up some of their water. Many hold “senior” water rights, meaning they have first priority to water because their rights are some of the oldest in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s really all the point of this is,” says Steve Knell, manager of Oakdale Irrigation District. “It’s a contrived plan to get at the senior water-rights holders of the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914715\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-914715 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR.jpg\" alt=\"California wildlife agencies are slowly returning Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California wildlife agencies are slowly returning Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts estimate that requiring 40 percent unimpaired flow would cost $167 million in lost farm revenue. They speculate it would mean giving up as much as a third of their water. That would be determined by the water board according to the seniority of the water rights of all the districts involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For our communities, we’re looking at major economic impacts,” says Jake Wenger of Modesto Irrigation District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Another Farmer’s Gain\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from helping struggling fish, a higher flowing San Joaquin River could actually help other farmers and cities, a side effect of the water board’s plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason has to do with geography: the San Joaquin flows right past the gaping mouths of the Delta water pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two huge pumping plants draw millions of gallons of water per minute from the Delta and send it into aqueducts that reach all the way to the Bay Area, Central Valley and cities in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pumps have long been the focus of the fiercest battles over water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_929467\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-929467\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/KQED_Delta.gif\" alt=\"text\" width=\"800\" height=\"590\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Massive water pumps create huge changes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s water flow.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When they were built, there was little understanding of their effect on the ecosystem. But their sheer power reverses the flow of water in the Delta, drawing endangered salmon and Delta smelt towards the pumps, interfering with their migration and even sucking them in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, federal wildlife officials have put limits on water pumping. During the spring, if the pull is too strong, pumping is limited or shut down to protect the fish. But that reduces the amount of water that reaches the water districts where people depend on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The meager flow of the San Joaquin River makes the backward pull of the pumps worse. If the river ran more fully, it would push against the backward flows, potentially allowing the pumps to run more of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That could help some water district fill their reservoirs, says Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, the water wholesaler for major Southern California cities like Los Angeles. “The fact that there isn’t much flow there definitely limits our ability to move water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other districts that rely on the water pumps are more skeptical of a potential water windfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You would think that the response would be ‘that’s great for us’,” says Johnny Amaral of Westlands Water District. “But just because there would be increased flow doesn’t mean they would pump more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Westlands and other water districts, who usually watch the San Joaquin River with a hawk’s eye, aren’t likely to advocate publicly for higher flows on the river, even though they could benefit. In dry years, many buy water from the “senior” districts upstream and, politically, can’t afford to strain those relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The senior water districts facing cutbacks would likely try to ensure that their water wasn’t just handed out to water districts with junior rights, which would be contrary to the state’s water rights system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups might say the same. They’d like to see any extra water coming down the San Joaquin earmarked for endangered species in the Delta itself, instead of being diverted away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s huge for not just the San Joaquin River, but for the entire Delta,” says Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-914718\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2.jpg\" alt=\"The Banks Pumping plant draws water out of the Delta and sends it hundreds of miles south.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-400x222.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-800x444.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-768x426.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-1440x800.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-1180x655.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-960x533.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-672x372.jpg 672w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-1038x576.jpg 1038w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Banks Pumping Plant draws water out of the Delta and sends it hundreds of miles south. \u003ccite>(California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What About San Francisco?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it’s far from city limits, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir high in the Sierra Nevada supplies water to San Francisco and more than a million people in the Bay Area. The Hetch Hetchy water system taps into the Tuolumne River, which joins with the San Joaquin River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years ago, the water board decided that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) would be excluded from its plan for San Joaquin River flows, even though the other water users on the same tributary, Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts, are included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, it’s looking like that decision has reversed and the city could be told to share its water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a risk,” says Steve Ritchie, Assistant General Manager at SFPUC. “There’s no doubt about that. Hopefully we would minimize the effect on San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFPUC has more junior water rights than Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts, which means it would be first in line to give up water. Ritchie says the city would make the case that the water is necessary for health and human safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Other Appeals for Leeway\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other San Joaquin River water districts with senior rights, on the three tributaries that feed the river, are hoping to escape water cutbacks through habitat restoration for salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be making more habitat that breeds more fish,” says Knell of Oakdale Irrigation District. “We should focus on habitat improvement and widening our rivers out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several districts are arguing that they deserve more time to bring salmon populations back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to see the salmon numbers come up,” says Wenger of Modesto Irrigation District. “If we’re not hitting them, then we’ll deal with flow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914724\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-914724\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2.jpg\" alt=\"A dry channel of the San Joaquin River.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dry channel of the San Joaquin River. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>No matter what the water board ultimately decides, its likely go the way that most controversial water decisions in the state go: to a judge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can bet it’s going to end up in court, if it’s a one-size-fits-all solution,” says Wenger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fate of the Tunnels \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that wasn’t enough, the water board’s decision on water Delta flow could also determine the fate of Governor Jerry Brown’s headline water project: the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/07/25/about-that-17-billion-water-project-delta-tunnels-101/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$17 billion Delta water tunnels\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Brown Administration says the tunnels, dubbed California WaterFix, would relieve some of the problems at the Delta water pumps. The idea is that the tunnels would draw water from elsewhere in the Delta, so the pumps would be used less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts from the Bay Area to Los Angeles that receive that water would be responsible for the tunnels’ hefty price tag. But many want guarantees that they’ll receive more water than they do today. Otherwise, the project is too expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the water board requires more water to flow out of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers in order to restore the ecosystem, the Delta tunnels would have to follow those rules, likely meaning that less water would be delivered to the water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that’s the case, the water board could deliver a lethal blow to the Delta tunnels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a few weeks, water board staff will release a new recommendation for unimpaired flow on the San Joaquin River. The board expects to vote on it later this year or early next year.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Why an obscure plan for one California river could be a game changer for farmers, fish and millions of Californians.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704929749,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":70,"wordCount":2364},"headData":{"title":"The Biggest California Water Decision You’ve Never Heard Of | KQED","description":"Why an obscure plan for one California river could be a game changer for farmers, fish and millions of Californians.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"The Biggest California Water Decision You’ve Never Heard Of","datePublished":"2016-08-19T14:30:54.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T23:35:49.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"path":"/science/914603/the-biggest-california-water-decision-youve-never-heard-of","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Many of California’s farmers, facing severe water cutbacks yet again this year, are blaming the hand they’ve been dealt on environmental protections for endangered fish. The protections limit how much water can be taken up by the huge pumps that serve much of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s another root of the problem, often overlooked, that controls both the state’s water supply and the fate of endangered fish: the San Joaquin River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, state officials will make a pivotal decision about how much water should flow down that river each year and the decision will stick for years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some say it could be the most revolutionary change in decades for the West’s largest estuary and the site of California’s fiercest water battles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Joaquin is arguably the most heavily tapped river in the state, sometimes going completely dry before it reaches the hub of the state’s water supply, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.\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>In a few weeks, the State Water Resources Control Board will release a draft of \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/bay_delta_plan/water_quality_control_planning/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an obscure water quality plan\u003c/a> that could dramatically increase the flow of the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to manage the Delta ecosystem.’\u003ccite> Jon Rosenfield, The Bay Institute\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>In the process, the board will have to answer a fundamental question: how much water do Californians need and how much should be left for endangered fish?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board’s decision could have cascading effects across the water system, even for farmers and water suppliers with some of the oldest and most secure water rights in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Players\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With salmon and Delta smelt populations driven to the brink of extinction during the drought, the water quality plan comes at a vital moment for some because the water board has the authority to restore freshwater flows that scientists say are sorely lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to manage the Delta ecosystem,” says Jon Rosenfield, biologist at The Bay Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To boost the flow of the San Joaquin River, state officials could reallocate water from upstream agricultural water districts with “senior” rights, long-considered untouchable. San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area, which tap into a water source more than 100 miles away, could also be facing cutbacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in an odd and unintended twist, cutbacks in one place could benefit farms and cities elsewhere in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-914708 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis.jpg\" alt=\"San Luis Reservoir, which serves the Central Valley and Bay Area, is filled entirely by water from the Delta pumping plants.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SanLuis-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Luis Reservoir, which serves the Central Valley and Bay Area, is filled entirely by water from the Delta pumping plants. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many Central Valley farms and cities from San Jose to San Diego rely on water that’s delivered by huge pumping plants in the Delta. When endangered salmon and steelhead are at risk, those pumps must slow down and pump less water\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a higher flow from the San Joaquin River generally improves the environmental conditions that trigger the pumping limits. With fewer limits, the Delta pumps could run more of the time, providing more water to those cities and to farmers who have fallowed thousands of acres in recent years.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s at Stake\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Joaquin River and its tributaries, the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced, were dammed a century ago, turning the southern Central Valley into one of the most productive farming areas in the country. But the dams had a huge impact on California’s second-largest river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Characterizing it as a river is a misnomer,” says Rosenfield. “It goes dry for many, many miles – a completely dry sand bed. It’s been destroyed as a river.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some spring months, as much as 90 percent of the water is diverted to Central Valley farms and cities. Salmon and steelhead that depend on the river to reproduce often run into a dry riverbed and lack the cool, winding flows they need for their young to survive.\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The San Joaquin River used to support some of the largest Chinook salmon populations in the world,” Rosenfield says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s something officials at the State Water Resources Control Board have to take into consideration, as they update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. Federal law requires the plan, under the the Clean Water Act, to safeguard drinking water quality and protect local ecosystems. Its last substantial revision was in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914712\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1006px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-914712 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web.jpg\" alt=\"This past year, the most of the water from the San Joaquin River has been diverted.\" width=\"1006\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web.jpg 1006w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-400x261.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-800x522.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/UIFSJinflow-web-960x627.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1006px) 100vw, 1006px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This past year, most of the water from the San Joaquin River has been diverted. \u003ccite>(Source: The Bay Institute)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, as part of that update, the water board must decide how much freshwater should flow down the San Joaquin River tributaries. In a later step, the water board will write another plan for the Sacramento River and the rest of the Delta\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, a state report found that restoring native fish like salmon and steelhead would \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/deltaflow/docs/draft_report072010.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">require 60 percent\u003c/a> of the San Joaquin River’s unimpaired flow, or the flow that would come down the river in the absence of human use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the water board says it’s required to consider human needs for water, in addition to the needs of the ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re interested in protecting the agricultural economy, you come up with a different number than 60 percent,” says Les Grober, Assistant Deputy Director for Water Rights at the water board. “This is when the board revisits that fundamental question about how we balance these uses of water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, the water board released its first draft of the water quality control plan update, recommending 35 percent unimpaired flow on the San Joaquin River between February and June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reaction was swift from both environmental groups and agricultural water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s a contrived plan to get at the senior water rights holders of the state.’\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> Steve Knell, Oakdale Irrigation District\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“The 35 percent number was pathetic,” says Rosenfield. “By some measures, it was just maintaining the status quo. Nothing less than 50 percent of the flow is going to restore that river.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State wildlife officials \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/hearings/baydelta_pdsed/docs/comments032913/scott_cantrell.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found it wouldn’t be enough water\u003c/a> to restore salmon to the river. The federal Environmental Protection Agency \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/sfdelta-epa-comments-swrcb-wqcp-phase1-sed3-28-2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">agreed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Upstream water districts saw the 35 percent proposal as far too high, since they’d likely have to give up some of their water. Many hold “senior” water rights, meaning they have first priority to water because their rights are some of the oldest in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s really all the point of this is,” says Steve Knell, manager of Oakdale Irrigation District. “It’s a contrived plan to get at the senior water-rights holders of the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914715\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-914715 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR.jpg\" alt=\"California wildlife agencies are slowly returning Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/salmonSJR-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California wildlife agencies are slowly returning Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts estimate that requiring 40 percent unimpaired flow would cost $167 million in lost farm revenue. They speculate it would mean giving up as much as a third of their water. That would be determined by the water board according to the seniority of the water rights of all the districts involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For our communities, we’re looking at major economic impacts,” says Jake Wenger of Modesto Irrigation District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Another Farmer’s Gain\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from helping struggling fish, a higher flowing San Joaquin River could actually help other farmers and cities, a side effect of the water board’s plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason has to do with geography: the San Joaquin flows right past the gaping mouths of the Delta water pumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two huge pumping plants draw millions of gallons of water per minute from the Delta and send it into aqueducts that reach all the way to the Bay Area, Central Valley and cities in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pumps have long been the focus of the fiercest battles over water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_929467\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-929467\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/KQED_Delta.gif\" alt=\"text\" width=\"800\" height=\"590\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Massive water pumps create huge changes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s water flow.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When they were built, there was little understanding of their effect on the ecosystem. But their sheer power reverses the flow of water in the Delta, drawing endangered salmon and Delta smelt towards the pumps, interfering with their migration and even sucking them in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, federal wildlife officials have put limits on water pumping. During the spring, if the pull is too strong, pumping is limited or shut down to protect the fish. But that reduces the amount of water that reaches the water districts where people depend on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The meager flow of the San Joaquin River makes the backward pull of the pumps worse. If the river ran more fully, it would push against the backward flows, potentially allowing the pumps to run more of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That could help some water district fill their reservoirs, says Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, the water wholesaler for major Southern California cities like Los Angeles. “The fact that there isn’t much flow there definitely limits our ability to move water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other districts that rely on the water pumps are more skeptical of a potential water windfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You would think that the response would be ‘that’s great for us’,” says Johnny Amaral of Westlands Water District. “But just because there would be increased flow doesn’t mean they would pump more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Westlands and other water districts, who usually watch the San Joaquin River with a hawk’s eye, aren’t likely to advocate publicly for higher flows on the river, even though they could benefit. In dry years, many buy water from the “senior” districts upstream and, politically, can’t afford to strain those relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The senior water districts facing cutbacks would likely try to ensure that their water wasn’t just handed out to water districts with junior rights, which would be contrary to the state’s water rights system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups might say the same. They’d like to see any extra water coming down the San Joaquin earmarked for endangered species in the Delta itself, instead of being diverted away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s huge for not just the San Joaquin River, but for the entire Delta,” says Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-914718\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2.jpg\" alt=\"The Banks Pumping plant draws water out of the Delta and sends it hundreds of miles south.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-400x222.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-800x444.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-768x426.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-1440x800.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-1180x655.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-960x533.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-672x372.jpg 672w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Banks2-1038x576.jpg 1038w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Banks Pumping Plant draws water out of the Delta and sends it hundreds of miles south. \u003ccite>(California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What About San Francisco?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it’s far from city limits, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir high in the Sierra Nevada supplies water to San Francisco and more than a million people in the Bay Area. The Hetch Hetchy water system taps into the Tuolumne River, which joins with the San Joaquin River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years ago, the water board decided that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) would be excluded from its plan for San Joaquin River flows, even though the other water users on the same tributary, Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts, are included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, it’s looking like that decision has reversed and the city could be told to share its water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a risk,” says Steve Ritchie, Assistant General Manager at SFPUC. “There’s no doubt about that. Hopefully we would minimize the effect on San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFPUC has more junior water rights than Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts, which means it would be first in line to give up water. Ritchie says the city would make the case that the water is necessary for health and human safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Other Appeals for Leeway\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other San Joaquin River water districts with senior rights, on the three tributaries that feed the river, are hoping to escape water cutbacks through habitat restoration for salmon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be making more habitat that breeds more fish,” says Knell of Oakdale Irrigation District. “We should focus on habitat improvement and widening our rivers out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several districts are arguing that they deserve more time to bring salmon populations back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to see the salmon numbers come up,” says Wenger of Modesto Irrigation District. “If we’re not hitting them, then we’ll deal with flow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_914724\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-914724\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2.jpg\" alt=\"A dry channel of the San Joaquin River.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/SJR2-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dry channel of the San Joaquin River. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>No matter what the water board ultimately decides, its likely go the way that most controversial water decisions in the state go: to a judge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can bet it’s going to end up in court, if it’s a one-size-fits-all solution,” says Wenger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fate of the Tunnels \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that wasn’t enough, the water board’s decision on water Delta flow could also determine the fate of Governor Jerry Brown’s headline water project: the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/07/25/about-that-17-billion-water-project-delta-tunnels-101/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$17 billion Delta water tunnels\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Brown Administration says the tunnels, dubbed California WaterFix, would relieve some of the problems at the Delta water pumps. The idea is that the tunnels would draw water from elsewhere in the Delta, so the pumps would be used less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts from the Bay Area to Los Angeles that receive that water would be responsible for the tunnels’ hefty price tag. But many want guarantees that they’ll receive more water than they do today. Otherwise, the project is too expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the water board requires more water to flow out of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers in order to restore the ecosystem, the Delta tunnels would have to follow those rules, likely meaning that less water would be delivered to the water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that’s the case, the water board could deliver a lethal blow to the Delta tunnels.\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>In a few weeks, water board staff will release a new recommendation for unimpaired flow on the San Joaquin River. The board expects to vote on it later this year or early next year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/914603/the-biggest-california-water-decision-youve-never-heard-of","authors":["239"],"series":["science_87"],"categories":["science_35","science_40","science_98"],"tags":["science_392","science_202","science_572","science_261","science_247","science_201"],"featImg":"science_914702","label":"science_87"}},"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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You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn","officialWebsiteLink":"/mindshift/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"}},"morning-edition":{"id":"morning-edition","title":"Morning Edition","info":"\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. 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On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"On Our Watch from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/onourwatch","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"1"},"link":"/podcasts/onourwatch","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"}},"on-the-media":{"id":"on-the-media","title":"On The Media","info":"Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. 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