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Larry Dennis, Conservation Chairman

Fishing proposal voted down

By Todd R. Hansen

Corning Observer

Feb. 7, 2012

North State officials are warning about the dangers of a proposed San Joaquin Delta restoration plan, and a Colusa outdoors shop owner believes an attempt to change striped bass fishing regulations was a carefully disguised attempt to get more water, too.

The state Fish & Game Commission last week voted down a proposal that would have allowed fishermen to catch three time more stripers each outing, and reduced the size of keepers from 18 inches to 12.

Pat Kittle, owner of Kittle's Outdoor & Sports, said had the regulations changed, his business would have benefited.

"In the short term, business would boon," Kittle said. "I would have made money."

However, like most of the sport fishermen who attended the Commission meeting, he opposed the changes because of the negative, long-term impact on the bass population.

But that was the idea.

The proposal was introduced by the stated Department of Fish and Game as part of a settlement agreement resulting from a 2008 lawsuit.

The state agreed, as part of the settlement, to introduce the new regulations. The outcome was not tied to the settlement, a department spokeswoman said.

In that lawsuit, the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, a group of mostly San Joaquin water districts, claimed the non-native striped bass are harming native species, including endangered salmon and Delta smelt.

"There is growing scientific consensus that predation is as a major source of salmon and Delta smelt mortality, but state regulators have repeatedly failed to address the problem of striped bass predation on these species," the Coalition states on its website.

"Striped bass are an invasive species that were planted in California as a sportfish. The Department of Fish and Game has long been protecting the voracious predators at the expense of salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, and other endangered species through the imposition of size (18 inches minimum) and bag (2 per day) limits."

The regulations would have set the daily limit at six fish instead of two, and in some areas, such as the Clifton Court Forebay, 20 per day.

The Commission unanimously voted the proposal down.

Kittle said he attended the meeting because of his concern over the potential impact on striper fishery, but left believing the issue was more about water than fish.

His opinion changed when he realized it was large Central Valley water districts and other San Joaquin users who were behind the proposal.

"We all know water is the issue, and when you look back at the Owens Valley and all the tricks that were used then are coming back right before out eyes," Kittle said.

It is a similar concern Glenn County Supervisor Leigh McDaniel has about the Delta Stewardship Council plan, which he said would drain North State reservoirs and possibly even threaten groundwater supplies.

McDaniel said allowing flows of 75 percent or higher out of the Sacramento Valley, as proposed by the council, would essentially eliminate most water storage in this region, and said the concept of allowing natural flows in the Delta is an "extremely narrow vision."

He convinced the county to send a letter expressing the kind of negative impacts the plan would have on the North State water supply.

McDaniel said comments and concerns expressed by North State counties and water interests seem to have been ignored during the environmental impact process, and that the Stewardship Council seems "hard bent on going forward with the EIR on its (plan)."

The supervisors concluded that the plan does not consider the effect on areas upstream of the Delta and "the role these upstream environments play for a healthy and economically viable California."

The supervisors also said the "aggressive timeline" for implementing the plan by June 20, 2014, and June 2018, can only result in "additional depletion of regional groundwater resources and significantly reduce storage in the Shasta and Oroville reservoirs — in addition to causing negative economic and social impacts to the rural communities of the Northern Sacramento Valley."

Calls to the Stewardship Council were not returned.



 

The reckoning: A looming decision on endangered salmon will set the stage for momentous battles over the future

By Paul VanDevelder, Oregonian Op-ed
February 12, 2011

Sometime this spring, a federal district court judge in Portland will render a decision based on the federal Endangered Species Act that will determine the fate of two dozen endangered salmon stocks that spawn in rivers from Sacramento to British Columbia. Just another ho-hum environmental lawsuit? Don't bet on it.

Judge James A. Redden's decision promises to be as momentous as any court-ordered environmental remedy in our lifetimes, the Dred Scott of environmental law. Of the many battles waged in the wake of the Endangered Species Act, no other beast, fish or fowl has created a more politically charged -- or more expensive -- fight than West Coast salmon. 

(read more of the article)

Crashing the Principals' Office

By Brett Baker (10/11/10)

Over the past several weeks, the media has reported on "secret meetings" being held behind closed doors to set the course for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. (read the article).

FDA poised to OK modified salmon
Santa Rosa Press Democrat-9/7/10
By Lyndsey Layton (Washington Post)

The Food and Drug Administration is poised to approve the first genetically modified animal for human consumption, a highly anticipated decision that is stirring controversy and could mark a turning point in the way American food is produced.  (read the article)
 

 
Delta talks going on in private
Contra Costa Times-9/8/10
By Mike Taugher

After three years of intense talks aimed at solving California's water problems, key people have quietly gone behind closed doors to negotiate an agreement in the months before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves office, Bay Area News Group has learned.
At stake is the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, already $100 million over budget and far from its goal of completion by the end of the year. (read the article)

Massive and tasty, the white sturgeon's numbers are dwindling in the Delta
Lodi News-Sentinel-8-24-10
By Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato
The wardens carry guns, their chests bulging a bit more than normal, a telltale sign of the snug bullet-proof vests they wear beneath their regulation khaki shirts. There are eight of them, all dressed in green cargo pants and heavy boots. One carries a search warrant. (read the article)

Asian carp the new bullies of America's waterways
San Luis Obispo Tribune-9/1/10
By Lee Hill Kavavaugh
Cold-blooded. Spawning faster than rabbits. Leaping boats in a single swish. (read the article)

Water management shake-up urged by Little Hoover panel
Sacramento Bee-8/27/10
By Matt Weiser
The state's Little Hoover Commission on Thursday proposed a shake-up in how California manages its water, calling today's "confusing water governance" ineffective for both water efficiency and environmental protection. (read the article)

Agriculture statistics fill the glass half way
Visalia Times Delta-8-23-10
By Don Curlee
Crop reports for 2009 from the leading agricultural counties in California challenge readers to decide whether the farming glass is half full or half empty. (read the article)

Recycling Land for Green Energy Ideas

By TODD WOODY
New York Times
August 11, 2010

LEMOORE, Calif. — Thousands of acres of farmland here in the San Joaquin Valley have been removed from agricultural production, largely because the once fertile land is contaminated by salt buildup from years of irrigation. (read the article)

 NOAA approves reform of West Coast fish harvest
S.F. Chronicle-8/10/10
By Phuong Le (Associated Press)

NOAA's Fisheries Service on Tuesday approved a new approach to managing the harvest of certain West Coast fish that it says will lessen competition among fishermen and reduce overfishing. (read the article)

Legislature delays water bond to 2012 ballot
S.F. Chronicle-8/10/10
By Wyatt Buchanan

The California Legislature voted Monday night to pull the $11 billion water bond from November's ballot and delay it for two years, a move that came as backers of the proposal became increasingly concerned about its prospects at the polls.(read the article)

Delta water users dismiss call for steep cutbacks
Contra Costa Time-8/3/10
By Mike Taugher

A powerful state board on Tuesday for the first time adopted criteria defining how much water must flow through the Delta to the Bay to maintain a healthy ecosystem. (read the article)

State report's recipe for a restored delta: More water
S.F. Chronicle-7/27/10
By Zeke Grader
Opinion
Experience has taught me to live by the old Russian proverb, "Hope for the best but expect the worst." This is a particularly sound strategy for politics, where ideal outcomes are seldom realized. (read the article)

Salmon's sad state: Short season highlights fishery's woes
Santa Rosa Press Democrat-7/10/10
By Jeremy Hay
Commercial fishermen plying North Coast waters for salmon this weekend are, with the rare exception, hauling in nothing but disappointment. (read the article)

River's origins flow right past us
Sacramento Bee-7/12/10
By Gary C. Reed
Editorial

Water flowed from the base of the hill at a surprising rate, not the trickle or burble you would expect from a spring. A train rumbled by up the hill, and after it had passed, a churchlike calm settled on the shady grotto. (read the article)
 

The false promise of Hoover Dam
Sacramento Bee-7/7/10
By Michael Hiltzik (L.A.Times)

The most striking sight greeting visitors to the Colorado River gorge known as Black Canyon used to be the great wedge of alabaster concrete spanning the canyon wall to wall. (read the article)

What's next for the water bond?
By Dan Walters
The Fresnobee, 7-5-10

It appears certain that the $11.1 billion water bond, the centerpiece of a historic water policy agreement championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will be removed from the November ballot. (read the article)

 
Schwarzenegger calls for $11 billion water bond to be pulled from November ballot
San Jose Mercury News-6/29/10
By Mike Taugher and Paul Roger

In a stunning development, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday he would attempt to pull an $11.1 billion water bond off the November ballot and instead ask for voter approval two years from now. (read the article)

Shasta River's salvation becomes group's mission
Redding record Searchlight-6/19/10
By John Spencer
Opinion
One would think the Shasta River for all logical purposes would flow into Lake Shasta. Sorry, not anywhere near Lake Shasta does it flow.  (read the article)
 

Steelhead trout, salmon closer to Alameda Creek return
Oakland Tribune-6/24/10
By Matthew Artz
It will still be a few years before steelhead trout and salmon once again can swim upstream and spawn in the Alameda Creek watershed, but one major barrier to their return has been removed. (read the article)

 

DFG working through fish plant reports
Redding Record-Searchlight-6/22/10
By Dylan Darling
State biologists gauging the environmental impact of hatchery-raised trout have approved stocking all 60 of the north state lakes, rivers and creeks they've examined.
Those include Lake Shasta, Trinity Lake and Eagle Lake.   (read the article)


Bill seeks to strike clause from water bond
S.F. Chronicle-6/19/10
By Wyatt Buchanan
Lawmakers backing November's $11 billion water bond proposition are seeking to strike a provision that would allow private corporations to own, operate and profit from dams and other water storage projects built with taxpayer dollars, a little-noticed clause that was the subject of a Chronicle report.  (read the article)


Former Bush officials find work with leading player in state water wars
Contra Costa Times - 5/11/10
By Mike Taugher
A former Bush administration official whose tenure was marked by systematic attempts to weaken endangered species protections has gone to work for a powerful California farm district that has the same aim in the Delta.  (read the article)


Lawsuit seeks return of millions for failed Delta protection plan _Contra Costa Times-6/3/10 _By Mike Taugher __
A coalition of Delta farmers and environmentalists sued Thursday to recoup millions of dollars in taxpayer money they contend was paid illegally to Kern County landowners who sold water to a failed Delta environmental protection program.

(read the article)


Supervisors talk dam removal at meeting
Siskiyou Daily News-5/12/10
By Mike Slizewski "Suppose British Petroleum came to Siskiyou County and said, 'Don't worry, we'll do it right.' Do you think this will be any different?" Siskiyou County Dist. 1 Supervisor Jim Cook asked fellow board members and others in attendance at Tuesday's BOS meeting.  (read the article)


Firm hired to write plan for Delta
Stockton Record-5/2/10
By Alex Breitler
Construction consulting firm CH2M Hill has been awarded a $9.5 million contract to write a comprehensive Delta plan that may include a peripheral canal or tunnel.  (read the article)


State officials delay decision on salmon fishing in Sacramento Valley rivers
Sacramento Bee-4/21/10
By Matt WeiserState wildlife officials on Wednesday delayed reopening recreational salmon fishing in Sacramento Valley rivers, saying they needed more time to consider the options. (read the article)


Can California fix the Delta before disaster strikes?
UC Berkeley News-4/20/10
By Sarah Yang
When visiting Sherman Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, it is easy to forget the region's ever-present threat of catastrophic floods and instead revel in the West Coast's largest estuary, which supports farmers, anglers, and more than 700 native species of plants and animals, including some that are endangered. (read the article)




 

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