SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As the salmon fishing closure in California’s ocean waters and rivers continues, the Bureau of Reclamation announced it will hold a quarterly public meeting on Sept. 12, 2023, (today) between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 pm.
The meeting is scheduled to provide an update on the development of the Biological Assessment and Environmental Impact Statement for the 2021 Reinitiation of Consultation on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project.
The meeting is pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act.
“Development of the biological assessment is required by the federal Endangered Species Act as part of the Reinitation of Consultation on the Long-Term Operation of the CVP and SWP. The assessment evaluates potential effects of operating the CVP and SWP on federally listed species and proposed species, as well as designated and proposed critical habitat,” Reclamation announced.
The meeting will be held virtually on Microsoft Teams. For meeting materials, including the link to the meeting, please see www.usbr.gov/mp/bdo.
The meeting takes place as Sacramento and Klamath River fall run Chinook salmon stocks have plunged to abysmally low levels, due to federal and state policies that favor water diversions and exports to agribusiness corporations over providing the needed cold water for salmon and other fish species to survive and thrive.
Meanwhile, the state and federal governments have helped engineer the collapse of ESA-protected Sacramento winter-run Chinook and spring-run Chinook salmon though their poor management of river flows and dam operations during a record drought, according to salmon advocates.
Likewise, under the current water and fishery management regimes the Delta smelt, once the most abundance fish species in the entire Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, has become virtually extinct in the wild. No Delta smelt have been found in the last five years of Fall Midwater Trawl surveys by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW): www.dailykos.com/...