Below is my brief testimony this morning to the State Water Resources Control Board in support of the emergency water management plan to save California salmon from extinction, submitted by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network and Save California Salmon.
My name is Dan Bacher, an independent investigative journalist focusing on fish, water and environmental justice for over 35 years.
I urge the water board to adopt the emergency water management plan submitted by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network and Save California Salmon in order to save California salmon from extinction.
The plan will significantly reduce salmon-killing high temperature water releases from Shasta and Trinity reservoirs. It will also protect carryover storage in the event of another dry year.
This plan will reduce Sacramento River water temperatures and significantly increase salmon survival in the following ways:
1. Limit June-through-October releases from Shasta-Keswick dams to 5,000 cfs (cubic feet per second), using Shasta’s cold-water pool to maintain Keswick releases at less than 54oF.
2. Eliminate June-through-October use of the Spring Creek power tunnel between Whiskeytown and Keswick reservoirs.
3. Maintain June-through-October flows of 300 cfs to Whiskeytown Reservoir through the Carr powerhouse, increase June-October releases to Clear Creek to 300 cfs, and increase June- October releases from Trinity-Lewiston dams to the lower Trinity River to 800-870 cfs.
“Despite excessive April-May water deliveries, Shasta Reservoir still has sufficient cold water to save the salmon. Unfortunately, the Bureau has unreasonably delivered exorbitant amounts of water to Central Valley agribusiness,” said CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings. ”The State Water Board has failed to meaningfully act to stop this unfolding disaster. The Board must limit the Bureau’s agricultural water deliveries to protect the needs of fisheries and urban areas.”
“It’s a myth that sending Trinity water to the Sacramento River helps the Sacramento winter-run Chinook,” says Tom Stokely, the co-director of Save California Salmon. “Trinity water heats up a lot as it moves through Whiskeytown Reservoir. It is a liability for Sacramento River salmon. Our plan keeps warm Trinity water out of the Sacramento River. It also conserves 50% more water in Trinity Lake. That water will help save salmon on the Trinity and lower Klamath rivers.”
I want to remind the Board that the dire drought water situation where we are in now in, when adult winter chinook are dying before spawning on the Sacramento below Keswick Dam and juvenile salmon are dying on the Klamath River, due to low and warm water conditions, has been greatly exacerbated due to poor water management by the state and federal governments over the past decade.
In 8 out of the past 10 years, the combined water exports from the state and federal water projects have exceeded the 3 million acre feet annual export figure that many believe to be the maximum amount of water that can be exported from the Delta without destroying the ecosystem and harming fish species. In every water year except two, 2014 and 2015, the state and federal projects exported well over 3 million acre feet of water from the Delta.
The 3 million acre feet cap of water exports in all years is a key recommendation of the Environmental Water Caucus (EWC) updated solutions plan titled “A Sustainable Water Plan for California.”
In fact, 2011 was the all time record export year with 6.67 million acre feet of water diverted from the Delta, followed closely behind by the 6.46 million acre feet exported in 2017. 2018 saw 4.62 million acre feet exported from the Delta, while 2019 saw 5.3 million acre feet exported and 2020 saw 3.65 million acre feet exported.
If the state doesn’t conserve enough water to maintain carryover storage so that salmon can successfully spawn and the juvenile fish can outmigrate, then we end up in the situation where fish kills are taking place right now — and where even more fish kills will take place this summer and fall unless this plan, rather than the Bureau of Reclamation temperature management plan submitted to the Water Board, is adopted.
Again, I urge the board to adopt the emergency water management plan submitted by the three groups: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/sacramento_river/
Below is today’s press release regarding the emergency water plan:
For Immediate Release
1 June 2021
For More Information and Interviews Contact:
Bill Jennings, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, 209-464-5067. deltakeep@me.com
Tom Stokely, Save California Salmon, 530-524-0315, tgstoked@gmail.com
Emergency Water Management Plan to Save California Salmon from Extinction
Fisheries Advocates Send River Plan to State Water Board to Mitigate Immediate Threat
The Sacramento River’s iconic salmon runs are in imminent danger of extinction due to drought and irrational water policy. To avert a catastrophe, fisheries advocates have submitted an emergency water management plan to the State Water Resources Control Board.
Drafted by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), the California Water Impact Network (CWIN), and Save California Salmon (SCS), the plan will significantly reduce salmon-killing high temperature water releases from Shasta and Trinity reservoirs. It will also protect carryover storage in the event of another dry year.
The crisis, building for some time, has accelerated dramatically in recent days. On May 21, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that endangered winter-run Chinook salmon were dying below Keswick Dam near Redding from releases of warm water taken from the top of Shasta Reservoir.
Salmon need cold, clean water to survive. But the water released in May by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation to supply a small number of agricultural irrigators exceeded 61º F. This water temperature was far above the 56ºF standard protective of spawning salmon and the 53.5ºF needed to protect salmon eggs. The releases occurred despite calls from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFG) and the National Marine Fisheries Service to keep river temperatures at or below 56ºF.
The situation is particularly dire because the Sacramento River’s salmon were already at the tipping point. According to the CDFW, Sacramento River mainstem winter-run, spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon (1970-1974 v. 2015-2019) have declined 91.0, 99.9 and 79.7 percent, respectively. Fall-run salmon are the largest run on the Sacramento River and the mainstay of California’s commercial and sport salmon fisheries.
CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings said, “Despite excessive April-May water deliveries, Shasta Reservoir still has sufficient cold water to save the salmon. Unfortunately, the Bureau has unreasonably delivered exorbitant amounts of water to Central Valley agribusiness. The State Water Board has failed to meaningfully act to stop this unfolding disaster. The Board must limit the Bureau’s agricultural water deliveries to protect the needs of fisheries and urban areas.”
In response, a coalition of conservationists and fishery advocates have submitted an alternative water operations plan to the State Water Resources Control Board. The plan will protect Chinook salmon spawning and rearing in the Sacramento, Trinity and lower Klamath Rivers. The plan will also maintain an extra half-million acre-feet of water in Shasta and Trinity reservoirs should next year also be dry.
“It’s a myth that sending Trinity water to the Sacramento River helps the Sacramento winter-run Chinook,” says Tom Stokely, the co-director of Save California Salmon. “Trinity water heats up a lot as it moves through Whiskeytown Reservoir. It is a liability for Sacramento River salmon. Our plan keeps warm Trinity water out of the Sacramento River. It also conserves 50% more water in Trinity Lake. That water will help save salmon on the Trinity and lower Klamath rivers.”
To review the full CSPA/CWIN/SCS Proposed Temperature Management Plan go to: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/sacramento_river/
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit conservation and research organization established in 1983 for the purpose of conserving, restoring, and enhancing the state's water quality, wildlife and fishery resources and their aquatic ecosystems and associated riparian habitats. https://calsport.org/news/
Save California Salmon is dedicated to restoring rivers through restoring flows and salmon habitat, removing dams, and improving water quality throughout Northern California. We are also dedicated to fighting new threats to our rivers such as new dams, diversions and pipelines and empowering people to fight for rivers and salmon. We are dedicated to protecting and restoring the salmon Klamath, Trinity, Sacramento, Eel, and Smith. Rivers. https://www.californiasalmon.org/
The California Water Impact Network promotes the equitable and environmental use of California's water, including instream uses, through research, planning, public education, and litigation. https://www.c-win.org