As he continues to push the salmon-killing Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and voluntary water agreements, Governor Gavin Newsom, with no sense of irony today, announced new actions and efforts “already underway that California is taking to help restore California’s salmon populations.”
“After 10 years of rapidly intensifying drought and more extreme weather, salmon are not doing well,” according to a statement from Newsom’s Office. “Last year, with projections showing Chinook salmon population at historic lows, the salmon season was closed and the Newsom Administration requested a Federal Fishery Disaster to support impacted communities. Additionally, due to crashing salmon populations in 2023, some tribes canceled their religious and cultural harvests for the first time ever.”
On Monday, the Governor visited salmon restoration sites in Humboldt County to see how the Salmon Strategy will “support communities across the state.” The state’s Salmon Strategy specifies the six priorities and 71 actions to build “healthier, thriving salmon populations in California.”
The strategy’s six priorities call for:
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Removing barriers and modernizing infrastructure for salmon migration
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Restoring habitat
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Protecting water flows in key rivers at the right times
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Modernizing hatcheries
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Transforming technology and management systems
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Strengthening partnerships
“Salmon are an integral part of our shared history in California,” Governor Newsom said. “Some of my youngest memories were of seeing the iconic fish up close with my father when I was growing up – an experience all Californians deserve.”
“We’re doubling down to make sure this species not only adapts in the face of extreme weather but remains a fixture of California’s natural beauty and ecosystems for generations to come,” Newsom claimed.
However, critics of Newsom’s water policies weren’t impressed at all with Newsom’s “Salmon Strategy,” since these policies have brought Sacramento River winter-run and spring-run Chinook populations closer and closer to extinction, spurred the collapse of Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon populations and have resulted in the functional extinction of the once-abundant Delta smelt in the wild.
Within his plan, Restore the Delta noted that Newsom continues to push forward with the voluntary agreements, which US EPA has already expressed doubt about as a viable program for Bay-Delta water management.
Restore the Delta's executive director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said in response to the Governor's salmon plan:
"There is no salmon recovery plan without science-based river flows with set standards. The voluntary agreements will finish off Sacramento and San Joaquin River salmon runs. The Governor needs to stop with the obfuscation and decrees that appear like action and start building a comprehensive water plan that will serve river and Delta communities and Southern California water users. He has a moral obligation to protect our rivers and drinking water supplies as we face climate change."
Likewise, Delta United tweeted on X, “Nice press oppt'y, but what about salmon-killing #DeltaTunnel opposed by entire Delta region, #Tribes and environmental groups? Four #salmonrun would have to pass massive new intakes & @CA_DWR admits survival chances would be minimal: http://bit.ly/3ZVFish, pp. 10+”
The Golden State Salmon Association responded in detail to the release of Newsom’s “Salmon Strategy” today:
“Governor Newsom's new Salmon Plan is packed full of good stuff that we have been fighting to get for years. We welcome increased hatchery production and are excited to see improvements on the Feather River and other actions. The problem is that the salmon community has been poked in the eye way too many times and the plan conflicts with what the Newsom Administration has been doing for years to devastate California's most important salmon runs. So, what it potentially boils down to is conveniently timed smoke and mirrors. We will know that the Governor is serious about helping salmon communities when he finally abandons the extreme water diversion rules forced on us under the previous presidential administration. The current salmon season closure – the Newsom shutdown – was caused by the administration's irresponsible decisions during the drought. The core problem is simple. Lethal temperatures and inadequate flows are killing our largest salmon runs. If Governor Newsom wants to restore salmon, he should:
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Let the State Water Board do its job and stop supporting the scientifically baseless voluntary agreements. That exclusionary and ineffective plan has been engineered by the Newsom Administration specifically to avoid giving salmon the flow and temperature protections they need to survive. In fact, just this month, U.S. EPA wrote to the state, confirming that the VAs fail to provide the flows salmon need. The Governor has made it quite clear what he wants the State Board to do. He even fired the Board chair appointed by Governor Brown, who actually increased flow requirements.
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Stop supporting the Sites Reservoir and the Delta Tunnel projects – both of which are designed to further increase diversion from the Bay-Delta. In fact, Governor Newsom recently told Bill Maher his plan – to keep increasing diversions from the Bay-Delta system through the Delta tunnel, new surface storage and more.
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The Governor is releasing this plan now because in the coming month or two, state agencies will release disastrous salmon population numbers from the 2023 spawning season. Those numbers are the result of the Newsom salmon plan for the past 5 years. When it comes to the Newsom track record and salmon plan, mother nature has clearly voted that it’s not only failing but dramatically failing. Newsom is pushing this plan out before those results are in.
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One more thing. The Newsom plan calls for strengthening partnerships. We'd welcome that. To date, the Governor has refused to meet with the salmon fishing industry or our environmental, environmental justice and Tribal partners in the Bay-Delta to hear our concerns and our ideas. He's heard plenty from water users. Let's make sure this plan is not just another diversion like what's happening with our state's water - the very water fish, wildlife, people and cultures desperately rely on.”