Sacramento — As salmon populations move closer and closer to extinction and the Delta Smelt has become functionally extinct in the wild, a diverse coalition of California tribes, nonprofits, environmental organizations, and commercial fishing groups filed a protest with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), calling for the denial of the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) Change in Point of Diversion (CPOD) Petition.
The coalition filing the protest against the Delta Tunnel includes the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Little Manila Rising, Restore the Delta, California Indian Environmental Alliance, Golden State Salmon Association, Institute for Fisheries’ Resources, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and San Francisco Baykeeper.
“We protest the Petition based on the public interest, environmental considerations, the public trust, and other issues, including that the Proposed Project is contrary to law,” the protest states.
The groups explained the reasons behind the protest:
“For sixty years, California politicians have proposed to divert water from the Bay-Delta and pump, tunnel, or transport it for other uses in other places throughout the state. And for sixty years, the science has demonstrated that such plans will harm fish and wildlife, communities, and people.
“The current Delta Conveyance Project (“DCP,” “Tunnel,” or “Project”) proposal is no different. Pushed forward by politicians in plain contravention of the best available science, the continued drive to take more and more from the Delta—more of its water, more of its history, more of its culture—must be rejected by the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board” or “Board”), so that the fate of Tribes, communities, and ecosystems are not left to the whims of political power brokers.
“The Board should deny the Petition because it is unlawful and not in the public interest. The Project would cause unreasonable impacts to water quality and to fish and wildlife in the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (“Bay-Delta”) estuary, significant harm to the Bay-Delta environment, irreparable injury to tribal cultural resources and tribal beneficial uses, damage to public trust resources, further injury to already impacted coastal and inland fisheries, and a host of unacceptable adverse impacts to Delta Tribes and communities. It is also effectively a new water right application, as DWR has lost any entitlement to divert in the amount contemplated for the DCP under its 1972 permits. And it injures legal users of water, including unadjudicated reserved rights of Tribes.
The Protestors represent a diverse range of interests, from sovereign Tribes to a host of non-profit organizations representing environmental justice, environmental, fishing, and other public interests. The Bay-Delta ecosystem and the people and wildlife that live with and depend on it will be irreversibly harmed by construction and operation of the Tunnel; indeed, the impacts of the Tunnel that will be felt throughout the state and for all time. The Water Board should reject the Application.”
Representatives of the coalition commented on the submission of the petition:
“Despite Tribe after Tribe, Citizen after Citizen, Organization after Organization and Agency after Agency telling DWR and Governor Newsom that the Delta Conveyance Project (Delta Tunnel) will hurt the environment, the Delta, and endangered fish species, they still want to spend your $16 billion dollars to build it,” said Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison for Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “Who is running this State anyways, the People or them?”
Jesse Galvan, THPO Coordinator, Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, voiced his Tribe’s opposition to the Delta Conveyance Project petition:
“The Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians values their cultural heritage and traditional ceremonies,” argued Galvan. “However, mismanagement of water resources and lack of understanding of traditions threaten their cultural resources. Waterways are vital for their spiritual practices, fishing, hunting, and agriculture. It’s crucial to protect water resources to ensure the continuation of Native American cultural practices and the survival of their communities.”
Vice Chair Malissa Tayaba, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, said, “The Water Board must reject DWR’s newest scheme to divert more water from our Bay-Delta ecosystem. The injurious impacts of mismanagement in the Bay-Delta can no longer be endured by Tribes and Delta communities.”
Gloria E. Alonso Cruz, Environmental Justice Advocacy Coordinator, Little Manila Rising, also slammed DWR’ for “neglecting the foreseen climate needs of recognized Disadvantages communities.”
“The Delta Conveyance Project is a large-scale water diversion infrastructure that neglects the foreseen climate needs of recognized Disadvantaged Communities (DACs),” noted Cruz. “These communities are interconnected by the waterways. The Project has failed to recognize this adequately, nor has it established long-overdue protections before proposing the project. Healthy ecosystems are necessary to cultivate healthy and thriving communities in California’s largest estuary.”
Scott Artis, Executive Director, Golden State Salmon Association, discussed the impact the Delta Tunnel would have on already imperiled salmon populations.
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day when the proposed solution to the state’s fourth salmon season closure is the ultimate salmon repellent – the Delta Tunnel project. Because what better way to address declining salmon populations than by draining their homes? Bravo, Governor, for turning healthy rivers and estuaries into a punchline that harms tens of thousands of families, businesses and employees across California and Oregon,” said Artis.
Cintia Cortez, Policy Analyst, Restore the Delta, noted that “marginalized urban Delta communities that are most vulnerable to impacts from degraded waterways will be disproportionately affected by the planning, construction, and operation of the Delta Conveyance Project. The Delta currently experiences toxic blooms in summer, dying fisheries, and prevents communities from safely accessing recreation areas. The Delta Conveyance threatens community-led efforts intended to restore communities’ connection to the Delta waterways.”
“For sixty years, California politicians have plotted to divert more of the Sacramento River’s flow to industrial agriculture and distant cities before that fresh water reaches the Delta and San Francisco Bay,” said Jon Rosenfield, Science Director, SF Baykeeper: And for sixty years, science has demonstrated that such a diversion would devastate fisheries, wildlife, water quality, and the communities that depend on the services provided by flowing rivers. Governor Newsom’s Delta Tunnel is not a new idea, and it’s not a climate adaptation, it’s just the latest version of a plain old water grab.”
Finally, Lisa Damrosch, Executive Director- PCFFA and Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR), underscored the devastating impact the conveyance project will have on the already hammered fishing industry.
“For generations, California’s commercial fishermen have been stewards of our oceans, harvesting sustainable, local salmon to nourish our communities,” said Damrosch. “The Delta Conveyance project threatens this heritage, diverting vital water, imperiling salmon populations, and jeopardizing a crucial food source and the future of California’s coastal economies. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) staunchly opposes actions that disregard best available science and neglect to acknowledge the profound consequences of altering our waterways, which will impact both wildlife and human life for generations to come.”
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, AquAlliance, and the San Joaquin Audubon Society filed a protest on May 13, 2024 opposing the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR’s) petition to change its water rights, according to Chris Shutes, CSPA Executive Director. He said the change in water rights would allow DWR to construct and operate a proposed tunnel under the eastern side of the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta estuary: calsport.org/...
“If constructed and operated, the tunnel would divert and move massive amounts of Sacramento River water to the San Joaquin Valley and southern California each year,” said Shutes. “The tunnel would harm fish, birds, and land animals. It would worsen water quality in the Delta and San Francisco Bay.”
The California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) also filed a protest to the State Water Resources Control Board confirming the Newsom Administration’s Delta Conveyance Project (DCP)—a massive and costly water tunnel—“ignores the public interest, violates the law, would hurt ratepayers and damage the environment.”
“It is time for the State Water Board to end the illegal and preferential treatment of DWR’s expired water rights,” Roger Moore, C-WIN’s lead attorney, stated. “There cannot be a fair hearing without fulfilling the state's duties to protect ratepayers, communities, and the environment."
Max Gomberg, C-WIN’s Senior Policy Consultant, stated: “The State Water Board should reflect on its institutional legacy and put this zombie project to rest once and for all.”
Background: CA salmon, Delta fish populations are in worst-ever crisis as pumps keep exporting water to Big Ag
Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are in their worst-ever crisis ever as California Governor Newsom forges ahead with the Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir projects and the Big Ag voluntary agreements while fish populations get closer and closer to extinction.
California salmon fishing was closed in 2023 and will be closed this year also. The 2024 stock abundance forecast for Sacramento River Fall Chinook, often the most abundant stock in the ocean fishery, is only 213,600 adults. The return to Coleman Fish Hatchery was an absolute disaster. Meanwhile, abundance of Klamath River Fall Chinook is forecast at 180,700 adults.
Endangered Sacramento River spring and winter-run Chinook also continue their march towards extinction. The spawning escapement of Sacramento River Spring Chinooks (SRSC) in 2023 totaled 1,479 fish (jacks and adults), with an estimated return of 106 to upper Sacramento River tributaries and the remaining 1,391 fish returning to the Feather River Hatchery: www.pcouncil.org/...
The return to Butte Creek of just 100 fish was the lowest ever. In 2021, an estimated 19,773 out of the more than 21,580 fish total that returned to spawn in the Butte County stream perished before spawning.
Nor did the winter run, listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Act, do well. Spawner escapement of endangered Sacramento River Winter Chinook (SRWC) in 2023 was estimated to be 2,447 adults and 54 jacks, according to PFMC data.
A group of us, including the late conservationist and Fish Sniffer magazine publisher Hal Bonslett, successfully pushed the state and federal governments to list the winter run under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts starting in 1990-91 because we were so alarmed that the fish population had crashed to 2,000 fish.
Then in 1992 the run declined to less than 200 fish. Even after Shasta Dam was built, the winter run escapement to the Sacramento River was 117,000 in 1969!
Now we are back to approximately the same low number of winter-run Chinooks that spurred us to push for the listing of the fish as endangered under state and federal law over 30 years ago.
The State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP) Delta “death pumps” have been the biggest killers of salmon, steelhead, Sacramento splittail and other fish species in California for many decades, as I have documented in hundreds of articles in an array of publications.
In the latest episode in this outrageous saga, a coalition of fishing and conservation groups, including the Golden Gate Salmon Association, San Francisco Baykeeper and Bay Institute, urged the state and federal water agencies to “take immediate action” to stop the unauthorized killing of thousands of Chinook Salmon and Steelhead at the State and Federal water export pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta: www.dailykos.com/...
Both winter-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Central Valley winter-run Chinook Salmon is also protected under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
The coalition reported that this is the second time in 2024 the coalition has responded to an increase in killing of legally protected fish at the pumps of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project (Projects or Water Projects).
While the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has called for significant reductions in the Projects’ Delta water pumping, the California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the federal Bureau of Reclamation that own and operate the Projects ignored these recommendations and continued to export water at rates that killed thousands of imperiled fishes, the groups said.
“Indeed, over the past week, DWR and Reclamation further increased pumping – as a result, significantly increasing take of winter-run Chinook Salmon at the pumps,” the groups said in a statement. “As a result, the Water Projects have exceeded the legal limits for killing both Central Valley Steelhead and winter-run Chinook Salmon established under the ESA by NMFS.”
State Water Project pumping accounts for 80% of the water exported from the Delta at this time, according to the groups.
The annual ESA take limit for winter-run Chinook Salmon is 1,776 fish. As of March 25, 2024, an estimated 3,030winter-run had been killed at the pumps – not counting the much larger number of fish that likely died after being drawn by pumping into inhospitable parts of the Delta, the groups said.
Since December 1, 2023, an estimated 2,919 naturally spawned Central Valley Steelhead have also been killed by the Water Projects. The maximum allowable ESA Steelhead take is 1,571 as a three-year rolling average or 2,760 in any single year. The numbers show that the Water Projects are in violation of both limits.
Now we turn to Delta Smelt. Unfortunately, the mainstream media, for the most part, either refuses to report on the Delta smelt or report inaccurately on the Delta Smelt when it does report. This is from an article in the LA Times in February 2024: “Recent surveys have found decreasing numbers of Delta smelt in the wild.”
Are you kidding? Actually, for the sixth year in a row, ZERO Delta Smelt were collected in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fall Midwater Trawl (FMWT) Survey in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from September through December 2023.
Once the most abundant species in the entire estuary, the Delta Smelt has declined to the point that it has become functionally extinct in the wild. The 2 to 3 inch fish, found only in the Delta, is an “indicator species” that shows the relative health of the San Francisco Bay/Delta ecosystem.
Meanwhile, the other pelagic species collected in the survey — striped bass, Longfin Smelt, Sacramento Splittail and threadfin shad — continued their dramatic decline since 1967 when the State Water Project went into effect. Only the American shad shows a less precipitous decline.
Between 1967 and 2020, the state’s Fall Midwater Trawl abundance indices for striped bass, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, American shad, splittail and threadfin shad have declined by 99.7, 100, 99.96, 67.9, 100, and 95%, respectively, according to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
The graphs in the CDFW memo graphically illustrate how dramatic the declines in fish populations have been over the years: nrm.dfg.ca.gov/…
