It is time to write that letter to the California State Fish and Game Commission. Why is this important? If we don’t turn back this cynical and spiteful effort by San Joaquin Valley agribusiness, we stand to lose an outstanding striped bass fishery and its Delta protecting constituency. Furthermore, leading fisheries biologists believe that the proposed regulation changes will increase the threat to listed species in the Delta.
The California Department of Fish and Game is presenting a proposal to the Commission to dramatically increase the take of striped bass in order to reduce the striped bass population. This action is the result of a legal settlement between the Department of Fish and Game and a coalition of agricultural interests who sued with allegations that the striped bass were impacting the population of endangered species in the Delta, including salmon and delta smelt.
The settlement requires the Department to present the regulation change for the Commission to approve or reject. If the Commission rejects the recommendation, the striped bass regulations will remain unchanged. Please write a reasoned and considerate letter to the Fish and Game Commission and urge them to reject the proposed regulation changes. Continue reading →
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), North Coast River Alliance, Friends of the River and the Winneman Wintu Tribe have sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), in Federal Court, over interim Central Valley Project water delivery contracts. Specifically, the lawsuit challenges the Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for eleven interim renewal contracts for water deliveries to the San Luis Unit, which includes Westlands Water District. Continue reading →
The East Bay Municipal Utilities District has thrown in the towel and will no longer pursue a plan to raise Pardee Dam. Pardee Dam, which backs up the Mokelumne River in Amador and Calaveras counties, creates Pardee Reservoir, EBMUD’s largest storage reservoir. EBMUD’s decision removes a threat to drown another two or more miles of the Mokelumne. The decision also prevents another increment of diversion that would have reduced inflow to the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta.
The decision follows a successful lawsuit filed in 2009 by CSPA, Friends of the River and the Foothill Conservancy. A favorable ruling on the case in April, 2011 compelled EBMUD to redo the Environmental Impact Report for its Water Supply Management Plan. The new EIR, released on December 6, has taken the controversial dam raise off the table until at least 2040. Continue reading →
Statement of Chris Shutes, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, on the reality of standard reopeners in hydropower licenses
Before the Study Dispute Panel, Yuba River Development Project (P-2246,Yuba County Water Agency) relicensing proceeding before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Sacramento, California, November 30, 2011. Study Dispute between National Marine Fisheries Service and FERC Office of Energy Projects
Mr. Mitchnick [senior FERC staff], I believe, said that the Commission seeks “to keep the door open.” He suggests that the standard reopener is the means to do that. However, a reopener is a completely discretionary action that FERC has almost never exercised in order to improve conditions for fish, at least in California. We have examples where there have been extreme situations where parties, including CSPA, have requested reopeners that have been denied by the Commission.
Mr. Lilly [attorney for YCWA] expressed concern about a defined trigger absent details. The problem is that there is either a defined trigger or a purely discretionary threshold that never seems to be met. Part of that discretion involves concern over procedural and regulatory requirements, such as the ESA and 401 processes, that go along with starting from scratch. The overwhelming choice by FERC to date has been to simply push the question off till relicensing.
The reopener is a procedural category that ends up being a substitute for action. We don’t think that pushing out study to inform reintroduction of anadromous fish for 30 to 50 years is consistent with the overall Federal Power Act mandate that license decisions must be in the public interest.
On 9 November 2011, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Friends of the River, Crab Boat Owners Association and retired USFWS biologist Felix Smith sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority over their failure to secure Clean Water Act permits for the discharge of massive quantities of toxic wastes to the San Joaquin River. Continue reading →
CSPA and a coalition of fishing and conservation groups have filed extensive comments on the Proposed Study Plan for the relicensing of the Don Pedro hydroelectric project on the Tuolumne River. The comments by “Conservation Groups” call for modification of many studies proposed by Turlock Irrigation District and Modesto Irrigation District. The comments also propose the addition of studies relating to downstream fisheries, and the addition of studies to examine fish passage past Don Pedro Dam and Reservoir and the Districts’ La Grange Dam just downstream. Continue reading →
On 4 October 2011, CSPA filed a lawsuit against Specialized Parts Planet, Inc. and five auto dismantling and recycling facilities it operates in Rancho Cordova California for substantive and procedural violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the state’s General Industrial Stormwater Permit. Each of the facilities discharges pollutants into the City of Rancho Cordova’s stormwater drainage system, which flows into an unnamed tributary of Morrison thence to Morrison Creek and ultimately the Sacramento River and Delta. Continue reading →
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) has joined more than 200 other environmental, environmental justice, tribal and commercial and recreational fishing organization in submitting extensive comments on the Delta Stewardship Council’s Fifth Draft Delta Plan. The coalition letter notes that the Delta Plan is seriously deficient, does little more than maintain the status quo, will not achieve the “co-equal goals of the enabling legislation, will cost the state billions of dollars more than we need to spend and does nothing to balance public trust values – one of the foundations of state water management policy. CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings characterized the plan as “little more than CalFed in another costume,” adding “CalFed’s ‘getting better together’ is now the ‘co-equal goals’ but the Council can’t bring itself to acknowledge that, in an over-appropriated watershed where protection of public trust resources require more water, someone will have to make do with less water.” Press Release follows. Continue reading →
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) has released an evaluation of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board’s (Regional Board) compliance with state and federal regulations governing the issuance of permits controlling discharges of municipal and industrial wastes to surface waters. The report finds that the Regional Board has significantly modified its procedures for developing permits and is relying upon underground regulations that have not been publically circulated and adopted pursuant to legal rule making requirements. Consequently, recent waste discharge permits issued by the Regional Board fail to comply with lawfully adopted regulations and are significantly less protective of water quality and critical beneficial uses of water, including fisheries and public health.
On 21 September 2011, CSPA and the California Water Impact Network, AquAlliance, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations, Planning and Conservation League and the Institute for Fisheries Research submitted joint comments on the Draft Program Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report on the San Joaquin River Restoration Program. Continue reading →
On 21 September 2011, CSPA settled a lawsuit against Trilore Technologies, Inc., for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The 2-acre aluminum foundry facility is used to receive, store, manufacture and transport various aluminum based products and discharges pollutants to Lone Tree Creek, which drains to the San Joaquin River and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Continue reading →
On 21 September 2011, CSPA sent Notices of Intent to Sue three auto dismantling and recycling facilities in Rancho Cordova California for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. All of the facilities are owned and operated by Specialized Parts Planet, Inc. The notice letters allege that each of the facilities is illegally discharging polluted stormwater in violation of the substantive and procedural requirements of the General Industrial Stormwater Permit into an unnamed tributary of Morrison thence to Morrison Creek and ultimately the Sacramento River and Delta. Continue reading →
On 16 September 2011, CSPA sent a Notice of Intent to Sue to M & M Recycling (dba, Specialized German Recycling) for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The notice letter alleges that the 1-acre waste dismantling and recycling facility is illegally discharging polluted stormwater in violation of the substantive and procedural requirements of the General Industrial Stormwater Permit into an unnamed tributary of Morrison Creek, which flows into the Sacramento River and thence the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Continue reading →
CSPA and a coalition of environmental organizations, including Sierra Club, Battle Creek Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Central Coast Forest Watch, Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch, Klamath Forest Alliance, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, Environment Now, Pelican Network, Foothills Conservancy, Cascade Action Now, Forests Forever and Lassen Forest Preservation Group have requested that the State Water Resources Control Board pull a controversial proposal to weaken requirements in the timber harvesting waiver from the Board’s September 19,20 meeting agenda. Runoff from timber harvesting activities has great potential to harm fisheries and water quality. Continue reading →
In June 2011, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) adopted another extension of the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program Waiver and an ILRP Program Environmental Impact Report. In July, CSPA and C-WIN appealed adoption of the Regional Board order to the State Water Resources Control Board. A coalition of agricultural interests also appealed the order. The State Board accepted the petitions, ordered preparation of the evidentiary record and offered appellants the opportunity to respond to the opposing petitions. CSPA and C-WIN responded to the agricultural coalition appeal on 14 September. The State Board will consider the matter over the coming months. Continue reading →
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), Foothill Conservancy and Friends of the River (FOR) have asked the California Department of Water Resources not to certify East Bay Municipal Utility District’s (EBMUD) Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). The 23 page 12 attachment document outlines numerous examples where EBMUD’s plan is not in conformity with explicit requirements in the Urban Water Management Planning Act and its guidelines. The letter asks DWR to require that EBMUD correct the many flaws in the plan and allow the parties to review and comment on any loan or grant requests from EBMUD. EBMUD relies upon Pardee Dam and Reservoir on the Mokelumne River for the vast majority of its water supply. Continue reading →
Responding to a CSPA Public Records Act (PRA) request, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board was forced to admit it had never conducted water quality monitoring in the Battle Creek watershed, wasn’t in possession of any data from Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) alleged monitoring program and had never ordered SPI to provide information to establish whether timber cutting is causing or contributing to violations of water quality. Battle Creek drains SPI’s massive clear cutting operations on the western slopes of Mt. Lassen. The Battle Creek Alliance has long been concerned that runoff from SPI’s operations was threatening a $128 million salmon and steelhead restoration project downstream of the timber harvest area. Continue reading →
For comment please contact: Bill Jennings, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, 209-938-9053 and/or Carolee Krieger, California Water Impact Network, 805-969-0824
After a federal study warns San Joaquin River’s toxic agricultural wastewater load too high, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation bans representatives of fishing and environmental groups from meetings of agency team tasked with monitoring toxic discharges. Groups issue joint letter to Reclamation protesting exclusion. Continue reading →
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) has provided comments on the second administrative draft of the Delta Protection Commission’s (Commission) draft economic Sustainability Plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. CSPA attended a 24 August workshop, reviewed the draft plan and submitted written comments on 2 September 2001. Continue reading →
On 31 August 2011, CSPA filed a lawsuit against A&S Metals in Modesto California for substantive and procedural violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the state’s General Industrial Stormwater Permit. The site is a metal recycling facility that discharges pollutants into the Modesto Storm Drain System, which flows into the Tuolumne River, thence the San Joaquin River and ultimately the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Continue reading →
