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 →
CSPA, Friends of the River, North Coast River Alliance, Save the American River and the Winnemen Wintu Tribe filed a lawsuit against Westlands Water District (and its two water distribution districts) over the renewal of six interim Central Valley Project (CVP) water service contracts. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is named as a Real Party in Interest. The action, filed 25 August 2011, concerns six contracts providing up to over one million acre feet of water annually from the Delta. CVP water exports are a principle reason for the decline of Delta fisheries. Continue reading →
On 25 August 2011, CSPA and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics sent a Notice of Intent to Sue the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Inc., for violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at numerous corporation yards and service centers located throughout Northern California. Continue reading →
On 24 August 2011, CSPA sent a Notice of Intent to USA Waste of California, Inc., dba, Waste Management of Nevada County, for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The notice letter alleges that the 3-acre waste recycling, storage and transfer facility is illegally discharging polluted stormwater in violation of the substantive and procedural requirements of the General Industrial Stormwater Permit into Wolf Creek, which flows into the Bear River and thence the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Continue reading →
CSPA technical staff has reviewed water quality monitoring data collected by the Battle Creek Alliance and finds evidence of adverse changes in water quality conditions attributable to clean-cutting activities, and numerous and continuing exceedances of the turbidity water quality standards in the Regional Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan). Sediment discharged from Sierra Pacific Industries massive clear cutting operations in the Battle Creek Watershed threatens the downstream $128 million Battle Creek Restoration Project. The report has been sent to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board). CSPA and Battle Creek Alliance requested that the Regional Board conduct an investigation and require that Sierra Pacific Industries implement a comprehensive instream-monitoring program. Continue reading →
Anyone wondering how California waterways became so polluted should examine the Saga of Deer Creek. In 2008, CSPA submitted comments to the Regional Water Board contending that the proposed waste discharge permit for El Dorado Irrigation District’s Deer Creek wastewater treatment plant was deficient, non-protective of fisheries and violated federal regulations. The Regional Board brushed aside CSPA concerns and adopted the permit. CSPA appealed to the State Water Board, who declined to hear the appeal. CSPA sued the Regional Board and prevailed.
In March 2011, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley issued a writ of mandate directing the Regional Board to revise the permit, within 120 days, in accordance with his order and to reimburse CSPA for its costs of bringing suit. The Regional Board readopted the permit in July but blatantly defied the judge’s order by employing the same previously disapproved procedures. CSPA has brought the matter back to court and a hearing is scheduled for December. Meanwhile, Deer Creek trout continue to suffer from a Schwarzenegger-appointed water board that is more interested in protecting polluters than protecting the environment. Memorandum to the Court
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) joined a coalition of fishing organizations opposing Congressman Devin Nunes’ H.R. 1837, the so-called San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act. The proposed bill would devastate efforts to restore California’s degraded salmonid fisheries by gutting essential provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, eliminating crucial requirements in the federal Endangered Species Act and essentially voiding the historic San Joaquin River Settlement Agreement. Coalition H.R.1837 Letter
On 12 August 2011, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) and AquAlliance formally responded to comments from the Department of Water Resources regarding the group’s protests of DWR’s petition to the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) requesting a time extension to put its State Water Project water rights to full beneficial use. The letter stated that granting DWR’s petition would be contrary to law, not serve the public interest and have adverse environmental impacts. Consequently, the protests remain unresolved and need to be addressed by the State Board. CSPA, C-WIN, AquAlliance Letter
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and a coalition of fishing and environmental organizations sent an 11 August 2001 joint letter vigorously opposing efforts to reduce monitoring of selenium and other contaminates discharged from the Grasslands Bypass Project. Earlier this year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that it would no longer conduct water quality monitoring at 12 sites. The discharge of these contaminates threaten populations of salmon and steelhead in the San Joaquin River, as well as waterfowl and wildlife in the area’s state and federal wildlife refuges. Selenium concentrations in the San Joaquin River frequently exceed levels toxic to juvenile salmon. The coalition urged an increase, not a decrease in monitoring. Coalition Letter
On 10 August 2011, CSPA settled a lawsuit against Butte County’s Neal Road Landfill and Recycling Facility for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The 187-acre landfill in Chico is used to dispose of municipal solid and industrial waste and discharges pollutants to Butte Creek, which drains to the Sacramento River and ultimately to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Continue reading →
On 5 August 2011, CSPA sent Notices of Intent to Sue five 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 →
PG&E operators on the North Fork Feather River have destroyed virtually all of 2011’s viable frog eggs on the NF Feather River below the Poe hydroelectric dam.
On June 30, 2011, PG&E operators reduced the flow in the NF Feather below Poe Dam to about 114 cubic feet per second (cfs). In the last half of June, flows on the Poe reach had been reaching daily highs of about 2000 cfs. During June, foothill yellow-legged frogs had bred and deposited eggs in the river. When PG&E operators dropped the flows on June 30, the frog egg masses were stranded out of the water, destroying any chance for the eggs to become tadpoles. Continue reading →
CSPA joined Clean Water Action, Food & Water Watch and Community Water Center in submitting comments on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board’s proposed monitoring plan for dairies. Pollutants discharged by milk cow dairies have impaired groundwater throughout the Central Valley. In some areas of the Central Valley, more than 20% of small public water systems are unable to supply safe drinking water. The proposed monitoring plan fails to provide the critical information necessary to determine compliance with waste discharge permits issued to dairies by the Regional Board.
CSPA has joined 280 national, regional, state and local organizations around the country in opposing the so-called Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011 (H.R. 2018), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives without any legislative hearings. This “dirty water bill” would strip away long-standing protections provided by the Clean Water Act by preventing the Environmental Protection Agency from ensuring adequate water quality standards to public health and the environment.
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and a coalition of fishing and environmental organizations submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urging the agencies to finalize the proposed Guidance Regarding Identification of Water Protected by the Clean Water Act and undertake a formal rulemaking process. The proposed Guidance is a science-based approach that will eliminate much of the present confusion over which waters of the United States are protected under the Clean Water Act.
On 19 July 2011, CSPA settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit against International Paper Company’s West Sacramento recycling facility regarding serious violations of the California General Industrial Stormwater Permit. The facility is a 5-acre paper and scrap materials recycling operation that discharges polluted stormwater to the Eastern Canal of the Sacramento River and Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. Continue reading →
On 19 July 2011, CSPA settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Siemens Water Technologies Corporation’s Red Bluff solid waste combustion facility regarding serious violations of the California General Industrial Stormwater Permit. The 22-acre facility receives, stores and/or disposes of industrial and hazardous wastes and discharges polluted stormwater to unnamed drainages that flow into the Sacramento River and ultimately the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. Continue reading →
Round two of the campaign to stop a raise of Pardee Dam has begun. In Jackson (Amador County) last night, CSPA presented scoping comments and accompanying photos, asking the East Bay Municipal Utilities District to remove the dam raise from its alternatives for managing its long term dry year water supply needs.
Continue reading →
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) have appealed the extension of the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP) Waiver and the ILRP Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR) adopted by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) to the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board). The “waiver” exempts irrigated agriculture from having to obtain Waste Discharge Requirements for pollutant discharges to surface and ground waters. The Regional Board again extended the waiver for two years at its 9 June 2011 meeting. The 11 July 2011 appeal alleges that the Regional Board egregiously violated numerous laws and regulations, including: the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Porter-Cologne) and California’s Non-point Source Control and Antidegradation Policies.
CSPA/C-WIN also sent a 12 July 2011 letter to the State Board informing them that if it fails to take immediate action to consider the appeal within ten days, the groups intend seek a writ of mandate from the Superior Court to compel compliance with the California Administrative Code. The State Board has a history of stalling and delaying consideration of appeals brought before it. The administrative appeal is a necessary precursor to litigation. Press Release Petition for Review State Board Letter Fact Sheet ILRP
The horrific counts of pelagic and anadromous fish “consumed” by the predator water export pumping facilities continue unabated. As of 11 June 2011, 8,830,515 splittail, 246,833 striped bass, 33,822 large mouth bass, 35,435 salmon, 60,822 bluegill, 50, 634 white catfish, 17,514 channel catfish, 44,011 threadfin shad, 65,763 American shad and 1,614 steelhead had been documented by the Department of Fish and Game as “salvaged” by the State Water Project and Central Valley Project export facilities this year. And these “salvage” numbers represent only the tip of the iceberg. Continue reading →
