• Broad Coalition Says Hit the Brakes on Centennial Dam

    CSPA has joined a broad coalition in recommending that the Army Corps of Engineers delay work on an Environmental Impact Statement for Centennial Dam, proposed for construction by Nevada Irrigation District on the Bear River near Colfax.  A Comment Letter submitted on April 10, 2017 under the banner of the Foothills Water Network is also…

  • Chris Shutes Named “Restorationist of the Year”

    The Salmonid Restoration Federation (https://www.calsalmon.org/) named Chris Shutes – me – “Restorationist of the Year” on the concluding day of its 2017 annual conference in Davis.  It is recognition that I did not expect and that I value very greatly. The awards banquet was held last Saturday, April 1, 2017.  The award was not an…

  • CSPA Comments on San Joaquin River Flow and Salinity

    CSPA filed extensive comments March 17, 2017 on the State Water Board’s plan for improving flows in the lower San Joaquin River and for allowing more salinity in the southern Delta during the growing season. CSPA supports the Board’s approach of requiring the release of a percent of unimpaired flow in February-June in the Stanislaus,…

  • 180,000 People out of their Homes: Oroville Spillway Was Someone Else’s Problem

    In 2005, Ron Stork of Friends of the River warned in a Motion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that the “ungated, unarmored spillway” at Oroville Dam needed to be made into a real spillway with real concrete.  The term “spillway” is generous.  It’s a concrete wall with the top of a huge reservoir…

  • PG&E Withdraws License Application on Butte Creek: Future of Spring-Run Salmon Uncertain

    By Chris Shutes (CSPA) and Dave Steindorf (American Whitewater) In a surprise move, PG&E announced on February 2, 2017 that it was withdrawing its application to relicense the DeSabla – Centerville Hydroelectric Project on Butte Creek and the West Branch Feather River.  The reach of Butte Creek affected by the Project is home to the…