• Irrigation Districts Can’t See Past Killing Bass to Save Salmon

    Many San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts can’t get past the refrain on the broken record that controlling striped bass and black bass will save salmon and steelhead. They’ll do anything to avoid releasing more water from reservoirs; in many cases, killing bass is held up as the miracle cure that will allow them to release…

  • What Caused the Impending Extinction of Delta Smelt?

    CSPA’s fisheries biologist Tom Cannon gave a presentation entitled “Contributing Cause of Smelt Decline: Water Exports” at a symposium on March 29, 2016 at UC Davis. The theme of the conference, sponsored by the Delta Stewardship Council, was: “Delta and Longfin Smelt: Is Extinction Inevitable?” In his presentation, Tom put forth the hypothesis that the…

  • We Need to Get Salmon Upstream of Central Valley Rim Dams

    Since 2006, one of CSPA’s primary areas of effort has been to reintroduce salmon to historic habitat upstream of major Central Valley dams. Today, Central Valley salmon are confined to the valley floor: 5-10% of their historic habitat. In the face of climate change and inadequate flows due to political pressure, regulatory timidity, and frequent…

  • CSPA Protests State Board Approval of Sacramento Temperature Plan

    On 6 August 2015, CSPA, CWIN and AquAlliance filed a formal protest, petition for hearing and petition for reconsideration of the State Water Resources Control Boards approval of the Sacramento River Temperature Management Plan. The protest states that the weakening of temperature criteria during critical life stages of Chinook salmon does not serve the public…