Category Archives: Authors

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

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Tom Cannon, Bill Jennings and Chris Shutes

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, … Continue reading →

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California Cannot Wait for Water Quality Protections Any Longer

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Denise Zitnik

CSPA and more than 150 other environmental, fishing, environmental justice and tribal organizations have submitted two letters regarding the supposed three-year update of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. A letter to the State Water Resources Control Board urges the … Continue reading →

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CSPA Says “NO” to Privatizing the Public Trust

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Chris Shutes

Oral Comments of Chris Shutes, CSPA Water Rights Advocate, to the State Water Resources Control Board, April 5, 2016. Item 9: 2016 Operation of New Melones Reservoir on the Stanislaus River [based on notes as read; exact delivery was slightly … Continue reading →

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CSPA and Coalition Urges SWRCB to Address WaterFix’s Changing Project Description

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Denise Zitnik

On April 1, 2016, CSPA and a coalition of environmental groups submitted their second letter in two days to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), urging the SWRCB to dismiss the upcoming California WaterFix hearings. The new letter comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay Delta Conservation Plan, California Delta, Denise Zitnik | Comments Off on CSPA and Coalition Urges SWRCB to Address WaterFix’s Changing Project Description

What Caused the Impending Extinction of Delta Smelt?

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Chris Shutes

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 … Continue reading →

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CSPA Persists in Challenging the Broken Delta Tunnels Project

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Denise Zitnik

Following a petition by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) requesting to further delay the “Change in Point of Diversion” hearings, CSPA and a broad collation of environmental and water agency groups has … Continue reading →

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CSPA Formally Protests Delta Tunnels to State Water Board

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Bill Jennings

On 5 January 2016, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) filed a formal protest of the WaterFix Project petition to change the point of diversion for the State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP) WaterFix Project that was … Continue reading →

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CSPA et al. Assails Water Board’s Delta Tunnel Hearing Process

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Bill Jennings

On 24 November 2015, CSPA joined Friends of the River, Restore the Delta and the Environmental Water Caucus in sending a letter to the State Water Resources Control Board regarding the hearing process with respect to the petition by the … Continue reading →

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CSPA Comments to Army Corps on Pending Water Fix Permits

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On November 8, 2015 CSPA, CWIN, and AquAlliance submitted comments to the Army Corps of Engineers regarding the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 and River and Harbors Act (RHA) Section 10 permits recently requested for the California Water Fix … Continue reading →

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CSPA’s Submits Comments at the Conclusion of the Water Fix’s RDEIR/SDEIS Public Comment Period

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On October 30, 2015 the public comment period for the Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS for Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California WaterFix (RDEIR/SDEIS) ended. CSPA submitted comments with CWIN and AquAlliance, and in a separate effort worked closely with the Environmental … Continue reading →

Posted in Bay Delta Conservation Plan, California Delta, Denise Zitnik, Fisheries, Water Quality | 1 Comment

CSPA and Allies Defend Butte Creek Protections

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Chris Shutes

Virtually everyone agrees that PG&E’s DeSabla – Centerville Hydroelectric Project on Butte Creek and the West Branch Feather River provides important benefits to salmon. Fortunately, the ten-year-long relicensing of this project is close to completion. In the most recent process … Continue reading →

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Press Release: Governor Signs New Law to Protect Rivers and Fisheries from Gold Mining

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On October 9, 2015, CSPA and a broad coalition of environmental, fishing, and tribal groups secured a victory for fisheries in the long fight against suction dredging with the signing of Senate Bill 637. The new law requires that all … Continue reading →

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Delta Independent Science Board Finds Current Draft of “Water Fix” Environmental Documents Incomplete and Vague

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On September 30, 2015 the Delta Independent Science Board released its review of the BDCP/ Water Fix’s partially Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report and Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Overall, the Delta Independent Science Board found the document unsatisfactory for … Continue reading →

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CSPA, Environmental Water Caucus Asks Bureau of Reclamation to Comport with Reality

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On September 29, 2015, the Environmental Water Caucus, a coalition of groups including CSPA, submitted comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Coordinated Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. The EWC finds the … Continue reading →

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CSPA, Environmental Water Caucus Submit Comments on the California Water Fix

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On October 6, 2015 the Environmental Water Caucus, a coalition of groups including CSPA, submitted comments on the BDCP Delta Water Tunnels project Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS). The letter draws from previously submitted comments, including a July 2014 … Continue reading →

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Environmental Water Caucus Requests Longer Comment Period on California “Water Fix”

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On 18 September 2015, the Environmental Water Caucus, a coalition that includes CSPA, requested a 60-day extension of the public comment period on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP)/California Water Fix Partially Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS) for the … Continue reading →

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CSPA, Environmental Water Caucus ask Secretary of the Interior to Reject Delta Tunnels

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Denise Zitnik

On 16 September 2015 the Environmental Water Caucus, a coalition of groups including CSPA, submitted a letter to Sally Jewell , Secretary of the Interior, detailing the many problems of the proposed California Delta Water Tunnel Project and urging the … Continue reading →

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CSPA Files Amended Lawsuit Against State Water Board

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Bill Jennings

On 16 September 2015, attorneys for CSPA, CWIN and AquAlliance filed an amended lawsuit against the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief invalidating the SWRCB’s pattern and practice policy of weakening water quality protection standards … Continue reading →

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We Need to Get Salmon Upstream of Central Valley Rim Dams

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Chris Shutes

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Shutes, Fisheries, Hydroelectric (FERC) | Comments Off on We Need to Get Salmon Upstream of Central Valley Rim Dams

CSPA, Coalition Win Major Lawsuit Against State Over Farm Pollution

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Bill Jennings

On 10 August 2015, CSPA, the Otter Project, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water and an elderly woman who was deprived of drinking water because of agricultural pollution prevailed in an important … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Jennings, Clean Farms - Clean Water, Enforcement, Fisheries, Press Release, Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA, Coalition Win Major Lawsuit Against State Over Farm Pollution