Category Archives: Water Quality

CSPA Objects to Weakened Delta Water Quality without Strict Diversion Limits and a Ban on Transfers

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Chris Shutes

On April 6, 2022, CSPA and allied organizations AquAlliance and California Water Impact Network filed a protest and objection to a “Temporary Urgency Change Petition” for April-June 2022 water operations in the Delta.  The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) … Continue reading →

Posted in California Delta, Chris Shutes, Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA Objects to Weakened Delta Water Quality without Strict Diversion Limits and a Ban on Transfers

CSPA Tells Water Board: Limit Shasta Reservoir Releases and Sacramento River Deliveries in 2022 to Save Fish and Water in ’22 and ‘23

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Chris Shutes

On March 16, 2022, CSPA presented recommendations to the State Water Resources Control Board to manage the Shasta and Trinity reservoirs and the Sacramento River in 2022.  The State Water Board must act now to limit releases from Shasta Reservoir … Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Shutes, Fisheries, State Board Bay-Delta Standards, Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA Tells Water Board: Limit Shasta Reservoir Releases and Sacramento River Deliveries in 2022 to Save Fish and Water in ’22 and ‘23

CSPA & Allies File Lawsuits on Groundwater Management in Butte, Colusa & Vina Subbasins

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Cindy Charles

By Cindy Charles The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), along with AquAlliance and the California Water Impact Network, filed three separate lawsuits in February 2022 against the Butte, Colusa, and Vina subbasins’ Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). The lawsuits argue that … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA & Allies File Lawsuits on Groundwater Management in Butte, Colusa & Vina Subbasins

SF Estuary/Delta Needs Long Overdue Protections from Ballast Water Discharges

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Cindy Charles

By Cindy Charles CSPA, along with over a dozen other environmental organizations, recently signed on to a comment letter supporting limits on the discharge of ships’ ballast water into the Bay-Delta Estuary.  The letter was sent to the San Francisco … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on SF Estuary/Delta Needs Long Overdue Protections from Ballast Water Discharges

Bill Jennings Elected to California Outdoors Hall of Fame 2022

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Cindy Charles

CSPA is pleased to announce that CSPA’s Executive Director Bill Jennings has been elected to the California Outdoor Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2022. Fighting to protect fisheries and water quality for over 25 years, Bill … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on Bill Jennings Elected to California Outdoors Hall of Fame 2022

The Merry-Go-Round of Denial Must Stop – Transfer of Public Trust Water to Agriculture Is On Repeat

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Cindy Charles

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and allies AquAlliance and California Water Impact Network (CWIN), filed an objection on January 7, 2022  to yet another petition to weaken flow and salinity standards that protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  The objection urges … Continue reading →

Posted in California Delta, Water Quality | Comments Off on The Merry-Go-Round of Denial Must Stop – Transfer of Public Trust Water to Agriculture Is On Repeat

CSPA Wins Settlement to Remove Phone Cable from Tahoe; Cable Contains 63 Tons of Lead

Posted on November 13, 2021 by Cindy Charles

On November 4, 2021, CSPA won settlement of a lawsuit it filed against AT&T’s PacBell subsidiary regarding eight miles of abandoned phone cable on the bottom of Lake Tahoe. As a result of the settlement, PacBell will remove the decaying … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA Wins Settlement to Remove Phone Cable from Tahoe; Cable Contains 63 Tons of Lead

Court Ruling Finds FERC 401 Waiver Not Justified – Important Implications for California Hydropower Project Licenses

Posted on July 24, 2021 by Cindy Charles

On July 2, 2021, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued an important decision regarding Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, overturning an Order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  FERC’s Order had found that the state … Continue reading →

Posted in Cindy Charles, Hydroelectric (FERC), Water Quality | Comments Off on Court Ruling Finds FERC 401 Waiver Not Justified – Important Implications for California Hydropower Project Licenses

CSPA Protests State Water Board’s Protection of Irrigated Agriculture at the Expense of Fisheries and the Environment

Posted on June 6, 2021 by Bill Jennings

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and allies have vigorously protested two recent actions by the State Water Resources Control Board that virtually ensure a repeat of the last drought, when the Board’s disastrous decisions decimated multiple year classes of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Jennings, Enforcement, Fisheries, Miscellaneous, State Board Bay-Delta Standards, Water Quality, Water Rights | Comments Off on CSPA Protests State Water Board’s Protection of Irrigated Agriculture at the Expense of Fisheries and the Environment

CSPA & Allies Tell Biden Administration Not to Endorse Flawed Voluntary Agreements

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Cindy Charles

On May 7, 2021, CSPA joined a broad coalition of organizations in a letter urging the Biden Administration not to endorse so-called “voluntary agreements” that propose inadequate environmental requirements for the San Francisco Bay-Delta and its tributaries.   The letter was … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA & Allies Tell Biden Administration Not to Endorse Flawed Voluntary Agreements

CSPA Comments on State Water Board’s Response to Climate Change

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Cindy Charles

CSPA, the California Water Impact Network and California Water Research submitted a comment letter on March 31, 2021 to the California State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights on the Water Board’s Recommendations for an Effective Water Rights … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA Comments on State Water Board’s Response to Climate Change

CSPA Says No Again to Suction Dredging Mining

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Cindy Charles

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, along with 19 other conservation, fisheries and community organizations, submitted comments on March 5, 2021 to the California State Water Resources Control Board on a proposed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for … Continue reading →

Posted in Cindy Charles, Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA Says No Again to Suction Dredging Mining

CSPA Opposes Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts’ Petition for Waiver of Clean Water Act

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Chris Shutes

Joining a growing list, Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts (Districts) filed a Petition for Declaratory Order with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) on October 2, 2020 asking that the Commission find that the State of California has … Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Shutes, Hydroelectric (FERC), Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA Opposes Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts’ Petition for Waiver of Clean Water Act

Landmark Lawsuit Settlement Between CSPA and State Water Board to Protect Public Trust Fisheries

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Bill Jennings

On 17 July 2020, shortly before trial, CSPA and its partners, California Water Impact Network and AquAlliance, settled a contentious 2015 lawsuit against the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board).  The lawsuit alleged that the State Board had embraced … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Jennings, California Delta, Enforcement, Fisheries, State Board Bay-Delta Standards, Water Quality | Comments Off on Landmark Lawsuit Settlement Between CSPA and State Water Board to Protect Public Trust Fisheries

CSPA, Coalition Sues Interior and Westlands Over Long-Term Water Contracts

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Bill Jennings

On 8 July 2020, CSPA and a coalition of fishing organizations sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Westlands, San Luis and Panoche Water Districts in federal court over a series of interim water service … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Jennings, California Delta, Fisheries, Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA, Coalition Sues Interior and Westlands Over Long-Term Water Contracts

Here We Go Again – FERC Rapidly Issuing Waivers on Water Quality Certifications for California Dams

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Cindy Charles

By Cindy Charles The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) continues to roll out waivers for water quality certifications for dam relicensings in California at an alarming rate.  On June 22, CSPA and allies in the Foothills Water Network[1] (Network) filed … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on Here We Go Again – FERC Rapidly Issuing Waivers on Water Quality Certifications for California Dams

A Deal is a Deal – El Dorado Irrigation District Seeks to Add More Diversions from SF American River

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Cindy Charles

By Cindy Charles CSPA and a coalition of environmental and recreation organizations submitted comments in response to the April 17, 2020 Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for El Dorado Irrigation District’s (EID) proposed modification of Water … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on A Deal is a Deal – El Dorado Irrigation District Seeks to Add More Diversions from SF American River

Foothills Network Files for Rehearing of 401 Waiver on Nevada Irrigation District’s Yuba-Bear Project

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Cindy Charles

By Cindy Charles CSPA and allies in the Foothills Water Network (Network) filed a Request for Rehearing on an “Order on Waiver of Water Quality Certification” for Nevada Irrigation District’s (NID) Yuba-Bear Hydroelectric Project.  The Network filed the Request with … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on Foothills Network Files for Rehearing of 401 Waiver on Nevada Irrigation District’s Yuba-Bear Project

Letter Sent to Governor – Preserve the Application of the Clean Water Act to California’s Hydroelectric Projects

Posted on May 17, 2020 by Cindy Charles

By Cindy Charles CSPA, as a leading member of a coalition of environmental and fishing organizations, sent a joint letter to Governor Newsom on May 11, 2020 urging his Administration to prioritize action on an urgent threat to California’s rivers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality | Comments Off on Letter Sent to Governor – Preserve the Application of the Clean Water Act to California’s Hydroelectric Projects

CSPA, Coalition Sues Bureau Over Long-Term Water Transfers

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Bill Jennings

On 11 May 2020, CSPA, AquAlliance, California Water Impact Network and the South and Central Delta Water Agencies filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority over the EIS/EIR … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Jennings, California Delta, Fisheries, Water Quality | Comments Off on CSPA, Coalition Sues Bureau Over Long-Term Water Transfers