[env-trinity] SACBEE- DWR, DFG and SWRCB Express Concerns About Water Deliveries, Reservoir Levels and Salmon Protection

Sun Jul 24 08:57:50 PDT 2005

            Critics fear a federal proposal to increase water exports from the Delta by several hundred thousand acre-feet annually could have dire results for fish. 

            . See additional images

            Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer  

Reservoir changes stir fears for fish
State officials, anglers worry about the effect of a federal proposal on Delta salmon runs.
By Matt Weiser -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, July 24, 2005
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State officials worry that a plan to change reservoir operations in California could harm endangered salmon, a position that appears to contradict their federal partners. 
The concerns are expressed in a May letter, obtained by The Bee, written by three state agency directors to state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden. It responds to questions Machado asked about a complex proposal to alter the operation of California reservoirs. 

Critics say the proposal by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, known as the Operations Criteria and Plan, or OCAP, could increase water exports from the Delta by several hundred thousand acre-feet annually. They predict dire results for fish, especially endangered winter-run chinook salmon in the Sacramento River. 

 The letter may be the first public indication that state officials share this concern. It was signed by Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources; Ryan Broddrick, director of Fish and Game; and Arthur Baggett Jr., chair of the Water Resources Control Board. 

"The overall effect of the operational changes will result in increased pressure ... to manage reservoirs more aggressively, with potential implications for fish habitat conditions immediately downstream from dams all the way to the Delta," they wrote. "Even with more intensive management, the state anticipates increased impacts to winter-run and spring-run chinook." 

Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Groups said the letter sounded like a revelation. 

"My God, somebody's got some spine to tell the truth, it sounds like," said Grader, who had not seen the letter. "Good for Lester and Ryan if, in fact, that's what they've said. At least here's a little bit of honesty." 

Fisheries officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ruled in October that OCAP would not jeopardize Sacramento River salmon. 

That finding replaces a 1993 biological opinion that set rigid operational standards for dams in California to protect salmon. 

Under the new opinion, those rigid standards would be replaced by a new scheme called "adaptive management." 

Instead of setting temperature standards at fixed times and locations on the river, adaptive management allows a task force of water officials to decide when and where temperature standards should be met. 

The plan could also allow the Bureau of Reclamation to drop water levels in Shasta Reservoir farther than before during drought years. This could cause higher water temperatures in the Sacramento River. 

Critics say these changes threaten to wipe out winter-run salmon in the Sacramento. 

Interviewed this week, Snow stopped short of saying the letter he co-signed contradicts the federal salmon ruling. But he confirmed there are real concerns about OCAP. 

"The changes between the 1993 biological opinion and this one, if not managed properly, could result in worse conditions for salmon," Snow said. 

Broddrick said the letter was a way to sound a note of caution. 

"I'm worried only when we get into the critically dry years," Broddrick said Friday. "If we have a shorter reach of the upper Sacramento that has the right temperatures, we have the potential, especially in dry years, that rearing of winter-run salmon will be reduced." 

Machado said the letter puts the state in an unusual position. 

The state stands to benefit from OCAP. For instance, under certain conditions, the state would be allowed to borrow federal water from Lake Shasta. 

But the letter says revised Shasta operations could damage endangered salmon. 

"I read the letter and I was on the phone within the half hour to ask the director (Snow) what was going on," said Machado, who has monitored California's volatile water policy for years. "By definition it becomes very suspect, because they're playing both roles." 

Snow said his agency made the decision to participate in OCAP, in part, to ensure adequate water flows for salmon. Becoming a player in the new adaptive management scheme is better than sitting on the sidelines, he said. 

"I think it's much more important for us to be in the middle of it, even if that results in some criticism," he said. "We think adaptive management is a better way to proceed. Ideally, the way it should work is that we can still protect salmon. I think it can work and I hope it works." 

But environmental groups are uncomfortable pinning the survival of endangered salmon on a hope. 

Barry Nelson, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said this position is especially alarming when an entire group of Delta fish already seems near collapse. Striped bass and Delta smelt populations are both suffering historic lows. 

"What the state letter tells us is that when we inevitably enter dry years, we could see the same kind of collapse upstream as we're seeing in the Delta right now, and potentially suffer a systemwide collapse," Nelson said. 

Machado said a July 13 report from the Commerce Department's inspector general added to his concern. It found that NOAA Fisheries administrators violated department policy in approving the favorable biological opinion for OCAP. 

An earlier draft of the opinion had determined that, in fact, salmon could be jeopardized by the proposed changes in reservoir management. 

"I'm concerned that we have come to policy conclusions based on subjective findings by the Bush administration," Machado said. "We're going to have to wait now to see the outcome of it." 

Graphic: Salmon life cycle [68k JPG]

  About the writer:
    a.. The Bee's Matt Weiser can be reached at (916) 321-1264 or mweiser at sacbee.com.

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Opponents of the federal reservoir proposal say endangered winter-run chinook salmon, like these fingerlings, could suffer. Sacramento Bee file, 2004/Jay Mather

Mike Machado 

Tom Stokely
Principal Planner
Trinity Co. Planning/Natural Resources
PO Box 156
Hayfork, CA 96041-0156
530-628-5949
FAX 628-5800
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