[env-trinity] For Immediate Release: Emergency Water Plan to Save California Salmon from Extinction

[Tom Stokely]

Attached is a Fact Sheet on the Proposed CSPA/C-WIN/SCS Temperature Manangement Plan for the Sacramento and Trinity rivers.
TS
For Immediate Release
 

1 June 2021

 

For More Information and Interviews Contact:

Bill Jennings, California Sportfishing ProtectionAlliance, 209-464-5067. deltakeep at me.com

Tom Stokely, Save California Salmon, 530-524-0315, tgstoked at gmail.com

 

Emergency Water Plan to Save California Salmon fromExtinction

FisheriesAdvocates Send River Plan to State Water Board to Mitigate Immediate Threat

 

The Sacramento River’s iconic salmon runs are in imminentdanger of extinction due to drought and irrational water policy. To avert acatastrophe, fisheries advocates have submitted an emergency water managementplan to the State Water Resources Control Board. 

 

Drafted by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance(CSPA), the California Water Impact Network (CWIN), and Save California Salmon(SCS), the plan will significantly reduce salmon-killing high temperature waterreleases from Shasta and Trinity reservoirs. It will also protect carryoverstorage in the event of another dry year. 

 

The crisis, building for some time, has accelerateddramatically in recent days.  On May 21,the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that endangeredwinter-run Chinook salmon were dying below Keswick Dam near Redding fromreleases of warm water taken from the top of Shasta Reservoir. 

 

Salmon need cold, clean water to survive. But the waterreleased in May by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation to supply a small number ofagricultural irrigators exceeded 61º F. This water temperature was far abovethe 56ºF standard protective of spawning salmon and the 53.5ºF needed to protectsalmon eggs. The releases occurred despite calls from the California Departmentof Fish and Wildlife (CDFG) and the National Marine Fisheries Service to keepriver temperatures at or below 56ºF.  

 

The situation is particularly dire because the SacramentoRiver’s salmon were already at the tipping point. According to the CDFW, SacramentoRiver mainstem winter-run, spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon (1970-1974 v.2015-2019) have declined 91.0, 99.9 and 79.7 percent, respectively. Fall-run salmonare the largest run on the Sacramento River and the mainstay of California’scommercial and sport salmon fisheries.

 

CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings said, “Despiteexcessive April-May water deliveries, Shasta Reservoir still has sufficientcold water to save the salmon. Unfortunately, the Bureau has unreasonably deliveredexorbitant amounts of water to Central Valley agribusiness. The State WaterBoard has failed to meaningfully act to stop this unfolding disaster. The Boardmust limit the Bureau’s agricultural water deliveries to protect the needs offisheries and urban areas.” 

 

In response, a coalition of conservationists and fisheryadvocates have submitted an alternative water operations plan to the StateWater Resources Control Board. The plan will protect Chinook salmon spawningand rearing in the Sacramento, Trinity and lower Klamath Rivers. The plan willalso maintain an extra half-million acre-feet of water in Shasta and Trinityreservoirs should next year also be dry.

 
“It’s a myth that sending Trinity water to the SacramentoRiver helps the Sacramento winter-run Chinook,” says Tom Stokely, theco-director of Save California Salmon. “Trinity water heats up a lot as itmoves through Whiskeytown Reservoir. It is a liability for Sacramento Riversalmon. Our plan keeps warm Trinity water out of the Sacramento River. It also conserves50% more water in Trinity Lake. That water will help save salmon on the Trinityand lower Klamath rivers.”

To review the full CSPA/CWIN/SCS Proposed TemperatureManagement Plan go to: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/sacramento_river/

 

The California Sportfishing Protection Allianceis a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit conservation and research organizationestablished in 1983 for the purpose of conserving, restoring, and enhancing thestate's water quality, wildlife and fishery resources and their aquaticecosystems and associated riparian habitats. https://calsport.org/news/

 

Save California Salmon is dedicated torestoring rivers through restoring flows and salmon habitat, removing dams, andimproving water quality throughout Northern California. We are also dedicatedto fighting new threats to our rivers such as new dams, diversions andpipelines and empowering people to fight for rivers and salmon. We arededicated to protecting and restoring the salmon Klamath, Trinity, Sacramento,Eel, and Smith. Rivers.  https://www.californiasalmon.org/

  

The California Water Impact Networkpromotes the equitable and environmental use of California's water, includinginstream uses, through research, planning, public education, and litigation.  https://www.c-win.org




 
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