CSPA's Daily Digital Newspaper -- Last Edited 02/08/2010 08:01 AM
CSPA is proud to publish a diverse spread of news on California's fisheries but does not necessarily agree with the position of every story published. Look for the CSPA Seal for CSPA news.
Fresno Judge Halts Protection Plan For Winter Run Chinook
by Dan Bacher
February 5, 2010 -- (Fresno) Federal Judge Oliver Wanger on Friday afternoon put a temporary hold on a federal plan (biological opinion) protecting salmon from the fish-killing California Delta pumps that deliver water to corporate agribusiness and southern California.(Continued)
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Judge orders Calif water pumping limits lifted
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writer Friday, February 5, 2010 --San Francisco (AP) --A federal judge temporarily lifted pumping limits Friday designed to protect endangered wild salmon in order to speed more irrigation water to California's drought-addled fields. (Continued on-line at the San Francisco Chronicle) ______________________________________
Federal judge issues temporary restraining order allowing increased pumping from delta
by Mike McKenzie
February 5, 2010 -- Judge Oliver Wanger, Ninth District Circuit Court, put a temporary hold today on the BiOp for endangered salmon species -- a decision that should mean increased water pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. (Continued)
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Exclusive to CSPA: Radio ad pushes for new infrastructure
By David Schurr February 4, 2010 -- Sacramento -- The Governor’s rhetoric begins. Today a new radio ad emerged on local station KFBK stating that recent rains will not get us out of a two year drought, and new water infrastructure needs to be built to serve 38 million Californians...(Continued)
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EPA official visits Kettleman City, meets mothers whose babies had birth defects
By Louis Sahagun
February 4, 2010 -- The regional director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ventured into the dusty farming town of Kettleman City, Calif., on Wednesday for a three-hour tour that included a trip to a nearby toxic waste... (Continued on-line at the Los Angeles Times)
Yurok Tribal Council votes to sign dam removal pacts
By Nick Grube
February 3, 2010 -- The Yurok Tribal Council voted late last week to approve signing two agreements that will remove four PacifiCorp-owned dams on the Klamath River and bring a basin-wide approach to ecological restoration. (Continued on-line at the Crescent City Triplicate)
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Trouble in conservation-ville: Hungry sea otters compete with fishermen for sea urchins in California waters
February 3, 2010 -- The first hint of trouble in trying to save endangered sea otters and protect fishermen competing for the shellfish the creatures eat was when bureaucrats drew a line in the ocean separating the two. (Continued on-line at the Los Angeles Times)
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Friant Dam releases more water
By Mark Grossi
February 2, 2010 -- Federal officials again began additional water releases from Friant Dam this week in the effort to reconnect the San Joaquin River with the Pacific Ocean...(Continued on-line at the Fresno Bee)
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Delta water quality continues to decline
By Roberta Long
February 2, 2010 -- The California Delta, where the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers merge with the San Francisco Bay, looks like the human blood circulation system, with major vessels connecting to increasingly...(Continued on-line at the Placerville Mountain Democrat)
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Birth defects put spotlight on Kettleman City
By Cyndee Fontana
February 2, 2010 -- For months, Kettleman City residents and activists clamored for an investigation into a rash of birth defects and infant deaths. (Continued on-line at the Fresno Bee)
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Judge hears arguments in case over Calif. salmon
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 -- Fresno, Calif. (AP) -- A federal judge is weighing whether to relax pumping limits that are in place to protect salmon as they migrate through California's freshwater estuary...(Continued on-line at the San Francisco Chronicle)
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Opinion: Let's take back our Kern River
By Ginger Moorhouse February 1, 2010 -- If I could make a wish for all of Bakersfield, it would be to have a real river running through our community. Not a dry riverbed like we have now, but instead a free flowing, beautiful Kern River that ... (Continued on-line at the Bakersfield Californian)
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Water agencies head to court to ask for relief from Delta protection
By Mike Taugher
February 1, 2010 -- The state's biggest water players are asking a judge today to ease new Delta pumping limits that are allowing the recent storm waters to escape out to sea instead of being stored inland for use this summer. (Continued on-line at the Contra Costa Times)
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Birth defect total in California town now at Six
February 1, 2010 -- The local health director says a sixth birth-defect case has been confirmed in Kettleman City, where residents are battling plans to expand California's largest hazardous-waste landfill... (Continued on-line at the San Francisco Chronicle)
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National Resource Council Committee Meets about the Delta
February 1, 2010 -- The 15-member National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay-Delta met for the first time last week at UC Davis...(Continued)
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Agribusiness Giant Westlands Moves to Kill Salmon: Seeks legal permission to double death rate of migrating baby salmon in Delta
February 1, 2010 -- Fresno, CA -- Westlands Water District has asked a federal judge in Fresno to issue a temporary restraining order to block a federal salmon restoration plan that protects salmon and other fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta...(Continued)
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Tapping into anger: Powerful Central Valley water district challenges friends and foes in campaign to turn on the Delta spigot
By Matt Jenkins High Country News Published: Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010 - On Sept. 17, the famously hypertensive Fox News commentator Sean Hannity rolled into the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, satellite truck in tow. Months earlier, the federal... (Continued on-line at the Sacramento Bee) _______________________________________
Opinion: Salton Sea's fate should concern all
By Marion Ashley and Gary Wyatt January 31, 2010 -- San Diego County residents, like all of us in Southern California, rely just as much on a complex system of water rights and environmental conditions to deliver our water as we rely on the...(Continued on-line at the North County Times)
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More groups join Klamath agreement
By Donna Tam
January 30, 2010 -- The Karuk Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations have joined the ranks of those formally supporting the Klamath River dam removal agreements...(Continued on line at the Eureka Times Standard)
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California water: “free-market” politics with the public trust
by Bill Hatch
January 30, 2010 -- California is going into its fourth year of drought and its second year of high-powered water warfare. The state now lives in a state of perpetual water anxiety. We even have a monthly religious rite at the top of Echo Pass,...(Continued at Badlands Journal)
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Surprise: DWR Promotes Peripheral Canal As Snow Survey Results Announced
by Dan Bacher
January 30, 2010 -- The water content in California's mountain snowpack is 115 percent of normal for the date statewide, contrasting with snow water content only 61 percent of normal last year at the same time, according to the snow survey conducted Friday...(Continued)
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Ecological Economics: The Costs and Benefits of Preserving The Bay-Delta’s Ecosystem
January 30, 2010 -- The California Bay-Delta (“Delta”) and its tributaries make up the largest and most complex water delivery systems in the United States. The Central Valley Project (“CVP”), the largest federal water management program in the country, and...(Continued)
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Salmon Water Now Exposes Big Ag's Manipulation of Delta Water Policy
by Dan Bacher January 29, 2010 -- Salmon Water Now, a collaboration between fishermen and media professionals, has released a superb new video, “The Water Pirates,” describing how agribusiness maintains a dangerous...(Continued)
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Wine grape watering clashes with salmon protection
By Jason Dearen (Associated Press) January 29, 2010 -- In this cool, fertile wine growing county in Northern California, grape growers are stomping mad at a new plan to limit the amount of water vineyards can pump from local rivers and streams to protect their crops from frost — a draft regulation meant to safeguard...(Continued on-line at the San Francisco Chronicle)
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EPA probes its actions in Kettleman City with toxic-waste dump
By Louis Sahagun January 29, 2010 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched an internal investigation into its permitting and oversight in a San Joaquin Valley farming community dominated by a hazardous-waste facility ...(Continued on-line at the Los Angeles Times)
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Holdup on Delta water rules sought
By Robert Rodriguez January 29, 2010 -- The Westlands Water District has joined with 29 other public water agencies in a lawsuit against the federal government to stop further cutbacks to California's water supplies. (Continued on-line at the Fresno Bee) _____________________________________
MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force Chair and California Department of Fish and Game Director Announce North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group
January 29, 2010 -- The MLPA Initiative and California Department of Fish and Game today announced the appointment of the MLPA North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group...(Continued on-line at DFG)
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Meet Cathy Reheis-Boyd
Big Oil Takes Over Marine "Protection" in California
by Dan Bacher January 29, 2010 -- Corporate greenwashing in California under Arnold Schwarzenegger, the "green governor," has become so bizarre and egregious that no political satirist, comedian or novelist could concoct fictional schemes that rival the reality of current politics in the state. (Continued)
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Opinion: Big rains stir up sturgeon bite; Delta smelt debate takes new tack
By Alastair Bland
January 28, 2010 -- Until floodwaters deposit the Marin IJ offices high and dry atop Mount Tamalpais, I will refrain from describing the recent rains as biblical. But they've been epic all right, and they've stirred up the sturgeon...(Continued on-line at the Marine Independent Journal)
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Karuk Tribe Formally Approves Klamath Restoration Agreements: Tribal Council Votes Unanimously to Sign Agreements, Restore Klamath River
January 28, 2010 -- Orleans, CA – Tonight the Karuk Council voted unanimously in favor of signing the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. Together, the two agreements would effect the largest dam removal effort in US History...(Continued)
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Editorial: Our View: Give Hilmar Cheese the time it needs
January 28, 2010 --The Sun-Star firmly supports Hilmar Cheese Co.'s request Friday to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, in Sacramento for more time to meet a regulatory requirement. (Continued on-line at the Merced Sun-Star) ______________________________________
Despite storms, water supply this year could be like last year
By Mike Taugher
January 27, 2010 -- Last year, water agencies across California resorted to rationing, fallowing crops and tapping reserves to endure the third year of drought, and that could continue despite recent storms. (Continued on-line at the Contra Costa Times) ________________________________________
Steady flow of conflicting views marks Delta debate in Davis
FEDERAL SCIENCE PANEL HOLDS THIRD DAY OF PUBLIC MEETINGS
Jan. 27, 2010 - The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a complex, bewildering place. It's even more vexing if you're trying to figure out how the Delta environment works. (Continued on-line at the Sacramento Bee) _________________________________________
EPA to investigate cluster of birth defects in Kettleman City
By Louis Sahagun
January 27, 2010 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that it plans to investigate a cluster of facial birth defects and other health issues among migrant farm workers in the impoverished California enclave... (Continued on-line at the Los Angeles Times)
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U.S. speeds up water deliveries to San Joaquin Valley farmers
By Bettina Boxall
January 27, 2010 -- Federal managers said Tuesday they are speeding up delivery of irrigation water to farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley because recent storms have boosted the state's water supply...(Continued on-line at the Los Angeles Times)
January 27, 2010 -- Target Corp. said Tuesday that it had eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen and smoked seafood sections at stores nationwide...(Continued on-line at the Los Angeles Times)
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Endangered Fishes and theDelta
Peter B. Moyle
Remarks to NRC Committee of Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay--‐Delta.
January 26, 2010 -- Thank you for inviting me to present my views on water and fish in the Delta, in relation to the Biological Opinions for smelt and salmon. In deference to the post...(Continued)
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SF man pleads guilty to poaching steelhead
The Associated Press January 26, 2010 -- SAN FRANCISCO—A San Francisco man is facing possible prison time after pleading guilty to federal charges of poaching steelhead trout by blocking a stream. (Continued on-line at the Silicon Valley Mercury News) ________________________________________
Delta panel swears to avoid politics
Scientists plan objective review of ailing estuary
By Alex Breitler, Record Staff Writer January 26, 2010 -- DAVIS - A panel of scientists charged with conducting an objective review of the ailing Delta will not be swayed by politics, a representative said Monday. (Continued on-line at the Stockton Record)
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Editorial: Sewage dumping is part of Delta's problem
January 26, 2010 -- The National Academy of Sciences has begun five days of hearings at UC Davis on federal water pumping restrictions aimed at protecting fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. (Continued on-line at the Fresno Bee)
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Water Bond will continue California’s Water Rip Off
January 25, 2010 -- California’s major water projects were built largely by the Federal Government to supply water for small farmers. Instead, those projects have been captured by huge corporate farmers, who pay very low prices...(Continued on-line at the AmericanWestAtRisk)
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Feds to reconsider protections for Delta fish
By Matt Weiser
January 25, 2010 -- Federal wildlife officials have agreed to reconsider an imperiled Delta fish species for Endangered Species Act protection. (Continued on-line at the Sacramento Bee)
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Final Klamath deal to go before supervisors
by John Driscoll
January 25, 2010 -- The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider signing the final parallel agreements that call for tearing out the Klamath River's four main dams and improving conditions for fish and farms in the watershed. (Continued on-line at the Eurkea Times-Standard)
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National Hydropower Reform Coalition Requests Study Process Improvements from FERC
by Chris Shutes, FERC Projects Director February 4, 2010 -- The national Hydropower Reform Coalition has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to change important parts of the way it does business in relicensing hydroelectric projects.(Continued)
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CSPA and Others Groups Comment on Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan
by Chris Shutes, CSPA FERC Projects Director
February 1, 2010 -- CSPA and six other conservation and fishing groups filed comments last Friday on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Public Draft Recovery Plan for Central Valley steelhead and spring-run and winter-run Chinook salmon...(Continued)
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CSPA, C-WIN, AquAlliance file comments on 2010-11 Water Transfer Program
January 20, 2010 -- Attached are comments by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), AquAlliance, and the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) on the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and-...(Continued)
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Russian River: CSPA Supports Rulemaking for Frost Control
By Chris Shutes, CSPA FERC Projects Director
January 14, 2010 -- In a January 12, 2010 letter to the State Water Resources Control Board, CSPA has supported a rulemaking process to create regulations for frost control diversions in the Russian River watershed...(Continued) _______________________________________
CSPA flies Motion to Intervene on McCloud
January 12, 2010 -- CSPA filed a motion January 12 to intervene in the relicensing of PG&E’s McCloud-Pit Project (P-2106). In its filing, CSPA emphasized the importance of protecting the McCloudRiver’s existing fishery and the need to reintroduce salmon...(Continued)
Resource Agencies and Conservation Groups Defend Higher Tuolumne Flows
by Chris Shutes, CSPA FERC Projects Director
January 5, 2010. Three fisheries agencies and four conservation groups filed comments today with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission supporting increased flows for the lower Tuolumne River. The agencies and groups seek interim...(Continued)
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CSPA files comments on water improvement plan for Sacramento area cities
FERC shuts out Merced salmon and steelhead one more time
by Chris Shutes, CSPA FERC Projects Director
January 1, 2010 -- In a revised Study Plan Determination issued by its Director of the Office of Energy Products on December 22, 2009, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission failed for the second time to order studies of salmon and steelhead as part of the relicensing of the Merced River Hydroelectric Project (P-2179)...(Continued)
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CSPA Files comments on Colfax Waste Treatment Plant
The New Warden Stamp - Budget Woes Come Home to Roost!
by Mike McKenzie and John Beuttler
December 23, 2009 -- In October of this year, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation intending to provide our state’s hard-pressed game wardens with some relief. AB 1442 mandated a number of provisions regarding the Department of Fish and Game’s...(Continued)
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CSPA and Foothills Water Network protest NID water rights petitions
by Chris Shutes, CSPA FERC Projects Director
December 21, 2009 -- CSPA and its allies in the Foothills Water Network (FWN) have protested a series of water rights petitions filed by the Nevada Irrigation District. These petitions seek to align a series of water rights permits and licenses with the way...(Continued)
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CSPA's Bill Jennings responds to Carnegie Park criticisms
December 16, 2009 -- With respect to our Carnegie lawsuit victory, below are links to two articles in the Stockton Record and Tracy Press. I've received several irate emails. Below is my response to them...(Continued)
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CSPA and Allies File Recommendations to FERC on Merced River Studies
by Chris Shutes, CSPA FERC Projects Director
December 15, 2009 -- CSPA and its partners in the relicensing of the Merced River Hydroelectric Project filed comments and recommendations to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today following FERC’s fourth-ever study dispute resolution process held in November...(Continued)
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CSPA and others file comments on DEIR for water rights for El Sur Ranch
by Bill Jennings, Executive Director, CSPA
December 15, 2009 -- The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), Center for Biological Diversity, Ventana Wilderness Alliance, Los Padres Forest Watch, the Ventana Chapter of the Sierra Club and Friends of the River have submitted...(Continued)
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CSPA, PEER Victory for Clean Water
Judge orders Carnegie State off-road park to shut down until necessary permits are obtained
by Bill Jennings, CSPA Executive Director
December 14, 2009 -- On Tuesday, 8 December 2009, Judge Roesch of the Alameda Superior Court reaffirmed his 22 September 2009 tentative decision and ordered the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreational Division of the California Department of Parks and...(Continued)
Groups Demand Strong Groundwater Testing Program for Dairies in California’s Central Valley
Advocates Petition Water Quality Control Board to Improve Monitoring Program
December 9, 2009 -- Rancho Cordova, Calif. – Food & Water Watch, Community Water Center, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and four other organizations delivered a petition today to California’s Central Valley Regional Water Quality...(Continued)
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Wide coalition urges protections for fish under new rules for suction dredge mining
By Chris Shutes, FERC Projects Director
December 4, 2009 -- Two dozen environmental and fishing groups, including CSPA, submitted scoping comments today to the California Department of Fish and Game in preparation for a Subsequent Environmental Impact Report for new rules regarding suction dredge mining...(Continued)
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Letters to the Editor
Have something you'd like to get off your chest? How about a question about California's fisheries? Write the Webmaster All submissions considered for publication.
Why don’t we invest more heavily in agriculture?
January 30, 2010 -- Throughout history, when agriculture expanded, the environment suffered. Irrigation, chemical pesticides and fertilizers have devastated farm land and rivers from China to Africa. Today California faces the same issue. Locally agriculture has left the San Joaquin River unfit for irrigation or fish. Last year the “Feds” infused 300 million in an effort to restore the San Joaquin River.
For the better part of this decade, The Sacramento Delta has been burdened by excess dewatering. The resulting “Ecosystem collapse” has cost Commercial fisherman their livelihood. Native species from Smelt and Salmon to Killer Whales are threatened. State and Federal governments will eventually spend billions to restore this environment as well.
Today California has the best interest of the economy in mind; however, the environment will be sacrificed. Prominent Scientists conclude that the west side of the San Joaquin Valley is an impaired drainage and should be retired. In the absence of a fresh water supply, salt intrusion will irrevocably compromise the Delta.
Like the federal deficit, a damaged environment will be passed on to future generations. I am not an environmentalist. I desire only to stop giving away our water resource to billionaire shareholders. This issue is not Water for Fish or Food from Farms. The message is don’t devastate the environment for economic gain.
CSPA is proud to publish a diverse spread of news on California's fisheries but does not necessarily agree with the position of every story published. Look for the CSPA Seal 
for CSPA news.
National Resource Council Committee Meets about the Delta