CSPA to East Bay MUD: No Water in the Mokelumne Left to Take

Mokelumne Fisheries Are Fading Fast

by Chris Shutes, FERC Projects Director

May 4, 2009 -- CSPA filed comments today on the draft Program Environmental Impact Report for the East Bay Municipal Utilities District’s Water Supply Management Program 2040.
 
CSPA called on the District to abandon three of the major elements of its “program”: raising Pardee Dam, further diverting from the heavily diverted Mokelumne River, and seeking future water transfers from the Sacramento. CSPA suggested that the District simply start over with its water planning for the next thirty years.
 
The comments by CSPA emphasize the lack of available water in the Mokelumne. They also discuss the fisheries, water quality and other ecosystem impacts on both the river and the Delta of capturing all the high flows. The Joint Settlement Agreement that governs flows in the lower Mokelumne does not provide adequate protection for salmon and steelhead, but it is assumed as permanent in the draft PEIR. The document makes no mention of the need to move anadromous fish upstream of Camanche and Pardee reservoirs.
 
EBMUD’s draft PEIR has generated considerable opposition among environmental, fishing, whitewater and local interests. A considerable number of critical comment letters is expected.
 
Read CSPA’s comments here.