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California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
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CSPA Files Protest Against Scheme to Divert Additional Water From Mokelumne

by Bill Jennings, Executive Director, CSPA
15 June 2009 - The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) has filed a formal protest with the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) over the application of the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District (District) to appropriate additional water from the Mokelumne River. The District has been using approximately 3,000 acre-feet of water yearly and seeks to divert up to 20,000 acre-feet annually to reduce the present over-draft of groundwater.

CSPA believes that there is already inadequate instream flow in the Mokelumne to protect fisheries. Instream flow in the lower Mokelumne can be as low as 15 to 20 cfs below Woodbridge in September and October and is frequently inadequate to maintain connectivity between the river and Delta. In 2008, only 253 adult salmon returned to the Mokelumne Fish Hatchery.

Mokelumne River surface flow is already recharging the adjoining over-drafted and depleted aquifer. According to a recent Programmatic Environmental Impact Report for East Bay Municipal Utility District's proposed Water Supply Master Plan 2040, “channel losses” in the Mokelumne River, largely between Camanche Dam and Lake Lodi, run between about 56,000 and 120,000 acre-feet annually. It is likely that much of this existing recharge is simply pumped by farmers to irrigated crops.

The aquifer is already over-drafted by 2,000,000 acre-feet and is further depleted an additional 200,000 acre-feet each year. Since there is no groundwater management plan regulating groundwater pumping, any additional water diversion is not likely to improve conditions of the aquifer. Additional diversion will, however, further degrade a seriously degraded river and further impact a collapsing Delta ecosystem.

CSPA alleges that approval of the application would result in the waste and unreasonable use of water and method of diversion, is not in the public interest and violates Public Trust Doctrine, Fish & Game Code, California Water Code and the federal Endangered Species Act.