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California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
“Conserving California’s Fisheries"

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Tuolumne River Fisheries Fade While FERC Slumbers

 

by Chris Shutes, FERC Projects Director

June 21, 2009 -- CSPA and several other conservation organizations have filed a follow-up motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking immediate flow increases on the lower Tuolumne River. The Motion for Decision also asks FERC to order formal consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service by the operators of New Don Pedro Reservoir.
 
In April, 2008, FERC issued an Order that left flows on the lower Tuolumne River unchanged until 2016. This was in spite of catastrophically collapsing salmon and steelhead fisheries. While FERC blamed ocean conditions, and dam operators blamed “the Delta,” extensive study and analysis showed that most juvenile salmon and steelhead that are born in the river never reach the confluence with the San Joaquin. This information was explicitly discussed in the recent Biological Opinion for salmon which was just issued by NMFS for the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.
 
In May, 2008, CSPA and its conservation partners filed a request for rehearing on FERC’s April, 2008 Order. In a procedural move, FERC accepted the rehearing request in June, 2008. Since then, FERC has not acted, and the flow schedule for the Tuolumne has been left unchanged.
 
Chris Shutes, CSPA’s FERC Projects Director, noted, “We said a year ago that FERC and the irrigation districts need to take affirmative responsibility for that portion of the problem over which they have control. In 2007, only one juvenile salmon in a hundred made it downstream to the bottom end of the Tuolumne River. FERC needs to end the cynical game of delay and obfuscation. We are hopeful that a new administration and a new lineup at FERC will take a more pro-active approach to the disastrous condition of Central Valley fisheries.”
 
The motion was filed by the National Heritage Institute on behalf of CSPA, Friends of the River, California Trout, Tuolumne River Preservation Trust, Golden West Women Flyfishers, and the California Rivers Restoration Fund. You can read it HERE.

 

CSPA Motion for decision for rehearing