Delta Vision not likely to succeed

The Sacramento Bee
By Dan Walters
October 26, 2008

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the Pacific Coast's largest estuary and a critical habitat for wildlife, as well as the state's major source of water - but it's in crisis with deteriorating levees, threats from global warming and earthquakes, and court-ordered restrictions on pumping due to water quality problems.

How often have we been given that dark picture? Countless times, and twice more this month, once in a report from the Delta Vision Task Force, appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to lay the basis for new water policy, and again in a state-sponsored scientific study of Delta issues.

Judge says Calif. wild steelhead must be protected

San Francisco Chronicle
By Samantha Young
October 27, 2008

A federal judge on Monday upheld protections for wild steelhead trout in California rivers, rejecting an argument by forestry groups that argued the success of hatchery-raised steelhead has made the population sufficiently robust.

U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno disagreed. He said hatchery-raised fish are no substitute for wild steelhead.

While science shows that hatchery-fish can be beneficial, they also can be detrimental to wild steelhead, Wanger wrote in his 168-page ruling.

Dams Not Main Cause of Salmon Collapse, Study Says

National Geographic News
By James Owen
October 27, 2008

The first ever tracking of young Pacific salmon ocean migrations suggests the main barriers to their survival aren't river dams-but lethal obstacles at sea.

The controversial finding, which makes use of the latest in fish-tagging technology, investigated the seaward migration of Chinook salmon and steelhead-a type of trout-in North America's two largest West Coast rivers.

Juvenile fish equipped with tiny sound-emitting tags were released in 2006 in the headwaters of Columbia River, which has numerous hydropower dams on its system, and Canada's dam-free Fraser River.

Drought, or water heist?

San Francisco Chronicle
By Tom Stienstra
October 26, 2008

Gov. Schwarzenegger is calling the year's lack of rain and snowfall a drought of epic proportions and points to the low lake levels to prove it. The answer, he says, is passing a $9.3 billion water bond next year to build a peripheral canal and several new reservoirs in a program designed to send more water to points south.

The facts are that the past two years are only the ninth driest two-year period in the past 88 years, and that California routinely experiences such periods once every 10 years, according to the Department of Water Resources.

Audit turns up something fishy

San Francisco Chronicle
By Tom Stienstra
October 26, 2008

A state audit of the Bay Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp shows that anglers have paid $8.6 million since 2004 and received virtually nothing from the Department of Fish and Game.

More than $7 million is now sitting in a DFG account, unspent, according to an audit released this past week. It was conducted by the State Bureau of Audits, required in legislation by Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco.

NOAA Scientists Report Milestone Toward Finding Cure For Salmon Pathogen BKD

The Columbian Basin Bulletin
October 24, 2008

With declining salmon populations and increasing demand for the production of sustainable sources of seafood, scientists say they reached a milestone this week in making aquaculture safe.

NOAA scientists at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle together with their collaborators, recently published the first full genome sequence for the deadly pathogen that causes bacterial kidney disease (BKD) in salmon.

Ninth Circuit Hears Arguments On NOAA's Wild/ Hatchery ESA Listings Policy

The Columbian Basin Bulletin
October 24, 2008

A federal appellate judge panel spent part of Monday morning playing devil's advocate, grilling attorneys about whether hatchery salmon and steelhead and their naturally spawned kin should be judged differently, or the same, and whether federal experts should be given deference to make such decisions.

The hearing pooled arguments in two lawsuits directed at NOAA Fisheries Service Endangered Species Act listing decisions made in 2005 and 2006.

Klamath salmon looking good for 2009

The Times-Standard
By John Driscoll
October 24, 2008

Early indications are good for Klamath and Trinity river salmon next year, although Sacramento River fish -- whose collapse ground ocean commercial and sport fishing to a halt this year -- may still be struggling.

Counts of adult fish and 2-year-old chinook salmon, which are a strong indicator of next year's run, have been strong at several weirs on the Klamath and Trinity. While it's still early, the beginning numbers are encouraging.

State officials move to revoke water rights

The Sacramento Bee
By Matt Weiser
October 24, 2008

State water officials intend to revoke the water rights connected to the controversial Auburn dam project on the American River.

If approved, the order would effectively seal the fate of the unbuilt and politically contentious dam.

In a draft order released Thursday, California Water Resources Control Board staff members concluded that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has "failed to construct the project and apply water to beneficial use with due diligence."

Delta gates proposal churns up controversy

Brentwood Press
By Dave Roberts
October 23, 2008

A proposed plan to build flow-control gates along the Frank's Tract area of Bethel Island is being touted by state and federal water agencies as an ecosystem-saving, water-quality improvement measure for the Delta. But some residents and local officials fear the project is no more than a thinly veiled first step toward the construction of a peripheral canal.

"Yes, I'm very concerned; I live on the Delta," said Supervisor Mary Piepho when asked about the proposed project. "We need to protect fish and species and water quality and stop salinity from coming in and this is one proposal ... But being fearful is good; we should all be afraid and we should all be paying attention."

Task Force report: Build peripheral canal

Capital Press
By Hank Shaw
October 23, 2008

Project could threaten delta agriculture

Momentum is growing to construct a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, but doing so could jeopardize the century-old farming traditional in the estuary.

A task force appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger voted 6-0 last week to recommend that the state build the canal in conjunction with the existing method of moving fresh water through the delta toward the giant pumps near Tracy.

Only 12K salmon return

Record Searchlight
By Dylan Darling
October 23, 2008

Hatchery official still expects enough fish to meet egg quota

Another fall has brought another drop in the number of salmon returning to the north state's principal hatchery from the Pacific Ocean after their three-year swim.

So far only about 12,000 fall-run Chinook salmon have swum from the Sacramento River up Battle Creek - on which Coleman National Fish Hatchery sits near Anderson - said Jim Smith, a project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Red Bluff.

Water fight swirls

Capital Press
By Cecilia Parsons
October 23, 2008

Settlement debate muddies San Joaquin River restoration

Differing - and passionate - views about the historic San Joaquin River settlement have bubbled to the surface

Friant water leaders viewed the settlement, signed by 22 irrigation districts, as a way to put a stop to the district being on the short end of judicial decisions over water. Now, some Friant leaders and farmers are looking at the upcoming debate over legislation to implement the settlement as the end of their chance to fight for their water.

Seven Puget Sound Orca Deaths Attributed to Lack of Food

Kitsap Sun
By Christopher Dunagan
October 23, 2008

Seven Puget Sound killer whales have gone missing this year and are presumed dead, wiping out population gains over the past six years.

A shortage of chinook salmon - the orcas' primary food - may have contributed to the unusual number of deaths, said Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research, who keeps track of the individual whales.

Change certain for the delta, report says

San Francisco Chronicle
By Kelly Zito
October 23, 2008

With or without human intervention, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta will change radically in the future, the result of climate change, invasive species and earthquakes, according to a new scientific report.

With implications for everything from drinking water supplies in California to urban planning, the study's authors hope their work will help policymakers to revive an ecosystem widely recognized as on life support.

Microbe being tested as non-toxic answer to quagga mussel problem

The Press-Enterprise
By Janet Zimmerman
October 22, 2008

Nearly two decades of research has turned up what could be the first nontoxic treatment for the menacing quagga mussel, a crustacean that threatens water quality and ecosystems nationwide, including reservoirs near Temecula and Riverside and along the Colorado River.

The discovery could save some of the billions of dollars being spent to chemically treat waters infected with the mussels, and alleviate concerns about exposure to cancer-causing substances produced in the treatments, water experts said.

Judge: Delta salmon 'unquestionably in jeopardy'

The Mercury News
By Tracie Cone
October 21, 2008

FRESNO, Calif.-A federal judge ruled Tuesday that California's canal water systems are placing wild salmon "unquestionably in jeopardy," but stopped short of issuing court-order limits on pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Environmental groups had sought the temporary pumping limits to guard three species of migrating salmon in the delta until a new fish protection plan is due in March.

State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008

CALFED Science Program
By Jeanie Esajian
October 20, 2008

The CALFED Science Program has published a book summarizing the significant new knowledge gleaned from eight years of CALFED science research into water supply and water quality, ecosystems and levee fragility in the California Delta.

The State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008, is being released on October 21, 2008, on the eve of the 5th Biennial CALFED Science Conference, initiating the gathering of 1,200 San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta scientists, managers and policymakers.

Judges hear cases on hatchery v. wild salmon

The Seattle Times
By Gene Johnson
October 20, 2008

The federal government came under fire on all sides Monday for the way it counts hatchery-raised salmon and steelhead under the Endangered Species Act.

SEATTLE -
The federal government came under fire on all sides Monday for the way it counts hatchery-raised salmon and steelhead under the Endangered Species Act.

Lawyers for building industry, farm and property rights groups asked a federal appeals court panel on Monday to undo the listings of 16 West Coast salmon and steelhead populations under the act, arguing that thanks to abundant hatchery fish, the stocks are nowhere near extinction.

FEMA Becomes the Latest Partner in the Effort to Save Salmon

Kitsap Sun
By Christopher Dunagan
October 19, 2008

Entering uncertain waters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency must now protect salmon as well as human life and property.

FEMA joins numerous federal, state and local agencies required to protect threatened and endangered species as part of their mission. The change is required because FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program has been found to threaten the survival of listed salmon and killer whales by allowing people to build in flood-prone areas.