California Sportfishing Protection Alliance

CSPA is Now Hiring an Administrative and Policy Associate Learn more at https://lnkd.in/g9zMMmeW

On June 19, 2024, California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) unanimously approved white sturgeon as a candidate for threatened species status. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Fish and Wildlife) must now conduct a review and decide whether to list the white sturgeon as threatened or endangered. This means effective immediately, white sturgeon are protected under the California Endangered Species Act (ESA) until Fish and Wildlife makes its decision. The Commission’s decision was made in response to a petition made by San Francisco Baykeeper, CSPA, the Bay Institute, and Restore the Delta in November 2023. CSPA and allies petitioned the Commission to list the state’s white sturgeon as “threatened” under the California ESA. The coalition also petitioned United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list California’s white sturgeon as threatened under the federal ESA. Insufficient freshwater flows in the Delta and its tributaries have led to low rates of successful white sturgeon reproduction. Algal blooms and poor water quality, especially in the Bay, threaten remaining adult white sturgeon. In these conditions, the white sturgeon population is highly sensitive to overharvest. The Commission’s decision means that anglers who catch white sturgeon must release them until the Commission makes a decision on possible exemptions in August. Speaking on the proposed listing, CSPA’s Chris Shutes said, “Bad water management is devastating California’s fisheries, and people who fish are left to shoulder far too many of the consequences.” Yet he maintains some hope: “There’s still a chance for sturgeon to be plentiful and rebound.” ??Early life stage white sturgeon swimming in a laboratory tank, Doug Hardesty, USGS

The groundwater gold rush is on. New projects to divert rivers for groundwater recharge are popping up across the state. These recharge projects threaten to divert still more water from already-depleted rivers, even as the State Water Resources Control Board finally begins the update of the Bay-Delta Plan, which starts from the premise that rivers need more water, not less. The threat is enormous in scale. Diversions to recharge groundwater don’t have to show use of the water for up to five years. Because so many aquifers are already overdrafted, places in the ground to put water are almost unlimited. Water agencies and engineering consultants are testing how far they can weaken flow requirements for water rights to divert surface water for groundwater recharge. The weaker the rules, the more likely water users will invest in facilities to divert more water. CSPA is pursuing appropriate constraints on the groundwater gold rush each step of the way. https://lnkd.in/eEkaPSRf

On May 7, 2024, CSPA and its allies intervened in the ongoing case of Nevada Irrigation District (NID) versus the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In the case before the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, NID is challenging the authority of the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) to issue a water quality certification for NID’s Yuba-Bear Hydroelectric Project. The lack of terms placed on the original licenses of hydropower projects has left many of California’s rivers and fisheries in dire condition. Hydropower projects must be subject to license terms that minimize the impact they have on the water quality of California’s rivers, including flows. The Clean Water Act provides the legal framework for the State Board to protect the state’s waterways from degradation. By participating in NID’s cases before the DC Circuit, CSPA is continuing its campaign to protect the Clean Water Act and its wider campaign to protect rivers from the effects of hydropower dams. Read More: https://lnkd.in/ekDSdFbq ?? Spillway at Bowman Reservoir, Tosha Duncan, Creative Commons

“The exorbitant costs of the Delta tunnel make the program feasible only if it is funded by taxpayer money, thus making the public finance the further degradation of public trust resources …”

On May 9, 2024, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) denied an application for transfer of assets filed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and its subsidiary, Pacific Generation. This decision is a win for the California Hydropower Reform Coalition (CHRC) of which California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) is an active member. CHRC challenged PG&E’s application throughout regulatory hearings conducted by the Commission on the grounds that the transfer of assets was not in the public interest. In its decision the commission agreed stating that PG&E was required to “demonstrate, among other things, that their requests are adequately justified, reasonable, and in the public interest.” The Commission found that PG&E’s proposed transaction failed to meet “even the minimal public interest standard.” CSPA has worked for many decades to hold PG&E and other hydroelectric project operators accountable both for public safety and for the danger their projects pose to fisheries and riparian habitats. The Commission’s decision is a welcome outcome for CSPA and its colleagues in the CHRC who represent a wide range of interests that are impacted by hydroelectric facilities. https://lnkd.in/eqnbrHAE ??Battle Creek by Cindy Charles

On April 24, 2024, CSPA’s Chris Shutes participated during the first day of the State Water Board’s three-day workshop on the proposed Voluntary Agreements. The proposed Voluntary Agreements were devised by a consortium of water users without the participation of stakeholders, public interest groups, and Native Tribes. The creators of the Voluntary Agreements are trying to use physical habitat improvements to buy their way out of providing adequate flows in the Bay-Delta estuary and the rivers that run into it. CSPA presented on the issue of the flow accounting in the proposed Voluntary Agreements. Shutes lamented the poor state that California’s fisheries are in today due to inadequate flows in the Delta and its tributaries. Shutes detailed the complexity of the flow accounting for the proposed Voluntary Agreements compared to the more simple approach of setting an required percentage of unimpaired flow. Shutes also stated that the proposed Voluntary Agreements do not specifically state how much water will actually make it into the Delta. Shutes concluded by saying, “I think we need something that's more definitive. We've had an awful long time to look at what we're going to do to fix the problems in the Delta. I think we need to give it our best shot today.” CSPA will continue to campaign for clear and enforceable flow requirements for the Delta by participating in the update to the Bay-Delta Plan. CSPA also works toward securing better flow conditions in tributaries through its campaign to leverage hydropower relicensing. ??Chris Shutes in the Weeds, April 24, 2024 at the State Water Resources Control Board State Water Resources Control Board

On April 2, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the release of the 2023 update of the California Water Plan (Water Plan). Governor Newsom announced the Water Plan at a press conference held at Phillips Station in the high Sierra, just after this year’s snowpack was measured there at 113 percent of average. At the press conference, Governor Newsom stated that the Water Plan contains a new strategy to help California adapt to future cycles of extreme drought and extreme precipitation. At the core of this strategy is the plan to build Sites Reservoir for more storage and the Delta tunnel for more conveyance. The Water Plan also supports the weakening of regulations that could be used to keep more water in rivers to protect public trust resources. https://lnkd.in/egUdqG-J ??Lower Merced Dewatered in 2022, by Cindy Charles

On April 25, 2024 El Dorado County Superior Court ruled in favor of CSPA. CSPA filed a lawsuit alongside the Sierra Club in June 2022 to challenge the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board's decision to issue a permit to a Tahoe Key's homeowners association that allowed it to directly apply herbicides in Lake Tahoe's waters. In response to the win, CSPA's Chris Shutes said, "Lake Tahoe is no place to be experimenting with herbicides, especially when non-chemical options are available.” ?? Taylor Creek-Tallac Area, Monique Rydel USFWS Public Domain https://lnkd.in/d7MMRZWK

CSPA's Treasurer and Director Cindy Charles represented CSPA & Tuolumne River Trust at a rally yesterday at San Francisco City Hall to pressure the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to stop resisting efforts to restore salmon and flows on the Tuolumne. Cindy made comments during the Commission meeting and showed them photos of her father, mother & uncle with their salmon catches in the past. Cindy pointed out that San Francisco residents can no longer fish for salmon. Cindy Charles