Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

When it comes to salmon, the Trinity River is a success story, at least in relative terms.

It is hard not to be depressed with the dismal number of salmon that returned to spawning beds in the Central Valley last fall.

In the Klamath-Trinity watershed, fall run chinook salmon are doing better. Almost three times as many adults returned in 2007 as did in 2004 (most salmon return after three years at sea). While the return rate for two-year-old jacks was disturbingly low, it was still much better than in the Central Valley. See the comparison below.

This is due in large part to a huge collaborative effort, of individuals and organizations alike, to restore the Trinity River. The channel rehabilitation projects underway are inspirational and worth checking out. Read more »

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

Monday's Fresno Bee reported that Westlands Water District has asked that its proposed "drainage settlement" be tied to legislation to restore the San Joaquin River. Senator Feinstein said the two plans should be evaluated separately. She is right. The two problems – zero releases from Friant Dam to the San Joaquin River and contaminated drainage from farms in Westlands - are related but each can and should be solved separately.

Everyone who remembers the grotesque images of deformed ducks at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge, caused by agriculturally-exacerbated selenium poisoning, agrees that the drainage must be cleaned up. The courts have ruled that the federal government (i.e. you, the taxpayer) bears responsibility for the multi-billion dollar price tag.

Read more »

Ann Hayden is a Senior Water Resource Analyst at EDF.

Check out the comments we jointly submitted with the Natural Resources Defense Council and Defenders of Wildlife on the recent launch of the state and federal environmental review process to evaluate impacts of proposed Delta water conveyance alternatives.

Among many key issues we highlight, we urge the federal fisheries agencies overseeing the review to conduct an in-depth analysis of the extent to which reduced Delta diversions and improved water conservation, recycling and groundwater management can help meet both water supply reliability and ecosystem recovery goals.

You can also view the first of many public workshops that the Department of Water Resources held on the environmental review process and how it fits in with other ongoing collaborative processes. It’s safe to say that the workshop did not get too far in addressing the concerns raised in our letter.

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

There is plenty of reading in the press about the dismal salmon returns last fall in the Central Valley, along with warnings that next year is likely to be worse. This dire prediction is because 2007 returns included a record low number of "jacks", two year-old salmon that cannot wait until maturity to return to riverine spawning beds to get it off on the rocks. (Biologists have other names for these libidinous fish that cannot be printed in this family blog).

The rate of return for jacks in 2007 is barely one half of one percent, suggesting that not many of their more patient bethren from the outmigrant class of 2005 are out in the ocean waiting to return as three year-olds. See below for a bleak comparison to other return rates for jacks since 1998.

Cynthia Koehler is Senior Consulting Attorney for EDF.

With Delta processes abounding, this is the question with which California's premier water protection agency has begun to grapple. At yesterday's hearing, the Board explored how its activities can best assist or complement the BDCP, Delta Vision and other processes. There appears to be near-universal agreement about the need to coordinate, integrate, and work together, although various witnesses confirmed that the Board's job – as trustee for the state's aquatic resources – is complex and difficult.

Just about 25 years after the State Supreme court declared that California's water rights system and the public trust doctrine are parts of "an integrated system of water law," and more than 20 years after a Court of Appeal directed the Board to adopt comprehensive protections for the Bay-Delta estuary, there appears to no clear consensus about exactly what this means, at least in terms of how the public trust doctrine may affect water rights in the Bay-Delta watershed.

It is also unclear whether the Board presently has all of the resources it needs to tackle the complex problems over which it has jurisdiction.

Ann Hayden is a Senior Water Resource Analyst at EDF.

Yesterday, the Department of Water Resources announced the official launch of the environmental impact report (EIR) for evaluating different ways to deliver water in and around the Delta.

The timing of the launch raises some questions. It threatens to take important public policy decisions, notably whether to build a peripheral canal around the Delta, out of the public arena and behind closed doors.

Read more »

Thomas J. Graff is Senior Counsel at EDF.

Must the Resources Agency and the Department of Water Resources consider a reduced Delta export alternative?

That’s just one of the issues that has now been set for argument April 2 before the CA Supreme Court in the case of “In re Bay Delta Programmatic Environmental Impact Report Coordinated Proceedings” (i.e. the CALFED EIR case).

Those of us who work the environmental side of things think it ought to be a no-brainer, not so much for the Court but for the agencies themselves. The salmon season is shot. The list of endangered species and the depth of their plight in the estuary are both proliferating. State and Federal water contractors south of the Delta are desperate for an isolated facility.

How can one take them and the agencies who deliver them water seriously when they continue to argue that reduced exports are not a viable alternative?

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide Friday whether to close the salmon fishery this year. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported today, "it would mark the first time that the federal agency, created 22 years ago to manage the Pacific Coast fishery, will have banned salmon fishing."

But why now? Read more »

Laura Harnish is the California Regional Director.

Wow. Last night was spectacular. I don’t have to tell anyone in the water world that however, because it truly seemed that everyone was there. The tribute to Tom Graff [PDF] was our own wonky version of the Oscars (though I have to say the water buffalo award is now more coveted than an Oscar …). The event was so well attended that I dare say that every drop of water in California was represented.

And although there were all manner of luminaries present, from far and near, there was no question that Tom Graff was “the man". He claimed this title handily not just as tribute after tribute recalled his numerous successes and fabulously Graffish characteristics, but, when he finally took the podium and delivered the most hilarious joke of the night with complete dead pan and impeccable timing, the crowd went wild.

Read more »

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

Governor Schwarzenegger's recent water policy letter to three leading Senators [PDF] highlights California’s focus on building dams. The governor notes that the Department of Water Resources will complete studies for building Sites and Temperance Flat Reservoirs and for expanding Los Vaqueros Reservoir: "these projects, depending on how they are built and operated, can provide public benefits" and thus warrant public investment. (See the studies completed to date.)

But no proposal has specified how these reservoirs, in whole or in part, would be operated for public benefits. It is therefore not possible to evaluate the proposals. Here are some of the questions that need to be answered.

Read more »