Agribusiness in court to seize Sacramento water from fish and fishermen
Yesterday (Feb. 2), Westlands Water District—California's largest and most politically powerful agribusiness group—asked a federal judge to block a federal salmon restoration plan that protects salmon and other fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Earthjustice attorneys, who won a court order in 2008 putting the restoration plan in place, were there to defend it. Westland's move could put the survival of the river's salmon—and California and Oregon's multi-billion dollar commercial and recreational salmon fishing industry—on the line. The judge will announce his decision next week.
Westlands wants to end restrictions on the operation of huge delta water pumps and canals from February through May, when baby salmon migrate from the Sacramento River to the ocean.
The pumps move massive volumes of fresh water from the Delta to farms and cities to the south, and the restrictions cut water user supplies by roughly 5 to 7 percent. These modest pumping restrictions may increase baby salmon survival by at least 50 percent.
Past pumping during the baby salmon migration is known to have killed large numbers of threatened salmon as well as non-threatened, commercially valuable fall-run chinook salmon. Sacramento River fall-run chinook, commonly known as king salmon, form the backbone of Oregon and California's salmon fishing industry.
Unfortunately, before the current salmon restoration plan was put in place, runaway pumping led to the catastrophic collapse of the Sacramento's once mighty king salmon run, two years of closed fishing in two states, hundreds of millions in lost income, and tens of thousands of lost jobs.
But yesterday, Westland's showed that they couldn't care less if the Sacramento's salmon runs disappear, along with the thousands of fishing families who depend upon them. According to the Fresno Bee, attorneys for Westlands argued in part that the pumping restrictions should be thrown out because they protect far more fall-run salmon than the much smaller numbers of threatened salmon.
Unfortunately Westlands, southern California water speculators, and their Congressional representatives have refused to acknowledge the economic damage done to Oregon and California's multi-billion dollar sport and commercial salmon fishery caused by the excessive water withdrawals from the Delta. Though they also tried yesterday to belittle clear evidence that Delta water withdrawals have exceeded the ecological carrying capacity of the Delta, let's hope that the judge disagrees.
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Well done! Thank you very much for professional templates and community edition
omegle
I agree with captain mike i love my salmon they were put here on earth by the all mighty GOD they have every right to live they were put here so we can eat and survive. They should be protected you rich guys are very greedy why dont you drill for your water and stop killing our fish. I heard you guys can get ocean water and use it after you filter it you have enough money to do that. stop killing our fish.
Supporting EarthJustice in saving the fall run is like making a pack with the devil. I fear that if the run is restored EJ won't stop there. They will then push to end all fishing and hunting.
to Mahalaka: "making a pact with the devil" by Earth Justice saving the fall run is the dumbest thing I ever heard. Salmon are the creation of mother nature and not some source of evil that deserves to be stamped out for ever. On the contrary, people who would stamp out such a beautiful creature, a creature that helps represent what is wild and great about California, are the evil ones. Central Valley Salmon are a historical, cultural part of California.
I have a great passion for them, my family depends on them and we are willing to go to great lengths to save them. Does that make us devils too?
It is nice to see some Butte Creek Spring Run Salmon in the picture for the article. Our wild juvenile salmon begin moving out of the watershed in November and December and into the delta in January and February. That is one of the reasons they have survived fairly well, riding the higher flows of the winter out to the bay. In 2009 we had the lowest run in over 12 years, just 2,561, down from an average of nearly 10,000. Since 1995 most of the Butte Creek diversions have been laddered and screened and flows guaranteed for the fish. Now someone wants to suck the few juveniles we now have left into the inner delta and complete confusion while they try to ride the higher flows out to the ocean. We won't know for 3 years how detrimental this could be for the last best run of wild spring run salmon (endangered) but you can bet this will affect them!
This story has incorrectly, and irresponsibly really, misled its readers in its writing of distorted facts. One example, "Westland's move could put the survival of the river's salmon—and California and Oregon's multi-billion dollar commercial and recreational salmon fishing industry—on the line.." is a blatant dramatization that assumes readers will be easily polarized simply by believing what is written. In fact, what Westlands got was a temporary increase in Delta pumping that WOULD NOT HARM the species.
This ruling is a rare and temporary example of everyone winning, albeit short term; Fish are not being harmed this time of year and farmers are receiving a water boost. Everyone is getting along. Hurray!
This author is a prime example of someone who needlessly continues to stir the anger pot with one-sided personal opinions intended to infuriate readers with incomplete facts.
Westland's argument was that this time of the year no endangered Winter-Run Chinook are in the area of the pumps, the salmon that are there right now are the Fall-Run Chinooks that are not endangered. True, the Fall Run are not on the endangered list, but they are the one run that ALL commercial salmon fisheries from Morro Bay up to the OR/WA Border depend on. Thank you very much for your consideration.
p.s. go watch some more Hannity, he'll give you the "complete facts"
The stark reality is that the central valley is a desert. The only reason agriculture exists here at all is due to the water subversions done by the federal government at the expense of the taxpayers, dollars that have never and will never get reimbursed. The salmon thrived here long before anyone tried to farm the valley and I do not understand how anyone can make a moral argument that they have "water rights" here. The only basis lies in the political clout that has has been realized due to the vast wealth of some in the valley.....better known as "agribusiness".
Nothing in California is as it was originally. The area around your house was home to critters that may now be on the endangered species list. Should that land your house is on be converted back to as it was before humans showed up. The delta is not even in its natural state. It is built from thousands of miles of levees. Many of the wetlands that were originally around the delta are now gone. This has been done at the expense to wildlife!!! Should that all be changed back? Nevermind all the homes, farms and businesses in the area. Why should some areas be forced one way when others are being forced the opposite way. How does this make any sense to anybody??? Just because we are a business we don't deserve water??? We can't all have goverment jobs, it won't work. For all of our sakes we need to find ways to fix the problems. It is not going to work for California to keep going down this road that we are on.
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