VOL . 43 • ISS . 3 March 8 , 2024

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ACRAMENTO - Like a braineating zombie that never dies , the Delta Tunnel project keeps rising from the dead , despite massive opposition from the people of California In the latest episode in the revival of this undead project by the Newsom Administration , the Californian Department of Water Resources ( DWR ) on Feb . 22 submitted a Change in Point of Diversion Petition for the Delta ConveyanceProject to the State Water Resources Control Board . In her letter to the Water Board accompanying the petition , DWR Director Karla Nemeth stated , “ Specifically , the petition seeks to add two points of diversion and rediversion to the water rights for the State Water Project ( SWP ) necessary for the construction and operation of new SWP water diversion and conveyance facilities . The Project is a critical element of a broader State effort to protect the reliability of statewide water supplies from earthquakes and weather-driven climate extremes .” “ The proposed new points of diversion include two intakes ( Intakes B and C ) located along the Sacramento River eastern bank between Freeport and the Sacramento River confluence with Sutter Slough , each with a maximum capacity of 3,000 cubic feet per second ( cfs ) ( up to a combined maximum rate of 6,000 cfs ). Intakes B and C would be 1,574 and 1,528 feet in length along the riverbank , respectively , and would include state-of-the-art cylindrical tee fish screens , intake structures , sedimentation basins , sediment drying lagoons , flow control structures , intake outlet channel and intake outlet shaft , embankments , and other appurtenant structures ,” Nemeth said . However , environmental groups disagreed strongly with DWR ’ s rosy assessment of the project . They note that the tunnel will divert large volumes of water out of the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary , even though state scientists recognize more water is needed for the recovery of the state ’ s iconic Chinook salmon and steelhead populations . They also point out that the water will instead go to industrial agricultural operations and water agencies south of the Delta and outside of the watershed . “ Governor Newsom recently released a ‘ salmon strategy ’ to restore the state ’ s imperiled salmon fishery , but his plan fails to provide a science-based solution for the state ’ s largest salmon runs , which spawn in the San Francisco Bay-Delta watershed ,” according to a statement from the San Francisco Baykeeper . “ Instead , Newsom ’ s ‘ strategy ” calls for urban and agricultural water districts to reduce their water use voluntarily , and provides no safeguards for Bay-Delta water flows .” Baykeeper and a number of other environmental , tribal , community , and government entities have filed multiple lawsuits to stop the Delta Tunnel project . The California State Water Resources Control Board - responsible for maintaining the health of the state ’ s waterways — has the authority either to issue or deny the agency ’ s permit application , according to the Baykeeper . “ Governor Newsom is on a fast track to drive Bay-Delta salmon populations into extinction ,” said San Francisco Baykeeper managing attorney Eric Buescher . “ Most scientists recognize that the Delta tunnel will accelerate the salmon ’ s decline . And , Newsom ’ s so-called ‘ salmon strategy ’ fails to provide any protections for these iconic fish in the Bay ’ s watershed , or for the people who depend on them .” “ Governor Newsom ’ s Delta tunnel would harm all of the communities that depend on the Bay and its tributary rivers , degrade the Bay ’ s water quality , and further decimate ecosystems that are already in crisis . Yet , the governor is hell-bent on sending more of the Bay ’ s fresh water to unsustainable industrial agriculture and to big cities outside of the watershed ,” Buescher stated . “ If the California State Water Resources Control Board follows its mission to protect the health of California ’ s waterways , it will have no choice but to deny Governor Newsom ’ s destructive project ,” he argued . New DWR petition faces scrutiny over discriminatory practices in Delta management The Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition also slammed DWR ’ s submission of the petition , pointing out that it was submitted despite the SWRCB being under investigation by the US Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) for a Title VI Civil Rights complaint . The complaint , filed by the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition ( DTEC ), comprised of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians , the Winnemem Wintu Tribe , Buena Vista Rancheria , Restore the Delta , and Little Manila Rising , was accepted by the EPA in August 2022 . “ The complaint outlines the SWRCB ’ s discriminatory mismanagement of water quality in the San Francisco Bay / Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed as well as the disparate impacts of the state ’ s failure to regulate the Delta watershed on the surrounding community . Notably , it requests the completion of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Plan before the SWRCB considers the change in the point of diversion for the Delta tunnel ,” the DTEC said in a statement . The EPA accepted DTEC Coalition ’ s complaint for investigation , engaging with DTEC and the SWRCB in two related processes for resolution . “ The DWR petition proposes two points of diversion and rediversion to water rights for construction of the tunnel , however , it fails to disclose the Title VI Civil Rights complaint and the current investigation ,” the Coalition said . Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla , Executive Director of Restore the Delta , expressed disappointment with DWR ’ s filing with the State Water Board . She stated , “ DWR , speaking on behalf of the State Water Resources Control Board ’ s actions while our petition for relief is under investigation with the US EPA , reveals the lack of proper regulatory distance between the Newsom Administration ’ s pro-tunnel agenda and State regulators tasked with protecting and considering impacts on all water users and related parties throughout the state .” Barrigan-Parrilla pointed out that DWR has “ overlooked significant concerns of Delta environmental justice communities and tribes in its Environmental Impact Report for the project . This is especially concerning given DWR ’ s claim that the tunnel will address water challenges for all environmental justice communities and tribes , revealing the divide and conquer tactics being used by the Newsom Administration . Barrigan-Parilla also highlighted the State Water Resource Control Board ’ s failure to complete and implement a Bay-Delta Plan that addresses the documented needs of Delta tribes and environmental justice communities .” “ The Newsom Administration ’ s handling of Delta management is riddled with discriminatory practices . We are extremely disappointed in the Governor ’ s leadership in California water , which contradicts the image that he cultivates as a social justice leader ,” concluded Barrigan-Parrilla . The SWRCB is set to review the petition and will follow with a public notice detailing their public review process , according to DTEC . Delta Smelt is functionally extinct in the wild , salmon runs collapse The petition was submitted as the San Francisco Bay-Delta Ecosystem suffers from its worst-ever ecological crisis . For the sixth year in a row , no Delta Smelt were collected in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ’ s Fall Midwater Trawl ( FMWT ) Survey in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from September through December 2023 . Once the most abundant species in the entire estuary , the Delta Smelt has declined to the point that it has become functionally extinct in the wild . The 2 to 3 inch fish , found only in the Delta , is an “ indicator species ” that shows the relative health of the San Francisco Bay / Delta ecosystem . “ No Delta Smelt were collected at any stations from September through December ,” reported Taylor Rohlin , Environmental Scientist for the CDFW Bay Delta Region , in a memo

By Dan Bacher

published on Jan . 25 . Meanwhile , the other pelagic species collected in the survey — striped bass , Longfin Smelt , Sacramento Splittail and thread fin shad — continued their dramatic decline since 1967 when the State Water Project went into effect . Between 1967 and 2020 , the state ’ s Fall Midwater Trawl abundance indices for striped bass , Delta smelt , longfin smelt , American shad , splittail and threadfin shad have declined by 99.7 , 100 , 99.96 , 67.9 , 100 , and 95 %, respectively , according to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance . Salmon fishing season was closed last year on the ocean waters of California and in all of the state ’ s rivers , due to the low numbers of returning fall-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento and Klamath Rivers . Endangered Sacramento River spring and winter-run Chinook continue their march towards extinction . The spawning escapement of Sacramento River Spring Chinooks ( SRSC ) in 2023 totaled 1,479 fish ( jacks and adults ), with an estimated return of 106 to upper Sacramento River tributaries and the remaining 1,391 fish returning to the Feather River Hatchery . The return to Butte Creek of just 100 fish was the lowest ever . In 2021 , an estimated 19,773 out of the more than 21,580 fish total that returned to spawn in the Butte County stream perished before spawning Nor did the winter run , listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Act , do well . Spawner escapement of endangered Sacramento River Winter Chinook ( SRWC ) in 2023 was estimated to be 2,447 adults and 54 jacks , according to the Review . A group of us , including the late conservationist and Fish Sniffer magazine publisher Hal Bonslett , successfully pushed the state and federal governments to list the winter run under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts starting in 1990-91 because we were so alarmed that the fish population had crashed to 2,000 fish . Then in 1992 the run declined to less than 200 fish . Even after Shasta Dam was built , the winter run escapement to the Sacramento River was 117,000 in 1969 ! Now we are back to approximately the same low number of winter-run Chinooks that spurred us to push for the listing of the fish as endangered under state and federal law over 30 years ago . This demonstrates why the Winnemem Wintu Tribe ’ s plan to build a fishway to enable the winter run Chinooks to again spawn in the McCloud River above Shasta Reservoir is so important ! For the past two years , the Winnemem and the U . S . and state governments have worked together in a program reintroducing winter Chinooks to their native habitat in the McCloud River above Shasta Reservoir .