Fish Sniffer Magazine Volume 44 Issue 03 | Page 21

VOL. 44 • ISS. 3 March 28, 2025
21

Coalition Demands Cancellation of Delta Tunnel Change Petition Over Failure to Submit Water Data

Sacramento- In the latest battle in the California water wars, a coalition of water advocates, Tribes, environmental justice organizations, and fishing organizations submitted a motion calling on the State Water Resources Control Board( SWRCB) to cancel the Department of Water Resources’( DWR) Change Petition for the Delta Conveyance Project( DCP). The demand comes after DWR“ repeatedly failed to comply with mandatory orders to submit historical water use data necessary for evaluating the Change Petition’ s potential impacts,” according to a press release from the coalition.“ DWR’ s Change Petition, filed in February 2024, seeks to modify its water rights permits to facilitate the proposed 45-mile-long underground tunnel, which would divert up to 6,000 cubic feet per second( cfs) of water from the Sacramento River,” the coalition wrote.“ However, the Administrative Hearing Officer( AHO) has repeatedly ruled that DWR must submit supplemental data on its historical maximum water diversions prior to 2009— critical information for determining whether DWR’ s requested changes would initiate a new water right.”“ Despite being granted multiple extensions, DWR has failed to provide the required data. The AHO has underscored that this information is essential to ensuring the proposed project adheres to existing legal limitations and does not harm other legal water users. Yet, at a February 18, 2025 hearing,
DWR admitted it had not submitted the bulk of the required supplemental information. When pressed, DWR’ s counsel claimed the delays were due to difficulties in reviewing historical records— despite previously stating that the information was readily available,” the coalition wrote.“ This is a clear case of stonewalling,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta.“ DWR is trying to push forward a massive water project without proving it has the legal right to do so. The Water Board cannot let DWR skirt the law at the expense of Delta communities and the environment.” On January 31, 2025, a coalition of protestors filed a Joint Motion demanding cancellation of the Change Petition under Water Code section 1701.4, arguing that DWR’ s repeated failures to submit required data render its petition invalid, the coalition revealed.“ While the AHO determined that she lacked authority to cancel the petition, she reiterated that the missing data is“ fundamental” to determining the project’ s legality and potential impacts.“ The law is clear: The Board must cancel DWR’ s change petition for the Delta Conveyance Project,” said Stephanie Prufer, student attorney, Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic.“ DWR has repeatedly failed to respond to the Administrative Hearing Officer’ s request for information about its past use of water to operate the State Water Project. This information is necessary to ensure that the Delta Conveyance Project will not interfere with legal users of water, exceed the scope of DWR’ s water rights, or otherwise impair the public interest. Because DWR has not shown good cause for its delays and because starting hearings without this information will prejudice DTEC and the other protestants and prevent a sound decision on DWR’ s change petition, we are asking the Board to swiftly cancel these proceedings as the Water Code requires.”“ Because DWR has refused to provide information it was ordered to, and because its application for a water right to operate the proposed Delta Conveyance Project remains woefully incomplete, we’ ve asked the State Board to do what California law requires: cancel DWR’ s petition until it actually has the necessary information and moves forward in a way that is both legal and consistent the project DWR is proposing,” said Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney with San Francisco Baykeeper.“ Failing to hold DWR to account gives it special treatment and status that contravenes California law and perpetuates the harms and inequities that California’ s water management has caused to Tribes, ecosystems, and communities, especially in the Delta.”“ The AHO also extended DWR’ s deadline yet again, pushing the required data submission to May 27, 2025— after critical hearings on DWR’ s casein-chief. Protestants argue that there was no justification for this extension, and that the postponement undermines due process and enables DWR to continue evading scrutiny,” the coalition concluded.

WHAT’ S HOT continued from page 2

This fish slammed a‘ Hot Steel’ pattern F-9 Rapala Floating Minnow trolled at 2.7 miles per hour on March 19 at New Melones Lake. Pan-sized fish like this are great for the grill if you wish to keep a few fish for dinner.
Photo by Jack Naves, Fish Sniffer Staff
ramp at 7:30am for a trout trolling trip. Our trip started out chilly, with temperatures in the thirties. Brian piloted his decked-out boat to the fishing grounds, and we prepared to drop four lines. Brian’ s boat is fully equipped with the latest stateof-the-art equipment. I was looking forward to seeing how he employs his Garmin live scanning sonar. Brian’ s live scanning transducer was mounted on a pole on the starboard side of his boat. He had it configured to point backwards towards our trolled lines which were between sixty and eighty feet back. We started trolling
This colorful rainbow trout was landed and released by Jack Naves on March 10. Jack was fishing with Brian Thomas of Three Sons Guide Service on New Melones Lake trolling a spoon 2.7 miles-per-hour at twenty feet deep.
Photo by Brian Thomas, Three Sons Guide Service
with our lines between eight and twenty-five feet deep on downriggers. We were clearly able to see our trolled spoons dancing on the screen! Suddenly, a fish appeared on the left side of the screen and made its way towards our lures. We could see it come up and look before peeling off and moving away. Only a few minutes later, Brian said he saw another fish, and his rear rod immediately got slammed! It was a feisty rainbow trout that he quickly released. The fishing started out slowly, so Brian worked some other spots until we found consistent action. His deep
rod was set at 27 feet on the downrigger, and I saw it pop out of the clip and double over out of the corner of my eye. This was a bigger fish, so I turned down the speed on Brian’ s kicker motor. It made several jumps, but we finally had it into the boat after I almost botched the net job! This rainbow trout was a larger model, with coloration more like a steelhead. After a few quick photos, the fish was released, and we were back in action with four rods in the water. We were running a variety of lures, but spoons were the top producers. Brian makes sure to add lots of gel scent to each lure, upping the odds of getting following trout to strike. We also ran F-9 Rapala Floating Minnows in the‘ Hot Steel’ color pattern, as well as my favorite Arctic Fox trolling flies. As the afternoon approached, we battled rainbows as deep as thirty-eight feet down on the downriggers. We finished our day around 1:00pm after catching about a dozen trout. I kept a couple of fish for dinner, and the rest of the trout we hooked are still out in the lake, ready for the next angler to come along. If you are in the mood for New Melones trout, but don’ t want to wait thirty days to have your boat quarantined, contact Brian Thomas at Three Sons Guide Service. He can be reached at 916-230-5324 or find him on the web. Kokanee season is just around the corner, and Brian is equipped for them as well, having come fresh off his 2024 Kokanee Power Angler of the Year championship.
Scent is a vital component to trout and salmon fishing. In this photo, the author is shown applying gel scent to a‘ Hot Steel’ pattern F-9 Rapala Floating Minnow. The recipe for success on a recent trip to New Melones Lake was Northwest Bait & Scent’ s‘ Trout Juju Sauce’ gel.
Photo by Brian Thomas, Three Sons Guide Service