Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3704 Feb 2-16, 2018 | Page 5

VOL . 37 • ISS . 04

What ’ s on your mind ? Do you have something you ’ d like to share with us and our readers ? A picture ... a story ... a question to ask , or an answer to another ?

Let ’ s hear your compliments , or your gripes ! Whatever it is , send it to : HEY , DAN !, c / o Fish Sniffer Publications , The Fish Sniffer - P . O . Box 776 , Colfax , CA 95713 , or you can now e-mail it at danielbacher @ fishsniffer . com . Please enclose a self-addressed , stamped envelope for the return of pictures or text . Thanks !

Stop Reclamation Plan to Maximize Delta Water Exports !

Hey Dan !

A new proposal by the Trump Administration to maximize water deliveries from the Central Valley Water Project comes at a time when salmon returns and Delta Smelt numbers have reached record lows . This proposal could impact flows on the Sacramento , Feather , American , San Joaquin , Trinity , and Klamath Rivers .

When coupled with the impacts of the Twin Tunnels proposal and the Sites reservoir proposal , this plan could be the final blow to salmon runs and commercial and recreational fishing economies .

These increased diversions would also impact the quality of the drinking water supply for 25 million Californians .

Beyond the massive impacts to the San Francisco Bay Delta it tributary rivers and Tribes , this plan could also increase diversions from the Klamath ’ s River ’ s largest and coldest tributary , the Trinity River . Increased diversions would impact California ’ s three largest Tribes , the Yurok , Karuk and Hoopa Valley Tribes , which are dependent on salmon as a major food source .

The Tribes have fought tirelessly to increase flows and take down dams to restore salmon runs in the Klamath River watershed . Despite these efforts salmon returns have never been lower , and widespread poverty , poor diets , and suicides have resulted from the loss of salmon .

In fact just last year , Californian ’ s salmon fleet and Tribes suffered a tremendous blow as California declared disaster due to record low salmon returns . The Klamath River suffered the worst salmon returns in history , and the Sacramento / Bay Delta Run only had 230,700 projected salmon returning , down from 650,000 only years before .

These low salmon numbesr were directly the result of water managers letting the majority of juvenile salmon die during California ’ s drought . In the Klamath River upwards of 90 % of juvenile salmon died due to low flows three years in a row , and in the Sacramento River 98 % of winter run salmon died in just one year , and the Delta smelt populations are now reduced to just a hand full of fish .

Despite these crises the Trump administration wants to take more water from our rivers .

The new proposal would not only call for maximizing water deliveries and power generation , but also to increase storage opportunities ( new dams ) and increase export capabilities ( new diversions and tunnels ), and it would undermine the Endangered Species Act .

This plan will reward California ’ s richest corporate agriculture interests for their support of Donald Trump who famously said water going to the ocean is wasted .

New efforts from the state of California and Winnemem Wintu Tribe to provide fish passage for salmon and restore flows and habitat for fish are threatened by this proposal . It is time for California to fight back .

Send written comments to Katrina Harrison , Project Manager , Bureau of Reclamation , Bay-Delta Office , 801 I Street , Suite 140 , Sacramento , CA 95814-2536 ; fax to ( 916 ) 414-2425 ; or email at kharrison @ usbr . gov .

Public hearings will be in Sacramento on January 23 at 2pm at the Stanford Room , 650 Capitol Mall in Sacramento , with a rally at 1pm , in Chico January 25 at 6 at the CSU Chico - BMU Chico , California 95928 .

~ Regina Chichizola , Save California Salmon

Hey Regina !

Thanks for all of your efforts to restore the salmon and other fish populations in the Sacramento , Feather , American , San Joaquin , Trinity and Klamath rivers and the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary .

It is crucial that every angler who wants to keep salmon fishing in our rivers and the ocean in the future send a letter to the Bureau of Reclamation to stop this water grab .

I completely agree with you that this federal plan , when combined with the impacts of the Delta Tunnels plan and the Sites reservoir proposal , could be the final blow to salmon runs and commercial and recreational fishing economies .

~ Dan

Assemblyman Fraser Blasts Alleged Illegal Communications Between DWR , Water Board

Hey Dan !

SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Jim Frazier , D-Discovery Bay , issued the following statement today ( January 180 ) in response to alleged unlawful ex parte communications between the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources regarding the proposed Delta tunnels outlined in complaints filed by Delta region local governments , public agencies and advocacy organizations .

“ If these allegations are true , it attests that DWR has been illegally manipulating the process in favor of the disastrous tunnels project and doing it behind closed doors . I ’ m appalled that the State Water Board would show such bias and not represent the whole state but only a portion of the state .

These allegations are more of the same unethical , unprofessional and illegal behavior by DWR that we have seen in the past , exposed by a recent State Auditor ’ s report .

The public , especially residents of the Delta , deserve to have confidence that the process is fair , transparent and focused on what is best for all Californians , not just the interests of a few .

I am grateful to the local governments and advocacy organizations in the Delta for bringing these apparent violations – discovered through a Public Records Act request – to light . I join them in calling for a full investigation into the prohibited communications alleged in the complaints .”

Assemblymember Frazier represents the 11th Assembly District , which includes the communities of Antioch , Bethel Island , Birds Landing , Brentwood , Byron , Collinsville , Discovery Bay , Fairfield , Isleton , Knightsen , Locke , Oakley , Pittsburg ( partial ), Rio Vista , Suisun City , Travis AFB , Vacaville and Walnut Grove .

~ Andrew Bird , Andrew Bird - Communications Director for Assemblymember Jim Frazier

Hey Andrew !

That ’ s a superb response to the alleged unlawful exparte communications between the Water Board and the Department of Water Resources regarding the proposed Delta Tunnels . I agree with the protestants that the California Water Fix be Hearing be delayed for 90 days . I also support a full investigation into the illegal communications alleged in the complaints .

~ Dan

New Melones Reservoir , located in the Mother Lode near Angels Camp , hasbeen producing some huge holdover rainbow trout for trollers and shore anglers this winter . Joe Wells of Modesto landed this gorgeous rainbow while trolling at New Melones with Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing on January 17 . He nailed the fish on a homemade spoon behind 4 colors of leadcore line , about 12 feet deep , in the Angels Creek arm of the reservoir .

Photo by MONTE SMITH , Gold Country Sport Fishing , Oakdale .

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CALIFORNIA-NEVADA EDITION “ The No . 1 Newspaper Dedicated Entirely To Northern California Sportsmen !” Published By NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ANGLER PUBLICATIONS , INC . The Fish Sniffer P . O . Box 776 , Colfax , CA 95713 Toll-Free ( 800 ) 748-6599 www . fishsniffer . com

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