Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3818 August 16-30 | Page 28

26 August 16-30, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 18 Court Halts Westlands Water District’s Participation in Plan to Raise Shasta Dam SACRAMENTO – On July 31, Shasta County Superior Court Judge Dennis J. Buckley granted a preliminary injunction halting Westlands Water District’s participa- tion in a Bureau of Reclamation project to raise Shasta Dam. The injunction enjoins Westlands from “taking any action that constitutes planning for or construction of” the Shasta Dam raise. “The court has stopped Westlands Water District from moving forward with a project that would hurt the people and environ- ment in our state,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement. “Maybe others believe they’re above the law and can get away with it. But, in California, we’re prepared to prove otherwise.” Attorney General Becerra filed the lawsuiton May 13, 2019 to block Westlands from taking an unlawful action to assist in the planning and construction of a project to raise the height of the Shasta Dam, a project that is strongly opposed by the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, fishing groups and environ- mental organizations. Becerra said the project poses “significant adverse effects on the free-flowing condition of the McCloud River and on its wild trout fishery, both of which have special statutory protections under the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.” The Act prohibits any agency of the State of California, such as Westlands, from assisting or cooperating with actions to raise the Shasta Dam. In addition to the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Becerra, a coalition of fishing and environmental groups represented by Earthjustice has filed a separate suit. The coalition includes Friends of the River, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, and Golden Gate Salmon Association. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fisher- men’s Associations (PCFFA) reported that the injunction was a “huge win for salmon in California today as the Westlands Water District is ordered to stop aiding and abetting the illegal, fishing job killing Shasta dam raise project pending trial next year.” “The project would have inundated a California Wild and Scenic River, but most importantly for fishermen, would have resulted in a 100% contained Sacra- mento River, its flows trapped behind concrete and managed by policy (not nature) forever. We will beat Westlands, and we will kill this project,” the group vowed. The dam raise would inundate many of the remaining sacred sites of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe that weren’t inundated by the completion of Shasta Dam in the 1940s. The Winnemem Wintu, who have led the fight against the Shasta Dam raise for many years, commented in a Facebook post after the Attorney General filed the lawsuit: “Finally, a California state agency is pushing back against Westlands’ dam raise scam. Hopefully, the extent of this corrupt scene will *Trolling be revealed and Motors rejected.” *Fishfinders Caleen Sisk, Chief *GPS and Spiritual Leader *VHF of the Winnemem Radios Wintu Tribe, *Radar commented after the court decision, *Batteries “However, this and does not STOP the Chargers work to raise Shasta Dam! The Gover- Largest Service nor’s Department Center of Water Resources in the West! was absent at the BOR comment Marine Electronics Sales • Service • Installation Sunny’s Electric Marine ONE DAY SERVICE on Installations with appointment (916) 487-3868 The KFBK OUTDOOR SHOW 3507 1 Rated with your Outdoor Radio Show host for 26 years! # Bob Simms Fishing • Hunting • Destinations Conservation • History Dedicated to the Northern California Outdoorsman Listen Every Saturday Morning from 5 am to 8am on By Dan Bacher meetings in Sacramento and Chico this week. Will the Governor now sue the BOR or just wait until the April trial against Westlands?” “The BOR is approving the ROD in January on the new hand picked Trump scientists’ Biological Opinion that will not require the restoration of Salmon to include access to rivers above the rim dams. While it looks like a WIN, it will not STOP the Shasta DAM raise! What is the real game here?” Sisk asked. The Golden Gate Salmon Association also applauded the court ruling: “GGSA and allies, and the State of CA joined forces in court to stop the Westlands Water District from illegally acting to seize more water from the Sacramento Valley. Yesterday a court ruled in our favor. Big thanks to state AG Xavier Becerra and his team for great work to help salmon.” In an email to Courthouse News, Reclama- tion spokesperson Jeffrey Hawk said, “We have not reviewed the ruling, however such a ruling would not prevent Reclamation from moving forward with the Shasta Dam and Reservoir Enlargement Project.” I have requested a response to the ruling from the Westlands Water District, but haven’t received one yet. Yurok Tribe and Commercial Fishing Group File Lawsuit to Save Klamath Salmon! starting to rebound from previous disease outbreaks.” “The Yurok people depend on the Klamath’s salmon runs for survival and we should not have to bear the brunt of the agency’s poor decision-making. During the course of the water year, the Yurok Tribe repeatedly sought modification of the Plan to provide higher May-June flows, or barring that, at least the provision of an additional 20,000 acre-feet of water for emergency disease management flows,” stated James. “Stronger protections are needed for Klamath salmon to safeguard against deadly parasites,” said Patti Goldman, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Northwest regional office. “Infection rates among the young salmon have been especially high recently and we cannot afford to allow this trend to continue.” “Our folks in the commercial fishing industry also have no choice except to challenge this new Biological Opinion. It does not provide enough water, or enough protection, to prevent the extinction of salmon in the Klamath River that our coastal communities depend upon for their livelihoods,” said Glen Spain, NW Regional Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), which represents commercial salmon fishing families coastwide. “In short, the new BiOp is based on flawed science, unproven models and worst of all it jettisons key disease prevention flows the Courts have already determined are necessary. This is unacceptable.” “In March 2017 and again in April 2018, United States District Court Judge William H. Orrick, in response to a different lawsuit filed by the Tribe, Earthjustice and PCFFA, ordered the Bureau to release more water to curtail another disease outbreak from C. shasta,” according to the statement. “There is no provision for additional flows in the current BiOp to address the escalation in infection rates that took place earlier this year. One solution would be the reinstate- ment of the 2018 ruling, which would make more water available to prevent further damage to the coho and Chinook salmon populations. Increased water releases during disease outbreaks reduce disease transmis- sion to fish, speed outmigration away from infection zones, and generally improve water quality.” The Yurok Tribe, the largest Indian Tribe in California, and the Pacific Coast Federa- tion of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) on July 31 filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Marine Fisheries Service in response to low flows and high salmon disease rates under the federal agency’s new management plan for the Klamath River. The groups are represented by the environmental law firm Earthjustice. “The recently implemented Klamath Biological Opinion (BiOp) created environ- mental conditions that worsened an outbreak of the lethal pathogen Ceratonova shasta (C. shasta), infecting an observed majority of this year’s juvenile salmon,” according to a joint statement from the Tribe and PCFFA. “The Biological Opinion, issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service, is intended to ensure that the Bureau’s operations plan for the 225,000-acre Klamath Irrigation Project does not jeopardize the survival of federally listed fish and mammal species, such as coho salmon and southern resident killer whales.” “However, for several days in May, the Biological Opinion had the river flows for salmon at or near drought minimum at the same time Upper Klamath Lake was within one half of an inch of flooding. 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