Tuesday November 26, 2024
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance —
On November 19, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a letter to PG&E about a major canal break and two canal blockages in 2023 at PG&E’s DeSabla-Centerville Hydroelectric Project on Butte Creek. The canal break had extremely damaging environmental effects. FERC’s letter called the canal break “preventable” and deemed it a violation of the Project’s license.
Butte Creek contains the only run of spring-run Chinook in the Central Valley that is considered “viable.” CSPA has been working to protect this keystone run of fish since 2003.
On August 9, 2023, the Butte Creek Canal developed a hole through which water entirely breached the structure and caused major erosion and a mudslide down a hill into Butte Creek. The creek turned orange with a massive amount of sediment. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) estimates that 51-55 of the 95 documented spring-run Chinook salmon that migrated to Butte Creek to spawn in 2023 died as a result of the elevated turbidity in Butte Creek. Steelhead and foothill yellow-legged frogs, which like spring-run Chinook salmon are both listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, were also harmed. Aquatic insects and water quality also suffered, both in the short and long term.