State Plan for 2022 Drought Sacrifices Delta Water Quality Standards,…

Restore the Delta — This week, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced its Initial State Water Project Allocation to prepare for a third year of drought. Within the allocation schedule the Department, along with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BuRec) is seeking once again to do away with Delta water quality standards and planning to leave in place a major saltwater Read More…

Water agency amends plans for Delta Tunnel

The Press — The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) amended a federal permit application last week to change to the preferred tunnel route for the proposed Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), a move that has Delta advocates questioning DWR’s long-term plans for the South Delta. The agency said the move was necessary to align the federal permit application – known as a Read More…

Cash payouts offered to catch brown trout in Colorado River

KNAU — National Park Service officials are offering anglers cash bonuses for catching brown trout in the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and the Paria River as part of the Brown Trout Winter Bonanza program. The invasive fish’s population has increased in recent years near Lees Ferry threatening downstream native fish species, which they feed on. Brown trout are susceptible to Read More…

Fish stranded from dam malfunction on Montana river

Merced Sun-Star — Wildlife workers and volunteers scrambled Wednesday to save thousands of fish stranded by an abrupt drop in water levels along a Montana river that's renowned among anglers for its high-quality trout fishing. A gate that lets water out of Hebgen Dam just west of Yellowstone National Park malfunctioned and caused flows into the Madison River to plummet early Tuesday morning, Read More…

In the wake of floods, what’s next for salmon?

High Country News — Standing outside his house in Blanchard, Washington, water up to his thighs, Kevin Morse watched in awe as a few salmon — usually found in a nearby creek — swam across his driveway. His son spotted several more later that night while ferrying friends across the property in a canoe. Morse is just one of thousands of people across western Washington and British Read More…

Kokanee salmon make a comeback in Zackuse Creek

Issaquah Reporter — After four years of restoration efforts by the Kokanee Work Group, kokanee salmon have been spotted returning to spawn at Zackuse Creek following a nearly 40-year absence. Zackuse Creek has historically been one of several streams used by kokanee as a spawning ground, but until recently, the area underneath East Lake Sammamish Parkway had been unpassable for fish, and Read More…

Recent ‘atmospheric river’ proved catastrophic for fall salmon…

Sacramento News and Review — The Mokelumne River was seeing an outstanding run of fall chinook salmon at the fish hatchery when the atmospheric river hit between Oct. 24 and 25. “We lost a lot of our fish,” said William Smith, manager of the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. “The Cosumnes River went up to 14,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) and every creek in the region came up with the Read More…

Tribal Communities Organize To Stop Sites Reservoir, Provide Clean…

Daily Kos — Tribal activists, drinking water advocates and commercial and subsistence fishers are  asking the public to stand with them in the fight for both the Trinity and Sacramento River salmon by supporting a California state process to restore flows in California’s largest rivers, and by fighting a proposal for a twenty square mile reservoir, the Sites Reservoir, according to a Read More…

California drought: State anticipates virtually no water deliveries…

San Francisco Chronicle — California water officials acknowledged Wednesday that another painful year of drought is likely, and warned the many communities receiving water from the State Water Project that they may get no water at all next year, except in cases of emergency. The record low 0% water allocation would leave parts of the state, including San Jose, much of the East Bay and Napa Read More…

Coho salmon run shatters record as steelhead numbers flop

East Oregonian — A record shattering number of coho salmon have made the long journey from their home streams to the Pacific Ocean and back. Nearly 24,000 coho salmon have passed through Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River — the last dam between the ocean and the Grande Ronde and Wallowa rivers. The prior record, set in 2014, saw 18,098 coho make their way past the Read More…