Kern watershed runoff just a trickle of normal

The Bakersfield CalifornianThis year is shaping up to among the driest in more than a century for the Kern River."Historic is the nicest way to put it," said Tom Moore, owner of Sierra South Mountain Sports in Kernville.The driest year on record for the Kern River was 1961 when the river flowed into Lake Isabella at 19 percent of normal. The latest survey reported inflow as 20 percent of Read More…

Sacramento settles key piece of sewage battle

The Sacramento BeeThe Sacramento region has agreed to proceed with removing ammonia from its sewage effluent, settling a key area of dispute in a legal battle over protecting water quality in the Delta.In the settlement reached Friday, The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District agreed it will no longer fight the terms of a state permit, issued in 2010, that requires the capital region to Read More…

Report: Healthier Delta will require policy, management changes

CVBTThe governor’s plan for massive, 35-mile long twin tunnels buried 150 feet underground to siphon off Sacramento River water before it can flow naturally into the Delta is not getting an automatic stamp of approval in a new report from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.Instead, it’s saying that to improve the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta what’s needed Read More…

Buoy to gauge bay’s changing chemistry

The San Francisco ChronicleA towering crane lowers an instrumented oceangoing buoy into the water next to Pier 15 on Monday. The buoy will measure the bay's changing chemistry as greenhouse gases turn the world's oceans acidic. Top: Christopher Raleigh (right), Romberg Tiburon Marine Center field manager and Exploratorium consultant, and Noe Garza (left), Sheedy Crane ironworker, guide the buoy's Read More…

Japan tsunami debris confirmed in California

Discovery NewsA small skiff recently washed ashore near Crescent City, Calif. But this was no ordinary ship — it floated there all the way from Japan, dislodged from its native land more than 25 months ago by a monster tsunami, government scientists have confirmed.It's the first confirmed piece of debris to wash up in the state of California from the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit Read More…

Cormorant hazing saves juvenile salmon on Oregon Coast

The OregonianGreg Hublou takes a quick pass through upper Tillamook Bay and spots his quarry.A flock of 70 double-crested cormorants sit near the confluence of the Tillamook and Trask rivers. He guns his big jet sled, makes a hard turn around a string of pilings and skims over the water toward the birds.The cormorants -- feeding on out-migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead -- take wing and flee Read More…

Warming sea temperatures drive fish stocks northward

FISSea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Northeast Fisheries Science Centre (NEFSC). These high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are the latest in a trend of above average temperature seen during the Read More…

Mekong countries push sustainability

Vietnam NetA prosperous and environmentally sustainable Mekong region would build a strong and united ASEAN and contribute to maintaining peace, stability, co-operation and development in Asia and the world, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said at a meeting of the Lower Mekong countries held in HCM City on Thursday, April 25."We believe in the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and its great Read More…

Mekong Delta poorly funded to tackle climate change

Vietnam NetParts of An Giang Province are underwater in the flood season but face acute freshwater shortage in the dry season. The province is in dire need of dredging more than 600 canals, which will cost an estimated VND320 billion (US$15.32 million).So far, the province has put together its limited resources to dredge 150 canals in most dry areas so that water can flow to rice cultivable Read More…

EPA: Alaska mine project could hurt salmon streams

BusinessweekBuild-out of a large-scale mine near the headwaters of a world-class salmon fishery in Alaska could wipe out as many as 90 miles of streams and alter stream flows, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a revised assessment released Friday.The report said mining activity would claim at least 24 miles of streams in the Bristol Bay region, based on the scenarios evaluated, Read More…