Merced Sun-Star – Many farmers are caught in a battle over the State Water Resources Control Board’s final Bay Delta Plan, released in early July, which proposes that dams release 40 percent of the natural flows in rivers to benefit the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from February through June. Water shortages are the primary threat to agriculture in Merced, Stanislaus, and southern San Read More…

Modesto Bee – There’s no doubt members of the State Water Resources Control Board don’t want to hear another word about their water grab from farmers, elected leaders, economists, irrigation districts or especially newspaper columnists. But how about some of the state’s most respected scientists? How about the “Delta Watermaster”? How about people who have been shoulder-deep Read More…

Manteca Bulletin – Research aimed at boosting the population of threatened fish as well as assuring future water deliveries for South County farms and cities continues on the Stanislaus River. The stakes of the research financed by the South San Joaquin Irrigation District and Oakdale Irrigation District are high. And they aren’t just limited to the Stanislaus River watershed. Research Read More…

Fox And Hounds – A new environmental study, published in in the prestigious North American Journal of Fisheries Management, reveals that Governor Jerry Brown’s State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) imposed so-called pulse-flow release requirements on water rights holders affecting several California rivers, operating from unproven beliefs the study now shows were without sufficient Read More…

Yuba Net – Less than 4,000 salmon spawned in the Yuba River in 2016 according to a Monitoring Update from the Yuba Accord River Management Team. Such low numbers have not been seen since the California Salmon Stock Collapse of 2007 and 2008 when the estimated total for the Yuba River was 2,604 and 3,508 salmon, respectively. Over the last 30 years, the average annual estimate exceeds 15,000 Read More…

Ecological Reserves News – The streams and tributaries that feed the Upper Sacramento River of Northern California are critical habitats for several species of salmonids listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Act, and as a result many have become some of the most well-studied creeks. Big Chico Creek, a 45-mile waterway that runs through the heart of Chico, California, is one Read More…

Smith-Root – The 7 year drought in California has come to an end. Despite near record precipitation, Southern California still has a huge need to import large volumes of water from Northern California. Several government agencies and private companies are responsible for not only transferring water in large canals to Southern California, but they are also responsible for monitoring the Read More…

My Mother Lode – The volume of water being flushed down the Stanislaus River for fall fish flows can effectively be cut by half. So says a recently released long-term study by researchers from FISHBIO in Oakdale that focused on the fall pulse flows and their impact on adult salmon migration. The findings point out a clear need for reassessing the allocation to better balance beneficial Read More…

The Manteca Bulletin – For years, the Bureau of Reclamation has tried to comply with the Endangered Species Act when it comes to protecting Chinook salmon and steelhead on the Stanislaus River by releasing more and more water. Legislation signed by President Obama in the waning days of his administration contains specific language requiring federal agencies to work with the South San Read More…

The Modesto Bee – A new study concludes that salmon have not benefited much from autumn water releases into the lower Stanislaus River. The research by the Fishbio consulting firm backs up claims by the Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts that the October releases are wasting water from New Melones Reservoir. The “pulse flows” are done on San Joaquin River Read More…