November 2004 Conservation Notes

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An evening float under the new Sundial Bridge in Redding, CA

A Tale of Two Salmon Reports

As reported in last month's Conservation Notes, there is a slow-motion water grab occurring in the Delta. For the last year or so, water officials and large-scale water users have been pushing a plan that would increase the volume of water pumped out of the Delta by 27%. One of the agencies tasked with reviewing the environmental impact of these proposals is NOAA Fisheries. According to this article in the Contra Costa Times, it appears that there are two versions of NOAA's salmon impact report: one written late this summer by biologists at the NOAA fisheries office, and a second version that contained revisions by the agency's managers. Not surprisingly, the second version is much more favorable to the renewal of long-term water contracts in the Central Valley and to increasing the capacity of Delta pumps. A number of Democratic congress members are calling for an investigation into whether the report was politically manipulated.

The Complexity of Retiring the Matilija Dam

There are a few issues where both environmentalists and water utilities can agree. The Matilija Dam in Ventura County is one of those all-too-few cases. Both sides agree that the dam has outlived its usefulness and should be removed. The benefits, they hope, would include the restoration of eroded beaches downstream and one less barrier to endangered southern steelhead trout struggling to reach spawning habitat inland. More details about the long-term intricacies of retiring dams are available in this San Jose Mercury article.

Bush Administration Proposes Changes to Dam Licensing Rules

The Bush administration has proposed a little-noticed change in the rules governing the licensing of hydroelectric dams that would essentially give operators the exclusive right to a final appeal of Interior Department rulings, while at the same time excluding appeals made by states, environmental groups, and Indian tribes. To quote a recent SF Chronicle article on this issues, "...dam owners [would have] the opportunity to take their complaints – and suggested solutions – directly to senior political appointees in the Interior Department." Because over the next 15 years over half of the privately owned dams will be subject to relicensing, small rule changes like this can have an enormous impact on how these projects are operated for the next 30 to 50 years.

Tight Lines!

Rodney