House Passes Salmon-Killing Drought Relief Bill

House Passes Salmon Killing Drought Relief Bill

by Dan Bacher

In spite of intense opposition by fishermen, environmentalists, Indian Tribes and Northern California Representatives, the U.S. House of Representatives on December 9 passed "drought relief" legislation, H.R. 5781, that would eviscerate protections for Delta smelt, Chinook salmon and other fish species.

The bill’s author, Rep. David G. Valadao (CA-21) claimed the bill would “improve the dire drought conditions currently threatening California” and “ would provide operational flexibility for the two California State water projects in order to immediately provide relief to hardship caused by water supply shortages.”

The vote passed by a tote of of 230-182. Original cosponsors including Reps. David G. Valadao (CA-21), Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Ken Calvert (CA-42), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Tom McClintock (CA-04), and Devin Nunes (CA-22) released the following statement following the passage of the legislation:

"Californians are suffering and this bill will provide them with the immediate relief they desperately need. The House of Representatives has recognized the importance of this legislation, not just for California, but for our entire nation. The drought is a natural disaster, and like any other disaster, deserves immediate action. Earlier this year, the House and Senate both passed drought-relief bills, and we entered negotiations to try and find middle ground. Every time we return home, we see how much pain this drought continues to cause. In order to get this bill across the finish line in time for the rainy season, House Republicans included many provisions from the Senate’s own legislation as well as agreed upon language from negotiations in the bill passed in the House today.

Unfortunately, Barbara Boxer and many of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate have not shown the same commitment to achieving a solution to the California water crisis as House Republicans have, and they remain opposed even to bipartisan compromise. It is time the Senate recognize the severity of this situation and act on this legislation before they adjourn for the year.” (http://valadao.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397975#sthash.oozx5Dh1.dpuf)

Ironically, the biggest storm of the decade moved into northern California the day after Congress passed the “drought relief bill,” with record amounts of rain documented in a number of locations throughout the north state.

The legislation has little chance of passage in the Senate this year, due to opposition by Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, but you can expect a similar bill to be introduced in the new Congress and Senate next year. Fortunately, both the Brown and Obama administrations also announced their opposition to the bill.

According to a statement from the White House, “The Administration opposes H.R. 5781 because it fails to equitably address critical elements of California's complex water challenges. H.R. 5781 makes operational determinations regarding the use of limited water resources during the ongoing drought, and contains many new provisions that could lead to unintended consequences or further litigation. The Administration cannot support the bill in its current form.”

In a letter, John Laird, California Natural Resources Secretary, announced the Brown administration's opposition to H.R. 5781 while touting the passage of the controversial water bond, Proposition 1:

"Coming off a year where more progress has been made on water policy in California than any time in recent years – with broad support evident in the electorate for this strategy – this is no time to reignite water wars, move water policy back into the courts, and try to pit one part of the state against another. For this reason, the administration opposes HR5781. Our collective energies should be devoted to a long-term solution for California’s water needs in a way that rewards working together as opposed to dividing interests, just as the successful campaign for the water bond recently did. We stand ready to work with the supporters and opponents of HR5781 to that end.”
(http://mavensnotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Brown-Administration-opposes-HR5781.pdf)

Delta smelt and salmon protections had little impact on pumping in 2014

For many years, corporate agribusiness interests and their Astroturf groups, including the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta and the Latino Water Coalition, have blamed Endangered Species Act protections for Delta smelt and Central Valley Chinook salmon for creating an alleged "Dust Bowl" on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

However, the campaign to blame Delta smelt and salmon for reductions in Delta exports was shown to be a big “red herring,” pardon the pun, when Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Governor Jerry Brown's Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels, and researchers from California Water Research of Santa Cruz revealed that Delta smelt and salmon protections had little impact on water pumping operations from the Delta in 2014.

Federal biologists reported to the Delta Stewardship Council at its November 20, 2014 meeting that Delta water exports were governed by the biological opinions for Delta smelt and salmon just 36% of the time that they were in effect in the first half of 2014.

Through scattered periods from February to May, state and federal water export pumps were restricted in the South Delta for Delta smelt protections a total of 21 days, while salmon biological restrictions totaled 36 days, according to the scientists.

Deirdre Des Jardins, principal with California Water Research, explained, “This just means that the biological opinions were in effect, not that they had any real effect on water exports.”

In fact Mike Chotkowsi, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, told the Delta Stewardship Council in November that because of dry and low flow conditions, Delta smelt stayed “largely in the Sacramento River side of the estuary, and the result is we had relatively few concerns about Delta smelt. The Fish and Wildlife Service did not issue any determinations in water year 2014 that affected water operations. There were essentially no salvage of Delta smelt adults this past year and there was very low salvage of larvae."

Federal biologists also explained at the November DSC meeting that they found that the main constraints on exports from the Delta were reduced reservoir releases and low Sacramento River flows, according to their “Annual Report of Activities.”

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, said the biologists’ findings contradict claims that endangered species regulations protecting Delta smelt and salmon species are responsible for low Delta exports during the drought.

“Such claims are used by Congressional supporters of H.R. 5781, the supposed ‘drought relief’ bill,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “Clearly, they do not understand the facts, or they are deliberating misrepresenting the facts so as to convince other members of Congress to support the water grab for big industrial growers in the Westlands Water District.”

Even though this information was available in November, the House of Representatives nonetheless approved H.R. 5781.

“Its prospects for passage in the lame-duck Senate are poor this month, but there could be renewed legislative battles over the bill’s provisions in 2015,” she added. “This report shows that operations of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project were largely due to the effects of drought and can’t be blamed on the Endangered Species Act.”

“Reduced reservoir releases in early 2014 were due partly to low river flows and the need to harbor dwindling supplies to meet contractor demand,” said Restore the Delta Research and Policy Analyst Tim Stroshane. “What supplies remained also had to be balanced with the need by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to protect cold water supplies in reservoirs for use later in the summer and fall to help salmon returning to spawn upstream of the Delta.”

He emphasized, “In other words, these agencies were doing what the public expects: managing supplies for use throughout the year for both agricultural use and fisheries.”
The DOSS Group (Delta Operations for Salmonaids and Sturgeon) noted back on April 29 "flows are so low in the Sacramento River that fish might not be moving or be able to avoid the rotary screw traps."

Des Jardins explained, “The California Department of Fish and Wildlife trucked Nimbus (American River, east of Sacramento) and Coleman (Battle Creek, north of Chico) hatchery fish to San Pablo Bay, 30 miles west of the Delta, to overcome low flows, which obstructed young fish migrating to the Pacific Ocean in April, May, and June.”

“Early in 2014, the Bureau and DWR persuaded the State Water Resources Control Board to reduce minimum Delta outflow requirements to 3,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), but this caused problems with salinity intrusion for both agencies’ projects,” said Des Jardins.

She said reducing Delta outflow requirements helped somewhat with reservoir storage, but it reduced the amount of outflow that normally blocks incoming tidal flows to the Delta. State board water quality standards limit pumping when salt concentrations are high in the Delta, as they were during much of 2014.

“And neither DWR nor the Bureau wants to pump salt water to their customers south of the Delta. The report given to the Council stated that the main purpose of state board water quality objectives in effect was to manage salinity in the Delta,” she observed.

“With H.R. 5781 in place in 2014, the Bureau would have added insult upon injury delivering salty water supplies to the unemployed residents of Mendota and other drought-stricken communities of the San Joaquin Valley,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “Blaming their drought year problems on endangered species in the Delta is just plain misplaced.”

The Smelt Working Group, hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, monitors conditions affecting Delta smelt under a 2008 biological opinion on how to protect and recover its population. The Delta smelt was once the most abundant fish in the entire Delta.

As recently as 30 years ago, Delta smelt numbered in the hundreds of thousands of fish according to state fisheries data. Today, its population is estimated at a few thousand at best.

Unfortunately, the Brown administration continues to rush the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels. The $67 billion boondoggle would hasten the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as well as imperil the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.

For more information, go to http://www.restorethedelta.org