New Study by NRDC and Fishing Groups on Salmon and the Delta

From the press release:

The report, “Fish Out of Water: How Water Management in the Bay-Delta Threatens the Future of California’s Salmon Fishery,” describes how the State Water Project and Central Valley Project contribute to declining salmon populations, by reducing the availability of water necessary for migration and spawning, killing tens of thousands of juvenile salmon by sucking them into giant pumps used to export water, and blocking salmon’s migration route with their dams. The report comes on the heels of a federal court ruling that water project operations in the Central Valley jeopardize the survival of several salmon runs, and a few months after state and federal agencies closed California’s commercial salmon fishery for the first time ever due to record low numbers of fish returning to spawn.

Get the full report here.

Peripheral Canal Is Best Strategy To Save Delta Ecosystem, Ensure Reliable Water Supply - PPIC

The Public Policy Institute of California releases a new report suggesting a peripheral anal is the best solution to help save the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. The PPIC is perceived as one of the few actors in the Delta battle that is truly independent and their voice carries considerable weight.

Needless to say, this issue will loom large in the upcoming documentary.

Here's the press release. The report can also be downloaded there.

The San Francisco Chronicle coverage is here.

Here's Dan Walters take on the report.

Mixed Ruling for Central Valley Salmon

From the LA Times: "A federal judge struck a largely symbolic blow for imperiled salmon and steelhead Friday, declaring that the state's vast water-export system is putting the fish at risk but rejecting environmentalists' key demands for change."

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Huge bond plan to revamp state water system

This piece in the SF Chronicle rolls out the effort by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein for a bipartisan plan to solve the state's water woes. It seems to have a taste for everyone on all sides of the storage, irrigation and environmental issues, but at $9 billion is it realistic?