| Bruce Tokars of Salmon Water Now has unveiled a new video, Railroaded Salmon (14:39), that looks at the state of affairs regarding the state and federal efforts to "fix" the Sacramento San Joaquin river Delta by way of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal.
You can watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... or Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31740676.
"The fate of wild salmon in California is destined to be determined by the political posturing that takes place deep in the weeds," said Tokars. "It's easy to get lost in the weeds because every issue related to salmon is complex. Most people have little time in their busy life to keep up with the details of who is pushing what and how a particular piece of legislation or court challenge will impact them.
"In the case of the effort to fix the most important ecosystem in California, the broken San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, the stakes are particularly important," Tokars emphasized.
This video looks at the BDCP (Bay Delta Conservation Plan) and highlights the voices of the biggest and most powerful players in the efforts that are "railroading" salmon. "The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Westlands Water District on the west side of the Central Valley have managed to inject their agenda into the process so seriously that the fate of wild salmon are critically threatened," said Tokars.
"The voices that represent farm water advocates will look at this video and proclaim again that anyone who disagrees with their position is an 'objectionist' and that if the opposition get their way, 'that would all but guarantee that California and its citizens have less water in the future' (a quote from the California Farm Water Coalition website)," he stated. "So at the risk of being labeled an 'objectionist,' Salmon Water Now points out that there is only so much water to go around and all of it has been spoken for.
Railroaded Salmon is yet another look at the way the BDCP is going. "It's a reminder that those who care about developing a rational, fair, and effective water future for California need to stay informed and involved," noted Tokars.
"As is always the case, sharing and embedding is encouraged. The struggle continues," he added.
The Obama and Schwarzenegger administrations are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral canal, in spite of massive opposition by Delta residents, family farmers, Indian Tribes, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, Indian Tribes, environmental justice communities, conservation groups and five Delta region U.S. Representatives. If constructed, the peripheral canal or tunnel would likely lead to the extinction of Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and other imperiled species.
The state and federal governments are pushing this plan even though all scientific evidence points to the fact that water exports out of the Delta must be reduced, not increased, to prevent the extinction of Central Valley salmon and Delta smelt.
One of the biggest fish kills in California history took place this year when over 11 million fish, including 9 million Sacramento splittail, were "salvaged" in the state and federal pumps in the Delta. The previous record salvage number for the splittail, a native minnow found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, was 5.5 million in 2006 (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/09/09/over-11-million-fish-salvaged-in-delta-death-pumps-since-january-1).
The fish "salvaged" at the "death pumps" of the state and federal water projects also include hundreds of thousands of threadfin shad, striped bass, American shad, white catfish and other species. The salvage numbers reveal that 742,850 threadfin shad, 514,921 American shad, 496,601 striped bass and 100,373 white catfish were "salvaged" between January 1 and September 7 of this year.
Agency staff also salvaged protected Sacramento River spring run chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt and green sturgeon, all listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts, in the pumping facilities. The salvage numbers list 35,560 Central Valley chinook salmon, 1,642 steelhead, 51 Delta smelt and 14 green sturgeon. In all, a total of over 11 milllion fish including 46 species were salvaged in the facilities since January 1.
While the salvage counts are certainly alarming, the overall loss of fish in and around the State Water Project and Central Valley Project facilities is believed to be much greater than the salvage counts. The actual loss could be 5 to 10 times the salvage numbers, according to "A Review of Delta Fish Population Losses from Pumping Operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta," prepared by Larry Walker Associates in January 2010 for the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (http://www.srcsd.com/pdf/dd/fishlosses.pdf).
This carnage took place during a water year when the state and federal projects pumped a record 6.5 million acre-feet of water from the Delta, according to government data compiled by Spreck Rosecrans at Environmental Defense. The previous record was 6.3 million acre-feet in 2005.
Railroaded Salmon
Watch it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Watch it on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31740676 |
