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[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 4/9/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

April 9, 2007

 

3. Watersheds

 

ALMON RUNS:

Salmon seasons opens with a trickle in Northern California - Associated Press

 

DELTA ISSUES:

Guest Column: County's voice must be heard; Fate of the Delta crucial to those who live here - Stockton Record

 

 

SALMON RUNS:

Salmon seasons opens with a trickle in Northern California

Associated Press – 4/8/07

 

California's sport salmon-fishing season opened this weekend, but many amateur anglers hopeful of landing a wild chinook came back disappointed.

 

"I've never seen it this slow," said Moe Morrison, 72, who went on his first fishing trip in 1964. The retiree from Mountain View gathered with hundreds sport fishers gathered at the Moss Landing Harbor in as early as 3 a.m. Saturday to buy tackle and pick up permits, but like many compatriots he never even had to get his net wet.

 

The slow start was an ominous omen to superstitious anglers still reeling after a dismal 2006. Last year, commercial fishermen faced restrictions on how much they could catch because of dangerously low salmon populations on the Klamath River, which begins in Oregon to become one of the longest rivers in California. Biologists blamed the dearth of chinook in part on unusually warm water, which killed some plankton on which salmon feed.

 

This year, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council has decided to allow as much fishing off the Oregon and California coasts because of improved runs, said Chuck Tracy, salmon staff officer for the council.

 

"Last year, the area of central Oregon and the California fishers were very constrained. This year, the Klamath Falls chinook has made a turnaround. They have basically as much fishing time as possible," Tracy said Friday.

 

But fishermen who headed out this weekend said they'd hope for better days in the months ahead. The sport-fishing season lasts through October. The commercial season is expected to begin in May.

 

"I've been going out on these boats for 20 years, and I have to say I'm worried about the fishery," said Lala Llacuna of Concord, who went fishing Saturday aboard Wacky Jacky, which departed from San Francisco's Fishermen's Wharf and traveled south to the waters off Half Moon Bay.

 

After several hours, fishermen aboard Wacky Jacky had hooked only two immature salmon that had to be released. The California Department of Fish and Game imposes a minimum size limit of 20 inches. #

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/08/state/n115341D92.DTL&hw=water&sn=041&sc=178

 

 

DELTA ISSUES:

Guest Column: County's voice must be heard; Fate of the Delta crucial to those who live here

Stockton Record – 4/8/07

By Michael Machado, California state senator, Linden

 

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been the subject of debate since migrants began to reclaim it in the 1800s for its pure beauty and abundant natural resource: water.

 

The California Aqueduct transports and pumps much of the Delta's water over the grapevine and into Southern California.

The burgeoning East Bay population similarly strains the Delta's precious and limited resource.

 

As an elected representative of San Joaquin County, I've followed water policy for 30 years and have watched helplessly as Northern and Southern California wage perennial water wars.

 

As California's population increases, it's time for those in San Joaquin County, home of the Delta, to participate actively in deciding the Delta's future.

 

Who allows Delta water to flow and who decides where?

 

CalFed, a collection of state and federal agencies and water stakeholders, was formed to address the Delta's environmental, water quality and supply and sustainability issues.

 

Unfortunately, due to increased political pressure from Southern California water exporters and northern Delta developers, CalFed hasn't been effective.

 

To reinvigorate interest in the Delta and address its increasing fragility due to development, Gov. Schwarzenegger formed a blue-ribbon committee to develop a new Delta vision by December.

 

Although post-partisan and progressive in thought, the committee benefits all interested parties except the Delta and San Joaquin County.

 

It's supported by a 41-member force of Northern and Southern California water exporters, special interests and developers. It includes only two San Joaquin County representatives.

 

Since San Joaquin County contains the majority of the Delta, this is where the greatest impact from further water export and development will be felt.

 

It's bewildering to think such talks might decide the future of our region and we're not even included. Without our participation, I fear no new ideas will be generated and no progress toward preserving the Delta will be made.

 

Should we let the Delta's most precious resource flow with the tide of the market to the highest bidder?

 

What about protecting arid and crowded Southern California's historical claim through a secure canal? Or should we say the truly sustainable option is allowing the Delta to return to its natural state?

 

Interested parties pose these questions time and again.

 

All parties must be present when determining the Delta's fate and deciding what entity is best suited to manage such an integral part of California's infrastructure.

 

Californians depend on the railroads, gas lines, levee system, and, of course, the water that runs through the Delta.

 

The Delta is important. We can't allow Northern and Southern California's special interests to amass water for their constituents.

 

Water isn't pork barrel. It's a precious and limited public resource that must be treated with respect.

 

We need to address the California population's water quality and supply needs while preserving the Delta's ecological and economical future.

 

It's a shame that water and economic interests outside the Delta focus more on what they believe they should have rather than preserving and sharing the resource today and in the future.

 

We don't have to repeat our mistakes of the past.

 

It's time to fight for vision and leadership. #

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070408/A_OPINION02/704080308/-1/A_OPINION06

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