Streams and Wetlands Impacts – California River Watch

Warming temperatures threaten an entire run of Chinook salmon, which California officials blame on drought, climate change and a Trump-era water policy. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Facing another summer of catastrophic fish kills, California lawmakers and fisheries managers on Tuesday blamed a Trump-era water policy and climate change for the sizzling water temperatures threatening to erase an entire run of Chinook salmon. “We’re witnessing the collapse of this iconic species right in front of our eyes,” said state Senator Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Santa Rosa. […]

Two of over 12,000 spring Chinook salmon that died in Butte Creek before spawning. Photo by Allen Harthorn, Friends of Butte Creek.

By: SN&R Staff August 5, 2021 By Dan Bacher In an extreme drought year where nearly all juvenile Sacramento River winter run Chinook salmon are expected to die before spawning due to alleged water mismanagement by the state and federal governments, the return of a record run of adult spring run Chinook salmon on Butte Creek this […]

08/04/21 By Brad Hooker The State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday approved a regulation granting it new authority to curtail senior water rights and ramp up enforcement for illegal diverters. The action is in response to one of the driest periods on record for California and the entire western U.S. The order targets more than 5,000 water right […]

By The Times Editorial BoardJuly 26, 2021 The news reports about the California salmon wipeout got a good chunk of the story right: Record-breaking heat waves made Northern California rivers too warm to sustain migrating chinook salmon, and virtually all of the salmon in the Sacramento River this summer have died, or will die, before reproducing. Any eggs that were […]

MavenBreaking NewsJuly 1, 2021 From the California Coastkeeper Alliance: Today, California Coastkeeper Alliance filed a lawsuit in Superior Court to compel the County of Sonoma to consider and mitigate impacts to public trust resources caused by groundwater extraction in the Russian River watershed. As the Russian River watershed faces a drought emergency, California Coastkeeper Alliance is […]

Olivia RosaneMay. 03, 2021 01:04PM EST Oceans Plastic pollution is entering the ocean from more sources than previously thought. A new study published in Science Advances Friday found that 80 percent of the plastic that enters the world’s oceans via rivers comes from more than 1,000 waterways. That’s as much as 100 times the number of rivers previously estimated, study leader the Ocean Cleanup […]

Scientists used to think 20 rivers at most carried most plastic into the oceans, but now they know it’s far more, complicating potential solutions.ByLaura ParkerPublished April 30, 2021 The problem with plastic waste just got more complicated—and so did the effort to stanch its flow into the world’s oceans. Rivers are the primary conduits for […]

Dry stream in San Bernadino National Forest

Emily DennyApr. 28, 2021 California water officials have accused Nestlé of draining more water out of southern California’s Strawberry Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest than permitted. The drafted cease-and-desist order, which was sent to the company on Friday, asked Nestlé to stop draining millions of gallons of water out of the forest every […]

By Harry Baker – Staff Writer Satellite images reveal color changes in rivers across America. A third of U.S. rivers have significantly changed color over the last 36 years, turning from blue to yellow and green, striking new images reveal. Researchers analyzed 235,000 satellite images — taken over a 34-year period between 1984 and 2018 — from NASA […]

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT July 14, 2020 Guy Kovner A five-year battle over plans to log in the remote Gualala River flood plain has taken a big step up with a powerhouse environmental group’s declaration to take the case to federal court, alleging the commercial tree harvest would harm protected fish, frogs and birds. Friends of […]

Deer Creek Falls Lassen National Forest. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

June 23, 2020 | Written by Michelle E. Chester On June 18, 2020, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s determination that the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) lawfully adopted emergency regulations and curtailment orders during the State’s most recent drought emergency. The regulations and orders at the center […]

Enforceable transparency and analysis to replace years of failure to comply with existing water quality and flow standards. SACRAMENTO, California — Three California environmental nonprofits secured a landmark settlement agreement with the California State Water Resources Control Board to uphold the common law Public Trust Doctrine and other legal protections for imperiled fish species in […]

California Appellate Court Upholds Water Board’s Broad Drought Response Authority California’s Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District recently upheld the State Water Resources Control Board’s temporary emergency drought response regulations–enacted in 2014-15–as well as related curtailment orders the Board issued to specific water users to implement those regulations. In doing so, the Water […]

Ryan Burns / Wednesday, May 13 @ 11:10 a.m. / News In a major development for both water rights and the environment on the North Coast, an unlikely coalition of five regional entities today filed a plan with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take over the Potter Valley Project, a hydroelectric facility that […]

Official release from the Two-Basin Partnership Santa Rosa, Calif. – Today, five diverse entities jointly proposed an ambitious plan to advance restoration of Eel River fisheries while maintaining water security for Russian River basin water users. The Feasibility Study Report (Report) Project Plan was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the next […]

By Coral DavenportJan. 22, 2020 WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday finalized a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands and groundwater, handing a victory to farmers, fossil fuel producers and real estate developers who said Obama-era rules had shackled them with onerous and unnecessary burdens. From Day 1 of his administration, President […]

The State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights (Division) has released an interactive GIS web map for representing Fully Appropriated Stream Systems (FASS) in California. The web map provides access to FASS and related information, including seasonal limitations, court references, and Board decisions all in one place and within a geospatial context. The […]

Gokce SencanSeptember 10, 2019 This is part of a series on issues facing California’s rivers. Water managers across the state face new and more extreme challenges as the climate warms—from balancing the sometimes conflicting needs of urban, agricultural, and environmental water users to reducing risks from fires, floods, and droughts. We talked to Grant Davis, general […]

VERY IMPORTANT MEETING TO ADOPT PATHOGEN TMDL. PLEASE TRY TO ATTEND EVEN IF YOU DON’T PLAN TO SPEAK. AUGUST 14, 2019 BEGINNING SOON AFTER 8:30 AM. 5550 Skylane Blvd., Santa Rosa, near the Sonoma County Airport. This action will provide the basis for new septic management requirements. For instance: Septic inspections by a qualified expert […]

Wide-scale cannabis cultivation is causing environmental damage. Federal regulations could change this. By Jodi Helmer Thanks to the legalization of recreational cannabis in 10 states and the District of Columbia, sparking up a joint in these areas is as easy as ordering a glass of wine. Spending on legal cannabis, which includes 33 states and the […]

Jul 18, 2019 A unique levee in the Bay Area combines flood protection with wastewater treatment and wetlands restoration. The term infrastructure might conjures roads, pipes and walls — pretty much the antithesis of nature. But some scientists and engineers want to reverse that impression by harnessing nature as infrastructure. The idea that plants and soil can prevent flooding […]

Sierra Club One of the ironies of living in an era of climate change is that it underscores how much we humans have to change. We cannot stop, reduce or adapt to climate change unless we change. Yet, because change is hard, policy influencers who can make a big difference—even the best intentioned—are having a […]

February 1, 2019 Legal Notes by Christian Mars The common law public trust doctrine in California has long played an important role in protecting navigable waters and waterfronts for the purposes of public use and enjoyment, such as commerce, navigation, fisheries, recreation and preservation. Cities periodically encounter the doctrine when: Administering tideland grants; Maintaining or operating […]

The EPA wants to reduce protections for headwater streams. Stand up for clean water today! Whether you fish or just simply understand the value of clean water, there is no law more important than the Clean Water Act. In 2015, the EPA developed a rule that affirmed Clean Water Act protections for “intermittent and ephemeral […]

November 6, 2018, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Sixty-nine pharmaceutical compounds have been detected in stream insects, some at concentrations that may threaten animals that feed on them, such as trout and platypus. When these insects emerge as flying adults, they can pass drugs to spiders, birds, bats, and other streamside foragers. These findings by an […]

By Michelle Chen, TruthoutPublished September 12, 2018 Since taking office, Donald Trump has waged a relentless attack on the nation’s waterways, but his efforts to strip away protections for rivers and wetlands have run into a tide of legal resistance. One of Trump’s first environmental policy directives was to choke off the foundational law protecting water bodies […]

Court Rejects Claim That SGMA “Displaces” Public Trust’s Application to California Groundwater RICHARD FRANK, August 29, 2018 The California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District has issued an important decision declaring that California’s powerful public trust doctrine applies to at least some of the state’s overtaxed groundwater resources. The court’s opinion also rejects […]

Mark West Creek is one of five priority stream systems selected as part of the 2014 California Water Action Plan effort. The 59 square mile Mark West Creek HUC12 subwatershed, located within Sonoma County, is the second largest subwatershed in the Russian River basin. The creek supports several listed anadromous salmonid species including California Coastal […]

To All, The Senate passed AB 2975 by Assembly member Laura Friedman. This bill provides a mechanism for the state to include river segments in its wild and scenic river system, should the Trump administration remove them from the federal system. If you can nudge the Governor so sign this, please do it. Thanks to […]

Felta Creek Threatened By Aggressive Logging Plan [Note: A court hearing on this logging case will be heard Friday, August 17th at 3 pm in Rm 18, Empire Collge Annex, 3035 Cleveland Ave, Santa Rosa, CA. The public is invited to view the Hearing but seating is limited.] As wild Coho salmon have disappeared in […]

Category: Streams and Wetlands Impacts

California preps for catastrophic summer salmon slaughter

Record spring salmon run on Sacramento River tributary turns into disaster as most fish die before spawning

Water board expands authority to curtail Delta water rights

Editorial: The California salmon wipeout is even worse than you think

THIS JUST IN … California Coastkeeper Alliance lawsuit challenges the County of Sonoma to protect public trust resources

Ocean Plastic Pollution Flows From More Rivers Than Previously Thought

Plastic gets to the oceans through over 1,000 rivers

California Officials Move to Stop Nestlé From Taking Millions of Gallons of Water From Public Streams

US rivers are changing from blue to yellow and green, satellite images show

Fight over Gualala River logging plan heads to federal court

Appellate Court Upholds State Water Board’s Drought Emergency Regulations and Curtailment Orders Issued for Deer Creek

Landmark Lawsuit Settlement Between Environmentalists and State Water Boards Strengthens Delta Protections

Court of Appeal Rejects Water Users’ Legal Challenge to Board’s Emergency Regulations, Temporary Curtailment Orders

Local Coalition Advances Plan to Remove Scott Dam on the Eel River, Acquire Potter Valley Project From PG&E

Press Releases for Scott Dam Removal and Potter Valley Project Acquisition

Trump Removes Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands

Web Map Showing California’s Fully Appropriated Streams

The Russian River: Managing at the Watershed Level

Russian River Watershed Pathogen Prohibition of Discharge of Fecal Waste Materials

The Environmental Downside of Cannabis Cultivation

Nature: the next big thing in climate adaptation technology?

The Impacts of Climate Change and Delta Water

California’s Public Trust Doctrine Draws Attention in the Courts

The future of the Clean Water Rule is in our hands

Drug pollution concentrates in stream bugs, passes to predators in water and on land

Legal Battle Staves Off Trump’s Assault on Clean Water Protections

California Court Finds Public Trust Doctrine Applies to State Groundwater Resources

Mark West Creek Study (Sonoma County)

More Protection for Rivers Sought-Senate Bill 2975

Last Wild Coho Salmon Creek in Russian River Watershed

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