via @indybay

Tribes, enviros speak out against trailer bills to fast-track #DeltaTunnel project

“Delta tribes deserve a responsible and equitable approach to water management in the state that does not require jamming a tunnel through the Delta, destroying our ancestral homelands and waterways, or desecrating sacred sites and ancestral remains,” said Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair with the #ShingleSpringsBand of #MiwokIndians.

by Dan Bacher
Mon, Aug 11, 2025 4:19PM

Sacramento, CA – "On an unusually mild summer day, Tribal leaders and environmental justice advocates met with legislators at the State Capitol on July 16 for the 2025 Day of Action for #WaterJustice.

"They urged the legislators to reject Governor Newsom’s proposed trailer bills that they say would fast-track the Delta Conveyance Project (#DCP) and bypass critical #EnvironmentalProtections at a time when the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is in unprecedented ecological crisis — and a number of fish species are on the edge of #extinction.

"The day-long event started with meetings between Tribal members, environmental advocates and legislators to urge support for 'equitable, science-based water solutions' that protect the #BayDelta and to reject the financially reckless Delta Conveyance Project that threatens ecosystems, Tribal sovereignty, and public health, according to a statement from #RestoreTheDelta.

[...]

"At the press conference on the Capitol steps, advocates called on lawmakers to reject trailer bills that would provide CEQA exemptions for the #DeltaConveyanceProject, circumventing existing law, court rulings and public opinion.

"Specifically, the coalition called on lawmakers to:

- Vote NO on SB 72 that undermines the #DeltaReformAct and sets arbitrary water supply targets;

- Vote YES on AB 362 that protects tribal beneficial uses of water and to;

- Vote YES on AB 263, extending emergency protections currently in place for the #ScottRiver and #ShastaRiver, a high priority for the recovery of #CohoSalmon.

"Speakers at the press conference included representatives from the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the #WinnememWintu Tribe, as well as elected leaders and representatives from Restore the Delta, #SierraClub California, #FriendsOfTheRiver, #DefendersOfWildlife, #SanFranciscoBaykeeper and the #DeltaCountiesCoalition.

"Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, began the press conference emphasizing the harm that the Delta Tunnel would cause to Tribes and #disadvantaged communities.

" 'Delta tribes deserve a responsible and equitable approach to water management in the state that does not require jamming a tunnel through the Delta, destroying our #AncestralHomelands and waterways, or desecrating #SacredSites and ancestral remains,' said Tayaba. 'Our culture and identities are intrinsically tied to the Delta. There is no price tag worth paying that would ever justify the harm done to us or the unquantifiable costs that Tribes and disadvantaged communities would ultimately bear.'

"Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, followed Tayaba by stating, “There is nothing about the Delta Tunnel Project that significantly benefits anyone except #BigAg and south of the Delta water agencies, while putting #EndangeredSpecies, tribal cultural resources, and disadvantaged communities and the viability of the S.F Bay-Delta itself at risk. #CEQA exemptions continue to attempt to erase Tribes from #WaterGovernance.”

[...]

" 'Instead of wasting ratepayer money to keep pushing this expensive environmental justice debacle, we need to sees investments in local water supply like #RecycledWater, and the Freshwater Pathways program that would improve Delta levees to keep communities safe and improve State Water Project reliability in an emergency. We urge a commitment to vote NO on the return the Delta Conveyance Project and Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan bills,' Wagner said."

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2025/08/11/18878845.php

#WaterIsLife #TribalGovernance #CulturalPreservation #CulturalErasure #BigAgriculture #BigWater #GavinNewsome #CaliforniaPol #Graywater

Coho Salmon (3″ figure by Replica Toy Fish)

Here we are, the last fish release for general retail by Replica Toy Fish. Or, the last of the released fish, in truth all of the previous trout, charr, and salmon were all made available at the same time. In this instance, we have a coho salmon (or silver salmon), Oncorhynchus kisutch, another anadromous salmon species found along the coasts of both sides of the Pacific. And with that, we […]

Read more... https://animaltoyforum.com/blog/coho-salmon-by-replica-toy-fish/

#CohoSalmon #Oncorhynchus #OncorhynchusKisutch #ReplicaToyFish

'Anything that can be built can be taken down': The largest dam removal in US history is complete – what happens next?

The #KlamathRiver is free of four huge dams for the first time in generations. But for the #Yurok tribe, the river's restoration is only just beginning – starting with 18 billion seeds.

by Lucy Sheriff, September 3, 2024

"This is decades and decades in the making," says Thompson. 'We were told it was never going to happen. That it was foolish to even ask for one removal. We were asking for four.'

"The #KlamathBasin covers more than 12,000 square miles (31,000 sq km) in southern Oregon and northern California, and was home to the JC Boyle, Copco 1, Copco 2 and Iron Gate dams, all owned by #PacifiCorp, an electric utilities company. The Klamath was once the third-largest salmon producing river on the US's West Coast before the construction of the dams blocked fish from accessing almost 400 miles (640km) of critical river habitat for almost 100 years.

"Fall #ChinookSalmon numbers plummeted by more than 90% and spring chinook by 98%. #SteelheadTrout, #CohoSalmon and #PacificLamprey numbers also saw drastic declines, and the Klamath tribes in the upper basin have been without their salmon fishery for a century, since the completion of #Copco 1 in 1922. The situation became so bad that Yurok tribe – who are known as the salmon people – began importing Alaskan salmon for their annual salmon festival, traditionally held to celebrate the first return of fall chinook salmon to the Klamath River.

"The dams also had a severe impact on #WaterTemperature and quality – growth of #ToxicAlgae behind two of the dams resulted in health warnings against water contact.

"'It was painful,' says Willard Carlson, a Yurok elder who is known as a #RiverWarrior and was part of the inter-generational campaign. 'All those years seeing our river damaged like that. I remember as a kid we'd have other people from nearby tribes making fun of our river. 'Oh, you're Yurok, your river is dirty.' For us, the #dams were a monument to the [#coloniser] people who conquered us."

[...]

"Restoring the land

But something that does need "a helping hand is the restoration of 2,200 acres (890ha) of land that is above ground for the first time in a century following the emptying of four reservoirs.

"'Removing the dams is one thing, restoring the land is quite another,' says Thompson, a civil engineer and part of the crew working on the restoration project – which is being managed by Resource Environmental Solutions, an ecological restoration company."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240903-removing-the-klamath-river-dams-to-restore-the-river-what-happens-next

#KarukTribe #YurokTribe #KlamathRiverRenewal #RestoreNature #Decolonize #WaterIsLife #NativeAmericans

#regulatorycapture: #CohoSalmon devastated since the mid-20th century by a combination of human #development, #damming, #habitatloss and #changingclimate and #ocean conditions. #TribalNations from CA and WA submitted a #petition through the #Earthjustice environmental group calling on the #EPA to prohibit the production of #6PPD.
#AB756 #RemoveRoads #BigAgro ##CleanWaterAct

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/09/california-regulators-seek-replacement-of-tire-chemical-linked-to-fish-kills/?share=eeskllrlseinsfioieci