[Fishlink] ~~>SUBLEGALS 13June03 (PART 1)<~~
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~~>SUBLEGALS 13June03 (PART 1)<~~
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A WEEKLY QUOTA OF FISHERY SHORTS CAUGHT AND
LANDED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES
AND THE PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN'S
ASSOCIATIONS
VOL. 07, NO. 24 13 JUNE 2003
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NOTE TO OUR READERS: Because of the amount of information
from this past week it has been necessary to break Sublegals into two
parts for this issue. We apologize for sending it in two e-mails, but felt
the information was important enough and there was just so much
editing we could do to shorten each article without losing important
content.
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"I don't care what the polls say. I don't. I'm doing what I think what's
wrong."......George W. Bush
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IN THIS ISSUE.......
AmeriCorps' Watershed Stewards Project May Be Eliminated,
Affecting Salmon Restoration. 7:24/01
Oregon - CEQ "Backdoor Deal" to Delist the State's Coho
Salmon? 7:24/03
WTO Pre-Cancun Roadshow Comes to Sacramento Amid
Protests on USDA Biotech Promotion. 7:24/16
Wyden, Capps Introduce CCF Reform Legislation in Both
Houses of Congress. 7:24/20
Senate Commerce Committee Takes Up IFQ National Standards
Legislation on 19 June. 7:24/25
AND MORE......
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7:24/01. AMERICORPS CUTBACK COULD ELIMINATE
WATERSHED STEWARDS PROJECT, A VITAL PART OF
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA'S SALMON RESTORATION EFFORT:
For the past nine years the U.S. national service agency AmeriCorps'
"Watershed Stewards Project (WSP)" has been an integral part of salmon
restoration efforts throughout Northern California. The program, serving
18 communities from San Francisco to the Oregon border, may now
disappear.
AmeriCorps participants serve one to two years service and many, in
return, receive education awards for college or graduate school or to help
pay off student loans. The WSP participants are college graduates, most
majoring in a natural resources field. The WSP mission is to "conserve,
restore, and sustain anadromous watersheds for future generations
through education and high quality scientific practices." The 55 WSP
members work under and are mentored by some 25 resource
professionals from agencies and non-governmental, non-profits (NGOs),
including the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG), the U.S.
Forest Service (USFS) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR).
Their work ranges from field duties (e.g., adult spawning and habitat
utilization surveys, instream habitat surveys, biological sampling), to
analysis duties (e.g., data entry and analysis, quantitative watershed
research, technical writing), to community outreach duties (e.g., assisting
the organization of community stream projects, watershed awareness and
curriculum development for K-12 grade students in the sciences). At
IFR, two members for each of the past five years have been on-site,
learning fishery policy development.
The threatened elimination of WSP is a result of the Bush
Administration and Congress failing to appropriate sufficient operating
funds and funds for AmeriCorps Education Awards for fiscal year (FY)
2003. At present, only $146 million has been allocated for the
operations of AmeriCorps nationwide for the 2003 program year, due to
begin August 2003; this is a 33.5 percent reduction from the 2002
program year. On top of that, there now exists an accounting discrepancy
between the Administration's Office of Management & Budget (OMB)
and the Congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) that would
leave only 13,000 actual AmeriCorps slots open nationwide for the 2003
program year, even though Congress authorized 50,000 positions. This
discrepancy will result in an 80.5 percent reduction from the current
program year. Because programs can only enroll AmeriCorps members
if an AmeriCorps Education Award slot exists, the real impact to
AmeriCorps nationwide is an 80.5 percent average reduction. In
California, the estimated impact would be higher, at 87.5 percent. 48 of
the current 60 programs in the state would be eliminated, leaving only
749 AmeriCorps slots available statewide. WSP, despite having been
nominated for numerous awards, is to be one of the 48 programs
eliminated.
While state and federal governments have invested billions in the
effort to recover Pacific salmon populations, the WSP has been the one
federal program that has actually provided additional personnel to help
carry out the task. As an indication of its importance to Northern
California's salmon restoration efforts, WSP members have since 1994:
* Surveyed 13,400 miles of watersheds and analyzed data for 53,550
hours;
* Instructed over 38,000 students and teachers using Real Science
curriculum;
* Recruited 8,550 community volunteers (who provided over 66,937
hours of service), and engaged them in watershed restoration and public
outreach;
* Completed 1,820 scientific reports and databases, and developed 1,260
watershed restoration projects. 100 percent of data collected, reports, and
projects follow state and federal protocols;
* In the past year, WSP member-collected data has contributed to the
design and implementation of 199 watershed restoration projects
bringing in $5,433,560 for fisheries recovery. In a typical year, 2002,
data collected by WSP members led to the enhancement of 35 stream
miles by California Conservation Corps crews.
In addition to the contribution it has made to salmon recovery in
Northern California, WSP has provided its participants mentoring,
helping them further their careers. Among the former IFR AmeriCorps
personnel, Ingrid Morken (Minnesota, 1998-99) went on to receive her
Masters at the University of California/Berkeley's Department of
Landscape Architecture under fluvial geomorphologist Dr. Matt
Kondolf. Molly Thomas (Louisiana, 1998-99) stayed on as IFR's
Administrator and the first Sublegals Editor, as well as working in IFR's
KRIS program, before moving to Colorado. Allison Vogt (Kentucky,
2000-2001) stayed on with IFR (including assisting Pietro Parravano on
the Pew Oceans Commission) prior to entering the University of Georgia
where she is now working on her doctorate. Ky Russell (Florida,
2001-2002) has stayed on at IFR heading up its Sustainable Fisheries
Program, and Michelle Wallar (Ohio, 2001-2002) has been accepted in
the graduate school of journalism at the University of Colorado. Reid
Bryson (Mississippi) and Sara Randall (Maine) are the current WSP
members in the IFR offices working on Central Valley and coastal
salmon (including coho) issues respectively.
The best hope now for saving the Watershed Stewards Program may
be with language in a Congressional supplemental appropriations bill to
fully fund the 2003 program year and ensure adequate funding for the
2004 program year. In the Bush Administration's 2004 proposed budget
is $313.2 million - a 79 percent increase over 2003 and 12 percent
increase over the 2002 program year. In the U.S. Senate are two
measures, the "Citizens Service Act of 2003" by Senators John McCain
(R-AZ), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) that would
bring the AmeriCorps number to 75,000 in 2004 and increase it by
25,000 members annually to 175,000 total. Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
has proposed an ambitious measure to open up opportunities for 500,000
individuals to earn tuition costs in service program such as AmeriCorps'
Watershed Stewards Project. For more information on WSP, go to:
www.redwood.northcoast.com/~fishhelp.
7:24/02. BOR UPGRADES KLAMATH WATER YEAR FROM
"DRY" TO "BELOW AVERAGE"; NO HEARING DATE FOR
KLAMATH BILL: In light of one of the wettest April's in decades, and a
wet May, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) office in charge of the
Klamath Irrigation Project announced on 13 June that it was
reclassifying the water year for the Project as a "below average" year
from the former classification of "dry" water year. See:
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/Mp140/news/2003/MP-03-030.pdf. This
reclassification will result in slightly higher flows through the rest of
this
year to the lower Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam than current
near-record low flows, in accordance with the BOR's "2003 Klamath
Project Operations Plan," but still far less than required "target flows" in
the current Biological Opinion (BiOp), and much less than
recommended by the State of California and the Pacific Fishery
Management Council (PFMC) to maintain economically important
fisheries. The issue of low flows to the lower river is the subject of a
pending court case, PCFFA et al. v. BOR, NMFS (Dist. N. Ca, No.
02-2006-SBA), in which a decision is due any day (see Sublegals,
7:23/11; 7:17/13; 7:16/06; 7:15/07; 7:13/02; 7:09/03). For more
information on last year's fish kill, California and PFMC letters and the
Klamath flows lawsuit, go to: www.klamathbasin.info and related sites.
In Congress, the "Klamath River Basin and Emergency Assistance
Act of 2003," HR 1760, has been introduced by U.S. Representatives
Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), with 21
co-sponsors. The measure, aimed at resolving the water crisis in the
Klamath Basin, has been assigned to the Resources Committee
Subcommittees' on Water & Power, and Fisheries Conservation,
Wildlife & Oceans, but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. To see
the bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
7:24/03. OREGON COHO DELISTING UNDER DISCUSSION,
BACKROOM DEAL FEARED: On 13 June, Oregon Governor Ted
Kulongoski met privately with White House Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) Chairman James Connaughton and National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northwest Regional Director Bob Lohn to
discuss the potential for quick delisting of Oregon coho salmon, now
listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Among other things, the Bush Administration promised $250,000 to
the State of Oregon to finance a scientific review of whether Oregon
coastal coho, listed in 1998 but showing stronger returns this year,
should be delisted and removed from federal protection. Few of the
habitat problems precipitating the coho decline, however, have been
fixed in Oregon and habitat continues to be destroyed by poorly
regulated agricultural and forestry practices. The recent higher returns of
coho are primarily due to unusually good ocean conditions, not recovery
efforts on land, so that temporarily strong populations would likely
plummet as soon as ocean conditions change for the worse. The ESA has
been an effective tool to help force habitat rebuilding and protection and
effect better land use practices. The Oregon timber industry particularly
is pushing for delisting.
Estimates of current total Oregon coho populations (combining both
wild and hatchery) are about 268,000, up from a mere 22,000 in 1997.
Historic Oregon population size estimates for coho, however, are 1.4
million annually (NMFS "Status Review of Coho Salmon from
Washington, Oregon and California (Sept. 1995), pp. 113-119). The
ESA contains a provision that allows listing decisions to take into
account "those efforts, if any, by any State ... to protect such species" (16
U.S.C. 1533(b)(1)(A)).
Former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber sought to forestall a listing
by asking the federal government to rely on the "Oregon Plan for Salmon
and Steelhead" (the "Oregon Plan") as legally sufficient for recovery of
coho. As a result of the Oregon Plan, NMFS first refused to provide ESA
protection (62 Fed. Reg. 24588 (6 May 1997)), but was then ordered to
do so by the U.S. District Court (ONRC v. Daley, 6 F.Supp.2d 1139 (D.
Or. 1998)). PCFFA and IFR were co-plaintiffs in that case. The court in
ONRC v. Daley held that as a state conservation plan Oregon's was "too
speculative" because it relies heavily on voluntary future actions that are
inherently uncertain and for which there is no guaranteed funding. The
Court did acknowledge, however, that the Oregon Plan "may ultimately
allow the NMFS to delist the species once recovery efforts are far
enough along." (Id. at 1152)
The Bush Administration also has recently adopted rules that make
delisting of species by reliance on state conservation programs far easier.
The new "Final Policy on Evaluating Conservation Efforts (PECE),"
published in the Federal Register on 28 March (68 Fed. Reg.
15100-15115), provides criteria for evaluating whether formalized,
non-federal species conservation efforts that have yet to be implemented
or shown to be effective could still be relied upon to avoid an ESA
listing. The Administration, claiming the ESA is "broken," is expected
to implement these new policies by attempting to avoid listings or
reverse existing listings.
Political expediency is also motivating the deal. The Oregon Board of
Forestry is now defending a lawsuit, Pacific Rivers Council, et al. v.
State Forester (Dist.Or, CV. 02-243-BR), over the failure of its Forest
Practices Rules to prevent "take" of ESA-listed coho. A 21 April interim
court opinion held that a state agency head can indeed become liable
under federal law for violations of the ESA. Since then, the Board of
Forestry has (instead of seeking to improve Oregon's forestry laws)
simply passed rules to strip the State Forester of any discretionary
authority to disapprove of logging operations on high-risk, steep slope
logging sites where they may affect coho (see Sublegals, 7:05/01;
7:04/05). A coho delisting supposedly would relieve the Board of
Forestry (and by implication other Oregon state agencies) of any ESA
liability and make it possible for the Oregon timber industry to continue
business as usual, even though the Oregon Plan's own scientific
oversight body, the "Independent Multi-disciplinary Science Team
(IMST)" has made it clear that Oregon's forestry laws are far too weak to
prevent future salmon extinctions.
To see the 1999 IMST Report (Technical Report 1999-1, "Recovery
of Wild Salmonids in Western Oregon Forests,") go to:
http://www.fsl.orst.edu/imst/index.htm, under "Technical Reports." For
information on the meeting between Governor Kulongoski and CEQ on
delisting coho, see the Oregonian article at: http://www.oregonlive.com/
metro/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/105559191460880.xml.
7:24/04. THOMPSON'S PACIFIC SALMON RECOVERY ACT
PASSES HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE: On 12 June the U.S.
House of Representatives' Resources Committee marked-up and passed
out HR 1945, the "Pacific Salmon Recovery Act," by Representative
Mike Thompson (D-CA) to allocate $600 million over three years for
salmon conservation and habitat recovery projects in California, Oregon,
Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The legislation is aimed at fueling local
and regional protection and restoration efforts through additional
funding to increase salmon and anadromous fish populations. The funds
would be distributed equally among the states with 10 percent for the
Tribes. "Habitat loss is a major factor for the sharp decline in salmon
populations. Restoring their natural habitat will help buoy their
population and our local fishing and related economies," said Thompson.
"Providing additional funding at the national level is crucial to restoring
our fish populations." Thompson, when he was a State Senator, was the
author of major salmon funding legislation in California, SB 271. HR
1945 now moves to the full House for consideration. U.S. Senator
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is expected to take the lead, pushing this
legislation in the Senate. To view the bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov.
7:24/05. PACIFIC COASTAL SALMON RECOVERY FUND
REPORT TO CONGRESS RELEASED: The National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) has announced completion of its 2003 Pacific Coastal
Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) Report to the U.S. Congress. The
report summarizes over 2000 activities conducted in fiscal years 2000
through 2002. PCSRF activities have been completed in the following
five categories: salmon habitat restoration; salmon planning and
assessments; salmon enhancement; salmon research, monitoring, and
evaluation; and outreach and education.
The Fund was established by Congress in FY 2000 to provide grants
to the States and Tribes to assist state, local, and Tribal salmon
conservation and recovery efforts. PCSRF was requested by the
Governors of the States of Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington
in response to Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings of west coast
salmon and steelhead populations as well as the harvest restrictions
placed on Southeast Alaskan fisheries through the 1999 Pacific Salmon
Treaty Agreement. The full report can be downloaded at:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/pcsrf
7:24/06. INITIATIVE PROPOSED TO CLEAN-UP HANFORD
NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL SITE WHERE COLUMBIA RIVER
AND ITS FISH ARE THREATENED: The approximately 70 mile long
Hanford Reach is the only undammed stretch of the once mighty
Columbia River. The Reach is home to the largest remaining wild fall
chinook runs still in the Columbia; these fall chinook are now the only
Columbia River salmon run not listed as either "threatened" or
"endangered" under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), and thus
are a mainstay of what remains of the Columbia-based salmon fisheries
all the way up to where they intermingle with other salmon runs in
Southeast Alaska. The problem is that the Reach runs through the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southwestern Washington State, which
has the distinction of housing "more than 80 percent of the U.S.
Departments of Energy's (DOE) highly radioactive reactor fuel, nearly
60 percent of the nation's high-level defense waste." It is also "the most
contaminated nuclear site in the Western hemisphere" says Tom
Carpenter of the Government Accountability Project (GAP). In response
to this threat, a coalition of groups including GAP, Columbia
Riverkeeper and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility have
sponsored a statewide ballot initiative for November 2004 to require that
the federal government stop dumping more radioactive nuclear waste in
unlined soil ditches and clean-up the site along with its contaminated
groundwater reservoirs. The groundwater contamination encompasses a
180 square-mile area and is a major threat to the Columbia River and its
fish. For more information, go to the GAP website at:
www.whistleblower.org, and also: www.heartofamericanorthwest.org.
For the impacts on salmon, see the September 2002 Fishermen's News
article, "Why the Hanford Matters to Fishermen: Avoiding a Radioactive
Columbia River," at: http://www.pcffa.org/fn-sep02.htm.
7:24/07. WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY
ACCUSSED OF ILLEGALLY GIVING AWAY WATER
PURCHASED FOR FISH HABITAT: The Environmental News Service
(ENS) reported 9 June that the Washington State Department of Ecology
illegally gave away Walla Walla River water that had been purchased by
the state for more than $1 million in November 2000, to restore salmon
habitat there. The Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) made
the allegation and took its case to the state Pollution Control Hearings
Board, where a preliminary ruling issued last week has set the stage for a
major decision about Columbia River water and salmon restoration. "At
issue is whether the Department of Ecology can grant a massive new
water permit to the cities of Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West
Richland in the eastern part of the state that would allow them to
withdraw up to 80,000 gallons of water per minute from the Columbia
River, substituting water from the Walla Walla River," said the ENS
report. "We think buying water to put back in a river that needs it, only
to give it away for free later is a waste of tax dollars, and bad for the
river besides," said CELP attorney Shirley Nixon.
"Nearly 40 percent of the average natural flow of the Columbia at
McNary Dam, located about 40 miles downstream from the cities, is
already withdrawn, mostly for irrigation. Hundreds of users do not yet
take all of the water they are permitted to use, so river levels on the
Columbia are likely to continue dropping, even if Ecology issues no new
water rights," reported ENS. "Ecology has budgeted $588,000 for two
studies to determine whether the Columbia can even afford more water
withdrawals," the complaint says. "Those recommendations are due by
Spring 2004."
Meanwhile in the Washington Legislature, the House passed SB 5028
that forbids the Department of Ecology (DOE) from using water quality
laws to restrict water quantity takes. Ecology was one of its primary
proponents, which, according to Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Chairman Billy Frank, "sends a clear message about the agency's lack of
desire to live up to its public trust in protecting the environment." The
bill would lead to more pollution problems, coming hand-in-hand with
reduced stream flows. Washington will now become just one of two
states to give up this authority, say bill opponents. The other state,
Colorado, has been slapped by the federal government for its lack of
protection of instream flows. "This is another example of Washington
State throwing its responsibilities to the public away, at the demand of
special interests," said Frank, adding that SB 5028 removes a critical
enforcement tool. "It makes no sense to eliminate any legal tool available
to DOE which is necessary to protect water quality. This bill does that,
hand over fist."
To see the Environmental New Service article, go to:
http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-09-09.asp#anchor6; to see the
Pollution Control Hearings Board Decision, go to:
http://www.celp.org/060403PCHBdecision.pdf. Also see the CELP
statement posted at: http://www.celp.org/060603Release.pdf.
7:24/08. REVOKED WATER TRANSFERS MEAN MORE WATER
FOR SAN FRANCISCO BAY: The California Department of Water
Resources (DWR) announced it has decided to cancel a one-year
agreement to transfer water across the state for Southern California's
major municipal water agency. This spring a 10 million dollar
agreement reached between Sacramento basin farmers, DWR and the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) outlined a
plan to transfer 130,000 acre-feet of surface water (see Sublegals
7:08/08; 7:02/04; 7:02/05). The deal effectively collapsed this week
when DWR, which would have provided storage and conveyance
facilities between the seller and buyer, informed MWD that it no longer
intends to participate in the transfer.
The decision by DWR is seen as a move to pressure MWD into
signing an agreement concerning water allocations from the Colorado
River. MWD is to date the state's only stakeholder not to have agreed to
a new allocation plan required by the federal government that would
allow California to receive an additional 800,000 acre-feet from the
Colorado this year. According to DWR, the water in question, over 42
billion gallons worth, will be stored at Lake Oroville in the Sacramento
Valley before being released to flow naturally through the Sacramento
River Delta and into the estuary of San Francisco Bay. The additional
releases for the Bay and Delta are good news; the Bay in many years has
as much as 50 percent of its freshwater inflow, critical for estuary health,
diverted for agriculture and municipal purposes. San Francisco Bay is
the most important estuary on the west coast of North and South
America, the migration route for salmon to their Sierra streams, a
nursery ground for Dungeness crab and home to the largest roe herring
fishery in the lower 48.
For more see the San Francisco Chronicle article at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/06/11/MN1904
8.DTL or the San Diego Union-Tribune article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20030611-619-water.html
or the Sacramento Bee article at: http://www.sacbee.com/content/
news/environment/story/6831724p-7781980c.html.
7:24/09. CALFED MOVES FORWARD WITH PLAN TO PUMP
MORE WATER FROM DELTA THREATENING SALMON, LISTED
FISH: While the State of California has shown the fortitude to stand up
to one of Southern California's largest water users (see 7:24/08 above),
the most pressing threat to the San Francisco Bay/Delta ecosystem
remains a project to increase the amount of freshwater diversions. A
new stakeholder process for the South Delta Improvement Project
(SDIP), an effort of the state and federal CALFED collaboration, began
on 4 June with a meeting in Sacramento of interested stakeholders (see
Sublegals, 7:04/06). At that meeting, PCFFA/IFR representatives
learned that the government agencies plan to issue a draft Environmental
Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the
project this fall. Those documents will outline several operating
alternatives for the proposed increased pumping capacity (up to 8500
cubic feet per second (cfs) from 6680 cfs) at the Clifton Court Forebay.
The agencies then expect to finalize the paperwork and select a preferred
alternative by July 2004. All of this comes to the surprise of many
stakeholders, who question why their proposed "no net increase"
pumping alternative has not been considered by the agencies even when
they plan to delay upgrades for critical fish screens to the proposed,
larger pumps. For more see: http://sdelta.water.ca.gov.
7:24/10. PACIFICORP TO REMOVE ITS POWERDALE DAM ON
HOOD RIVER: The Oregonian reports that PacifiCorp will remove its
Powerdale Dam on Oregon's Hood River in 2010, restoring natural river
flows for chinook and other fish under an agreement reached on 6 June
in Salem. Built in 1923, "the dam diverted as much as 80 percent of the
river's flow through a three-mile channel before returning it near the
river's mouth on the Columbia. It posed a significant threat to migrating
fish, regularly sweeping juveniles into the power canal where some were
injured or killed in generating turbines," said the Oregonian article.
PacifiCorp, a division of Scottish Power, tried to renew the hydropower
dam's license that expired in 2000 with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC), but gave up, deciding it would be too expensive.
To gain federal approval, PacifiCorp would have had to invest
millions to upgrade fish screens and fish ladders and commit to running
the dam with less water from the river to leave stronger flows for fish.
"Fish weren't the only factor. Company engineers have estimated the
dam's useful lifespan would end in 2018 without capital improvements.
And studies of sediment loads in the river convinced the company that
glacial sloughing from Mount Hood would make the dam increasingly
expensive to maintain," reported the Oregonian. "Powerdale, near the
City of Hood River, is one of a growing number of aging Northwest
dams that will be decommissioned in the next decade." To see the 7 June
Oregonian article by Joe Rojas-Burke, go to: "Deal will mean Hood
River Dam Removal," at: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/
oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1054987759294900.xml
7:24/11. USDA HEARINGS ON COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN
REGULATIONS -- IS COOL COOL? On 12 June, the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) held one of its regional Information
and Listening Sessions on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) in
Sacramento, California (see Sublegals, 7:20/06; 5:15/04; 7:14/14;
5:19/06; 5:17/04; 5:08/03; 5:07/06). This was one of many public
sessions USDA is holding on the provision in the 2002 Farm Bill
requiring labeling of all seafood at the retail level with country of origin
and whether it is wild or farmed. Currently there is a voluntary period to
label products, but as of 30 September 2004 it will be mandatory. The
Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) of the USDA is currently
developing proposed regulations and is taking public comment. There is
an overwhelming participation from the agriculture community, with
fisheries input lacking. These regulations will enhance the information
consumers have available to them while purchasing seafood and may
have an impact on imports and farmed species, which to date have not
been distinguishable. COOL, too, may have a potential impact on farmed
salmon, which has gained media attention based on a recent law suit
against grocery chains for not labeling the colorants added to the salmon.
For more information go to: http://www.ams.usda.gov/COOL.
END OF SUBLEGALS PART 1, SEE SECOND E-MAIL FOR PART 2
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A WEEKLY QUOTA OF FISHERY SHORTS CAUGHT=
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NOTE TO OUR READERS: Because of the amount of information<BR>
from this past week it has been necessary to break Sublegals into two<BR>
parts for this issue. We apologize for sending it in two e-mails, but felt<B=
R>
the information was important enough and there was just so much<BR>
editing we could do to shorten each article without losing important<BR>
content. <BR>
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"I don't care what the polls say. I don't. I'm doing what I think what=
's<BR>
wrong."......George W. Bush<BR>
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IN THIS ISSUE.......<BR>
<BR>
AmeriCorps' Watershed Stewards Project May Be Eliminated, <BR>
Affecting Salmon Restoration. 7:24/01<BR>
<BR>
Oregon - CEQ "Backdoor Deal" to Delist the State's Coho <BR>
Salmon? 7:24/03<BR>
<BR>
WTO Pre-Cancun Roadshow Comes to Sacramento Amid <BR>
Protests on USDA Biotech Promotion. 7:24/16<BR>
<BR>
Wyden, Capps Introduce CCF Reform Legislation in Both <BR>
Houses of Congress. 7:24/20<BR>
<BR>
Senate Commerce Committee Takes Up IFQ National Standards<BR>
Legislation on 19 June. 7:24/25<BR>
<BR>
AND MORE......<BR>
##########################################################<BR>
7:24/01. AMERICORPS CUTBACK COULD ELIMINATE<BR>
WATERSHED STEWARDS PROJECT, A VITAL PART OF<BR>
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA'S SALMON RESTORATION EFFORT: <BR>
For the past nine years the U.S. national service agency AmeriCorps'<BR>
"Watershed Stewards Project (WSP)" has been an integral part of salmon<BR>
restoration efforts throughout Northern California. The program, servi=
ng<BR>
18 communities from San Francisco to the Oregon border, may now<BR>
disappear. <BR>
<BR>
AmeriCorps participants serve one to two years serv=
ice and many, in<BR>
return, receive education awards for college or graduate school or to help<B=
R>
pay off student loans. The WSP participants are college graduates, mos=
t<BR>
majoring in a natural resources field. The WSP mission is to "conserve,<BR>
restore, and sustain anadromous watersheds for future generations<BR>
through education and high quality scientific practices." The 55 WSP<BR>
members work under and are mentored by some 25 resource<BR>
professionals from agencies and non-governmental, non-profits (NGOs),<BR>
including the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG), the U.S.<BR>
Forest Service (USFS) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR).<BR>
Their work ranges from field duties (e.g., adult spawning and habitat<BR>
utilization surveys, instream habitat surveys, biological sampling), to<BR>
analysis duties (e.g., data entry and analysis, quantitative watershed<BR>
research, technical writing), to community outreach duties (e.g., assisting<=
BR>
the organization of community stream projects, watershed awareness and<BR>
curriculum development for K-12 grade students in the sciences). At<BR>
IFR, two members for each of the past five years have been on-site,<BR>
learning fishery policy development.<BR>
<BR>
The threatened elimination of WSP is a result of th=
e Bush<BR>
Administration and Congress failing to appropriate sufficient operating<BR>
funds and funds for AmeriCorps Education Awards for fiscal year (FY)<BR>
2003. At present, only $146 million has been allocated for the<BR>
operations of AmeriCorps nationwide for the 2003 program year, due to<BR>
begin August 2003; this is a 33.5 percent reduction from the 2002<BR>
program year. On top of that, there now exists an accounting discrepancy<BR>
between the Administration's Office of Management & Budget (OMB)<BR>
and the Congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) that would<BR>
leave only 13,000 actual AmeriCorps slots open nationwide for the 2003<BR>
program year, even though Congress authorized 50,000 positions. This<B=
R>
discrepancy will result in an 80.5 percent reduction from the current<BR>
program year. Because programs can only enroll AmeriCorps members<BR>
if an AmeriCorps Education Award slot exists, the real impact to<BR>
AmeriCorps nationwide is an 80.5 percent average reduction. In<BR>
California, the estimated impact would be higher, at 87.5 percent. 48=20=
of<BR>
the current 60 programs in the state would be eliminated, leaving only<BR>
749 AmeriCorps slots available statewide. WSP, despite having been<BR>
nominated for numerous awards, is to be one of the 48 programs<BR>
eliminated.<BR>
<BR>
While state and federal governments have invested b=
illions in the<BR>
effort to recover Pacific salmon populations, the WSP has been the one<BR>
federal program that has actually provided additional personnel to help<BR>
carry out the task. As an indication of its importance to Northern<BR>
California's salmon restoration efforts, WSP members have since 1994:<BR>
<BR>
* Surveyed 13,400 miles of watersheds and analyzed data for 53,550<BR>
hours;<BR>
* Instructed over 38,000 students and teachers using Real Science<BR>
curriculum;<BR>
* Recruited 8,550 community volunteers (who provided over 66,937<BR>
hours of service), and engaged them in watershed restoration and public<BR>
outreach;<BR>
* Completed 1,820 scientific reports and databases, and developed 1,260<BR>
watershed restoration projects. 100 percent of data collected, reports, and<=
BR>
projects follow state and federal protocols;<BR>
* In the past year, WSP member-collected data has contributed to the<BR>
design and implementation of 199 watershed restoration projects<BR>
bringing in $5,433,560 for fisheries recovery. In a typical year, 2002=
,<BR>
data collected by WSP members led to the enhancement of 35 stream<BR>
miles by California Conservation Corps crews.<BR>
<BR>
In addition to the contribution it has made to salm=
on recovery in<BR>
Northern California, WSP has provided its participants mentoring,<BR>
helping them further their careers. Among the former IFR AmeriCorps<BR=
>
personnel, Ingrid Morken (Minnesota, 1998-99) went on to receive her<BR>
Masters at the University of California/Berkeley's Department of<BR>
Landscape Architecture under fluvial geomorphologist Dr. Matt<BR>
Kondolf. Molly Thomas (Louisiana, 1998-99) stayed on as IFR's<BR>
Administrator and the first Sublegals Editor, as well as working in IFR's<BR=
>
KRIS program, before moving to Colorado. Allison Vogt (Kentucky,<BR>
2000-2001) stayed on with IFR (including assisting Pietro Parravano on<BR>
the Pew Oceans Commission) prior to entering the University of Georgia<BR>
where she is now working on her doctorate. Ky Russell (Florida,<BR>
2001-2002) has stayed on at IFR heading up its Sustainable Fisheries<BR>
Program, and Michelle Wallar (Ohio, 2001-2002) has been accepted in<BR>
the graduate school of journalism at the University of Colorado. Reid<=
BR>
Bryson (Mississippi) and Sara Randall (Maine) are the current WSP<BR>
members in the IFR offices working on Central Valley and coastal<BR>
salmon (including coho) issues respectively. <BR>
<BR>
The best hope now for saving the Watershed Stewards=
Program may<BR>
be with language in a Congressional supplemental appropriations bill to<BR>
fully fund the 2003 program year and ensure adequate funding for the<BR>
2004 program year. In the Bush Administration's 2004 proposed budget<B=
R>
is $313.2 million - a 79 percent increase over 2003 and 12 percent<BR>
increase over the 2002 program year. In the U.S. Senate are two<BR>
measures, the "Citizens Service Act of 2003" by Senators John McCain<BR>
(R-AZ), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) that would<BR>
bring the AmeriCorps number to 75,000 in 2004 and increase it by<BR>
25,000 members annually to 175,000 total. Senator John Kerry (D-MA)<BR=
>
has proposed an ambitious measure to open up opportunities for 500,000<BR>
individuals to earn tuition costs in service program such as AmeriCorps'<BR>
Watershed Stewards Project. For more information on WSP, go to:<BR>
www.redwood.northcoast.com/~fishhelp.<BR>
<BR>
7:24/02. BOR UPGRADES KLAMATH WATER YEAR FROM=
<BR>
"DRY" TO "BELOW AVERAGE"; NO HEARING DATE FOR<BR>
KLAMATH BILL: In light of one of the wettest April's in decades, and a<BR>
wet May, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) office in charge of the<BR>
Klamath Irrigation Project announced on 13 June that it was<BR>
reclassifying the water year for the Project as a "below average" year<BR>
from the former classification of "dry" water year. See:<BR>
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/Mp140/news/2003/MP-03-030.pdf. This<BR>
reclassification will result in slightly higher flows through the rest of th=
is<BR>
year to the lower Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam than current<BR>
near-record low flows, in accordance with the BOR's "2003 Klamath<BR>
Project Operations Plan," but still far less than required "target flo=
ws" in<BR>
the current Biological Opinion (BiOp), and much less than<BR>
recommended by the State of California and the Pacific Fishery<BR>
Management Council (PFMC) to maintain economically important<BR>
fisheries. The issue of low flows to the lower river is the subject of=
a<BR>
pending court case, PCFFA et al. v. BOR, NMFS (Dist. N. Ca, No.<BR>
02-2006-SBA), in which a decision is due any day (see Sublegals,<BR>
7:23/11; 7:17/13; 7:16/06; 7:15/07; 7:13/02; 7:09/03). For more<BR>
information on last year's fish kill, California and PFMC letters and the<BR=
>
Klamath flows lawsuit, go to: www.klamathbasin.info and related sites. =
<BR>
<BR>
In Congress, the "Klamath River B=
asin and Emergency Assistance<BR>
Act of 2003," HR 1760, has been introduced by U.S. Representatives<BR>
Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), with 21<BR>
co-sponsors. The measure, aimed at resolving the water crisis in the<BR>
Klamath Basin, has been assigned to the Resources Committee<BR>
Subcommittees' on Water & Power, and Fisheries Conservation,<BR>
Wildlife & Oceans, but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. To see<=
BR>
the bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/. <BR>
<BR>
7:24/03. OREGON COHO DELISTING UNDER DISCUSSI=
ON,<BR>
BACKROOM DEAL FEARED: On 13 June, Oregon Governor Ted<BR>
Kulongoski met privately with White House Council on Environmental<BR>
Quality (CEQ) Chairman James Connaughton and National Marine<BR>
Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northwest Regional Director Bob Lohn to<BR>
discuss the potential for quick delisting of Oregon coho salmon, now<BR>
listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). <BR>
<BR>
Among other things, the Bush Administration promise=
d $250,000 to<BR>
the State of Oregon to finance a scientific review of whether Oregon<BR>
coastal coho, listed in 1998 but showing stronger returns this year,<BR>
should be delisted and removed from federal protection. Few of the<BR>
habitat problems precipitating the coho decline, however, have been<BR>
fixed in Oregon and habitat continues to be destroyed by poorly<BR>
regulated agricultural and forestry practices. The recent higher retur=
ns of<BR>
coho are primarily due to unusually good ocean conditions, not recovery<BR>
efforts on land, so that temporarily strong populations would likely<BR>
plummet as soon as ocean conditions change for the worse. The ESA has<BR>
been an effective tool to help force habitat rebuilding and protection and<B=
R>
effect better land use practices. The Oregon timber industry particularly<BR=
>
is pushing for delisting.<BR>
<BR>
Estimates of current total Oregon coho populations=20=
(combining both<BR>
wild and hatchery) are about 268,000, up from a mere 22,000 in 1997.<BR>
Historic Oregon population size estimates for coho, however, are 1.4<BR>
million annually (NMFS "Status Review of Coho Salmon from<BR>
Washington, Oregon and California (Sept. 1995), pp. 113-119). The<BR>
ESA contains a provision that allows listing decisions to take into<BR>
account "those efforts, if any, by any State ... to protect such species" (1=
6<BR>
U.S.C. 1533(b)(1)(A)). <BR>
<BR>
Former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber sought to for=
estall a listing<BR>
by asking the federal government to rely on the "Oregon Plan for Salmon<BR>
and Steelhead" (the "Oregon Plan") as legally sufficient for recovery of<BR>
coho. As a result of the Oregon Plan, NMFS first refused to provide ESA<BR>
protection (62 Fed. Reg. 24588 (6 May 1997)), but was then ordered to<BR>
do so by the U.S. District Court (ONRC v. Daley, 6 F.Supp.2d 1139 (D.<BR>
Or. 1998)). PCFFA and IFR were co-plaintiffs in that case. The court i=
n<BR>
ONRC v. Daley held that as a state conservation plan Oregon's was "too<BR>
speculative" because it relies heavily on voluntary future actions that are<=
BR>
inherently uncertain and for which there is no guaranteed funding. The=
<BR>
Court did acknowledge, however, that the Oregon Plan "may ultimately<BR>
allow the NMFS to delist the species once recovery efforts are far<BR>
enough along." (Id. at 1152)<BR>
<BR>
The Bush Administration also has recently adopted r=
ules that make<BR>
delisting of species by reliance on state conservation programs far easier.=20=
<BR>
The new "Final Policy on Evaluating Conservation Efforts (PECE),"<BR>
published in the Federal Register on 28 March (68 Fed. Reg.<BR>
15100-15115), provides criteria for evaluating whether formalized,<BR>
non-federal species conservation efforts that have yet to be implemented<BR>
or shown to be effective could still be relied upon to avoid an ESA<BR>
listing. The Administration, claiming the ESA is "broken," is expected=
<BR>
to implement these new policies by attempting to avoid listings or<BR>
reverse existing listings. <BR>
<BR>
Political expediency is also motivating the deal. T=
he Oregon Board of<BR>
Forestry is now defending a lawsuit, Pacific Rivers Council, et al. v.<BR>
State Forester (Dist.Or, CV. 02-243-BR), over the failure of its Forest<BR>
Practices Rules to prevent "take" of ESA-listed coho. A 21 April inter=
im<BR>
court opinion held that a state agency head can indeed become liable<BR>
under federal law for violations of the ESA. Since then, the Board of<=
BR>
Forestry has (instead of seeking to improve Oregon's forestry laws)<BR>
simply passed rules to strip the State Forester of any discretionary<BR>
authority to disapprove of logging operations on high-risk, steep slope<BR>
logging sites where they may affect coho (see Sublegals, 7:05/01;<BR>
7:04/05). A coho delisting supposedly would relieve the Board of<BR>
Forestry (and by implication other Oregon state agencies) of any ESA<BR>
liability and make it possible for the Oregon timber industry to continue<BR=
>
business as usual, even though the Oregon Plan's own scientific<BR>
oversight body, the "Independent Multi-disciplinary Science Team<BR>
(IMST)" has made it clear that Oregon's forestry laws are far too weak to<BR=
>
prevent future salmon extinctions. <BR>
<BR>
To see the 1999 IMST Report (Technical Report 1999-=
1, "Recovery<BR>
of Wild Salmonids in Western Oregon Forests,") go to:<BR>
http://www.fsl.orst.edu/imst/index.htm, under "Technical Reports." For=
<BR>
information on the meeting between Governor Kulongoski and CEQ on<BR>
delisting coho, see the Oregonian article at: http://www.oregonlive.com/<BR>
metro/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/105559191460880.xml.<BR>
<BR>
7:24/04. THOMPSON'S PACIFIC SALMON RECOVERY ACT<BR>
PASSES HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE: On 12 June the U.S.<BR>
House of Representatives' Resources Committee marked-up and passed<BR>
out HR 1945, the "Pacific Salmon Recovery Act," by Representative<BR>
Mike Thompson (D-CA) to allocate $600 million over three years for<BR>
salmon conservation and habitat recovery projects in California, Oregon,<BR>
Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The legislation is aimed at fueling local<BR>
and regional protection and restoration efforts through additional<BR>
funding to increase salmon and anadromous fish populations. The funds<BR>
would be distributed equally among the states with 10 percent for the<BR>
Tribes. "Habitat loss is a major factor for the sharp decline in salmo=
n<BR>
populations. Restoring their natural habitat will help buoy their<BR>
population and our local fishing and related economies," said Thompson. <BR>
"Providing additional funding at the national level is crucial to restoring<=
BR>
our fish populations." Thompson, when he was a State Senator, was the<=
BR>
author of major salmon funding legislation in California, SB 271. HR<B=
R>
1945 now moves to the full House for consideration. U.S. Senator<BR>
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is expected to take the lead, pushing this<BR>
legislation in the Senate. To view the bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov. <=
BR>
<BR>
7:24/05. PACIFIC COASTAL SALMON RECOVERY FUND=
<BR>
REPORT TO CONGRESS RELEASED: The National Marine Fisheries<BR>
Service (NMFS) has announced completion of its 2003 Pacific Coastal<BR>
Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) Report to the U.S. Congress. The<BR>
report summarizes over 2000 activities conducted in fiscal years 2000<BR>
through 2002. PCSRF activities have been completed in the following<BR>
five categories: salmon habitat restoration; salmon planning and<BR>
assessments; salmon enhancement; salmon research, monitoring, and<BR>
evaluation; and outreach and education. <BR>
<BR>
The Fund was established by Congress in FY 2000 to=20=
provide grants<BR>
to the States and Tribes to assist state, local, and Tribal salmon<BR>
conservation and recovery efforts. PCSRF was requested by the<BR>
Governors of the States of Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington<BR>
in response to Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings of west coast<BR>
salmon and steelhead populations as well as the harvest restrictions<BR>
placed on Southeast Alaskan fisheries through the 1999 Pacific Salmon<BR>
Treaty Agreement. The full report can be downloaded at:<BR>
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/pcsrf<BR>
<BR>
7:24/06. INITIATIVE PROPOSED TO CLEAN-UP HANFORD<BR=
>
NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL SITE WHERE COLUMBIA RIVER<BR>
AND ITS FISH ARE THREATENED: The approximately 70 mile long<BR>
Hanford Reach is the only undammed stretch of the once mighty<BR>
Columbia River. The Reach is home to the largest remaining wild fall<BR>
chinook runs still in the Columbia; these fall chinook are now the only<BR>
Columbia River salmon run not listed as either "threatened" or<BR>
"endangered" under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), and thus<BR>
are a mainstay of what remains of the Columbia-based salmon fisheries<BR>
all the way up to where they intermingle with other salmon runs in<BR>
Southeast Alaska. The problem is that the Reach runs through the<BR>
Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southwestern Washington State, which<BR>
has the distinction of housing "more than 80 percent of the U.S.<BR>
Departments of Energy's (DOE) highly radioactive reactor fuel, nearly<BR>
60 percent of the nation's high-level defense waste." It is also "the=20=
most<BR>
contaminated nuclear site in the Western hemisphere" says Tom<BR>
Carpenter of the Government Accountability Project (GAP). In response<=
BR>
to this threat, a coalition of groups including GAP, Columbia<BR>
Riverkeeper and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility have<BR>
sponsored a statewide ballot initiative for November 2004 to require that<BR=
>
the federal government stop dumping more radioactive nuclear waste in<BR>
unlined soil ditches and clean-up the site along with its contaminated<BR>
groundwater reservoirs. The groundwater contamination encompasses a<BR=
>
180 square-mile area and is a major threat to the Columbia River and its<BR>
fish. For more information, go to the GAP website at:<BR>
www.whistleblower.org, and also: www.heartofamericanorthwest.org. <BR>
For the impacts on salmon, see the September 2002 Fishermen's News<BR>
article, "Why the Hanford Matters to Fishermen: Avoiding a Radioactive<BR>
Columbia River," at: http://www.pcffa.org/fn-sep02.htm. <BR>
<BR>
7:24/07. WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY<BR>
ACCUSSED OF ILLEGALLY GIVING AWAY WATER<BR>
PURCHASED FOR FISH HABITAT: The Environmental News Service<BR>
(ENS) reported 9 June that the Washington State Department of Ecology<BR>
illegally gave away Walla Walla River water that had been purchased by<BR>
the state for more than $1 million in November 2000, to restore salmon<BR>
habitat there. The Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) made<BR>
the allegation and took its case to the state Pollution Control Hearings<BR>
Board, where a preliminary ruling issued last week has set the stage for a<B=
R>
major decision about Columbia River water and salmon restoration. "At<BR>
issue is whether the Department of Ecology can grant a massive new<BR>
water permit to the cities of Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West<BR>
Richland in the eastern part of the state that would allow them to<BR>
withdraw up to 80,000 gallons of water per minute from the Columbia<BR>
River, substituting water from the Walla Walla River," said the ENS<BR>
report. "We think buying water to put back in a river that needs it, only<BR=
>
to give it away for free later is a waste of tax dollars, and bad for the<BR=
>
river besides," said CELP attorney Shirley Nixon. &nb=
sp; &=
nbsp;  =
; <BR>
&nbs=
p; <BR>
"Nearly 40 percent of the average natural flow of the Col=
umbia at<BR>
McNary Dam, located about 40 miles downstream from the cities, is<BR>
already withdrawn, mostly for irrigation. Hundreds of users do not yet<BR>
take all of the water they are permitted to use, so river levels on the<BR>
Columbia are likely to continue dropping, even if Ecology issues no new<BR>
water rights," reported ENS. "Ecology has budgeted $588,000 for two<BR=
>
studies to determine whether the Columbia can even afford more water<BR>
withdrawals," the complaint says. "Those recommendations are due by<BR>
Spring 2004."<BR>
<BR>
Meanwhile in the Washington Legislature, the House=20=
passed SB 5028<BR>
that forbids the Department of Ecology (DOE) from using water quality<BR>
laws to restrict water quantity takes. Ecology was one of its primary<BR>
proponents, which, according to Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission<BR>
Chairman Billy Frank, "sends a clear message about the agency's lack of<BR>
desire to live up to its public trust in protecting the environment." =20=
The<BR>
bill would lead to more pollution problems, coming hand-in-hand with<BR>
reduced stream flows. Washington will now become just one of two<BR>
states to give up this authority, say bill opponents. The other state,<BR>
Colorado, has been slapped by the federal government for its lack of<BR>
protection of instream flows. "This is another example of Washington<BR>
State throwing its responsibilities to the public away, at the demand of<BR>
special interests," said Frank, adding that SB 5028 removes a critical<BR>
enforcement tool. "It makes no sense to eliminate any legal tool available<B=
R>
to DOE which is necessary to protect water quality. This bill does that,<BR>
hand over fist." <BR>
<BR>
To see the Environmental New Service article, go to=
:<BR>
http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-09-09.asp#anchor6; to see the<BR>
Pollution Control Hearings Board Decision, go to:<BR>
http://www.celp.org/060403PCHBdecision.pdf. Also see the CELP<BR>
statement posted at: http://www.celp.org/060603Release.pdf. <BR>
<BR>
7:24/08. REVOKED WATER TRANSFERS MEAN MORE WATER<BR>
FOR SAN FRANCISCO BAY: The California Department of Water<BR>
Resources (DWR) announced it has decided to cancel a one-year<BR>
agreement to transfer water across the state for Southern California's<BR>
major municipal water agency. This spring a 10 million dollar<BR>
agreement reached between Sacramento basin farmers, DWR and the<BR>
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) outlined a<BR>
plan to transfer 130,000 acre-feet of surface water (see Sublegals<BR>
7:08/08; 7:02/04; 7:02/05). The deal effectively collapsed this week<B=
R>
when DWR, which would have provided storage and conveyance<BR>
facilities between the seller and buyer, informed MWD that it no longer<BR>
intends to participate in the transfer. <BR>
<BR>
The decision by DWR is seen as a move to pressure M=
WD into<BR>
signing an agreement concerning water allocations from the Colorado<BR>
River. MWD is to date the state's only stakeholder not to have agreed=20=
to<BR>
a new allocation plan required by the federal government that would<BR>
allow California to receive an additional 800,000 acre-feet from the<BR>
Colorado this year. According to DWR, the water in question, over 42<B=
R>
billion gallons worth, will be stored at Lake Oroville in the Sacramento<BR>
Valley before being released to flow naturally through the Sacramento<BR>
River Delta and into the estuary of San Francisco Bay. The additional<BR>
releases for the Bay and Delta are good news; the Bay in many years has<BR>
as much as 50 percent of its freshwater inflow, critical for estuary health,=
<BR>
diverted for agriculture and municipal purposes. San Francisco Bay is<=
BR>
the most important estuary on the west coast of North and South<BR>
America, the migration route for salmon to their Sierra streams, a<BR>
nursery ground for Dungeness crab and home to the largest roe herring<BR>
fishery in the lower 48.<BR>
<BR>
For more see the San Francisco Chronicle article at=
:<BR>
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2003/06/11/MN1904<BR>
8.DTL or the San Diego Union-Tribune article at:<BR>
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20030611-619-water.html<BR>
or the Sacramento Bee article at: http://www.sacbee.com/content/<BR>
news/environment/story/6831724p-7781980c.html.<BR>
<BR>
7:24/09. CALFED MOVES FORWARD WITH PLAN TO PUMP<BR>
MORE WATER FROM DELTA THREATENING SALMON, LISTED<BR>
FISH: While the State of California has shown the fortitude to stand u=
p<BR>
to one of Southern California's largest water users (see 7:24/08 above),<BR>
the most pressing threat to the San Francisco Bay/Delta ecosystem<BR>
remains a project to increase the amount of freshwater diversions. A<B=
R>
new stakeholder process for the South Delta Improvement Project<BR>
(SDIP), an effort of the state and federal CALFED collaboration, began<BR>
on 4 June with a meeting in Sacramento of interested stakeholders (see<BR>
Sublegals, 7:04/06). At that meeting, PCFFA/IFR representatives<BR>
learned that the government agencies plan to issue a draft Environmental<BR>
Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the<BR>
project this fall. Those documents will outline several operating<BR>
alternatives for the proposed increased pumping capacity (up to 8500<BR>
cubic feet per second (cfs) from 6680 cfs) at the Clifton Court Forebay. <BR=
>
The agencies then expect to finalize the paperwork and select a preferred<BR=
>
alternative by July 2004. All of this comes to the surprise of many<BR=
>
stakeholders, who question why their proposed "no net increase"<BR>
pumping alternative has not been considered by the agencies even when<BR>
they plan to delay upgrades for critical fish screens to the proposed,<BR>
larger pumps. For more see: http://sdelta.water.ca.gov.<BR>
<BR>
7:24/10. PACIFICORP TO REMOVE ITS POWERDALE DAM ON<=
BR>
HOOD RIVER: The Oregonian reports that PacifiCorp will remove its<BR>
Powerdale Dam on Oregon's Hood River in 2010, restoring natural river<BR>
flows for chinook and other fish under an agreement reached on 6 June<BR>
in Salem. Built in 1923, "the dam diverted as much as 80 percent of the<BR>
river's flow through a three-mile channel before returning it near the<BR>
river's mouth on the Columbia. It posed a significant threat to migrating<BR=
>
fish, regularly sweeping juveniles into the power canal where some were<BR>
injured or killed in generating turbines," said the Oregonian article.<BR>
PacifiCorp, a division of Scottish Power, tried to renew the hydropower<BR>
dam's license that expired in 2000 with the Federal Energy Regulatory<BR>
Commission (FERC), but gave up, deciding it would be too expensive. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
To gain federal approval, PacifiCorp would have had=
to invest<BR>
millions to upgrade fish screens and fish ladders and commit to running<BR>
the dam with less water from the river to leave stronger flows for fish.<BR>
"Fish weren't the only factor. Company engineers have estimated the<BR>
dam's useful lifespan would end in 2018 without capital improvements.<BR>
And studies of sediment loads in the river convinced the company that<BR>
glacial sloughing from Mount Hood would make the dam increasingly<BR>
expensive to maintain," reported the Oregonian. "Powerdale, near the<B=
R>
City of Hood River, is one of a growing number of aging Northwest<BR>
dams that will be decommissioned in the next decade." To see the 7 June<BR>
Oregonian article by Joe Rojas-Burke, go to: "Deal will mean Hood<BR>
River Dam Removal," at: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/<BR>
oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1054987759294900.xml<BR>
<BR>
7:24/11. USDA HEARINGS ON COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN<BR>
REGULATIONS -- IS COOL COOL? On 12 June, the United States<BR>
Department of Agriculture (USDA) held one of its regional Information<BR>
and Listening Sessions on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) in<BR>
Sacramento, California (see Sublegals, 7:20/06; 5:15/04; 7:14/14;<BR>
5:19/06; 5:17/04; 5:08/03; 5:07/06). This was one of many public<BR>
sessions USDA is holding on the provision in the 2002 Farm Bill<BR>
requiring labeling of all seafood at the retail level with country of origin=
<BR>
and whether it is wild or farmed. Currently there is a voluntary period to<B=
R>
label products, but as of 30 September 2004 it will be mandatory. The<BR>
Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) of the USDA is currently<BR>
developing proposed regulations and is taking public comment. There is<BR>
an overwhelming participation from the agriculture community, with<BR>
fisheries input lacking. These regulations will enhance the information<BR>
consumers have available to them while purchasing seafood and may<BR>
have an impact on imports and farmed species, which to date have not<BR>
been distinguishable. COOL, too, may have a potential impact on farmed<BR>
salmon, which has gained media attention based on a recent law suit<BR>
against grocery chains for not labeling the colorants added to the salmon.<B=
R>
For more information go to: http://www.ams.usda.gov/COOL. <BR>
<BR>
END OF SUBLEGALS PART 1, SEE SECOND E-MAIL FOR PART 2 <BR>
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