[env-trinity] Fwd: Delta & River Advocates Stand Up for Salmon & Delta Smelt with Capitol Rally and Comments to Bureau of Reclamation

[Tom Stokely]

* Contact: *
Noah Oppenheim, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations,
415-561-5080 <(415)%20561-5080>, noah at ifrfish.org
Annelia Hillman, Klamath Justice Coalition & Yurok Tribal Member,
707-499-6061 <(707)%20499-6061>, norris_annelia at yahoo.com
Regina Chichizola, Save California Salmon,  541 951-0126,
klamathtrinityriver at gmail.com
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053
<(209)%20479-2053>, barbara at restorethedelta.org


*Delta & River Advocates Stand Up for Salmon & Delta Smelt with Capitol
Rally and Comments to Bureau of Reclamation *

*SACRAMENTO* – Today, Delta and river advocates—including Klamath River
Tribal Members, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, commercial & recreational fishing
groups, and Restore the Delta—rallied at the State Capitol to voice their
opposition against the Trump Administration’s proposal to maximize water
deliveries to the Central Valley Project. After the rally they

The new federal proposal to increase Delta exports could impact flows on
the Sacramento, Feather, American-San Joaquin, Trinity, and Klamath Rivers,
and comes at a time when salmon returns and Delta Smelt numbers have
reached record lows.

*Klamath Justice Coalition member and Yurok tribal member Annelia Hillman
said, *
“The Bureau of Reclamation needs to deeply consider the greater detrimental
environmental effects that are already evident from manipulating natural
water systems. On the Klamath River, we can testify to the damage that
reservoirs and diversions have caused on tribal subsistence fishing, water
quality and all life dependent on it.

“We are all aware that maximizing water flows to the Central Valley does
not mean sending clean drinking water to residents—it means meeting
corporate demands that waste water on fracking and unsustainable big-ag
industries.”

Hillman went on to say that the Yurok Tribe is California’s largest Tribe
and faced an allocation of one fish per eight Tribal members due to the
Klamath River having the worst salmon run in history last year.

*Executive Director of The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s
Associations,* *Noah Oppenheim said, *
"California's commercial salmon fishery was mortally wounded by the
drought, catastrophic water mismanagement, and excessive south-of-Delta
exports. Now the Bureau of Reclamation is here to twist the knife. What
began last year as a non-jeopardy reinitiation of consultation has become a
water grab fueled by greed and opportunism. If the Bureau gets its way,
commercial and recreational salmon fishing will be lost forever in the
Central Valley. Fishermen and anglers from the Golden Gate to Redding and
all the way to Seattle need healthy salmon runs to survive.”

*Representative of Save California Salmon, Regina Chichizola said, *
"We are facing the worst salmon runs we have ever had on the Sacramento and
Klamath Rivers due to bad water management during the drought, and the only
thing that saved us from losing our drinking water supply last year was a
rainy winter. California needs to start managing our water responsibly. The
Trump plan is the opposite of responsible, and is especially troubling when
the impacts of the Twin Tunnels and new dam proposals are factored in."


*Executive Director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan Parrilla said, *“The
Delta smelt could be the first fish species to become extinct in the United
Since since the Endangered Species Act was signed in 1973. With only two
delta smelt identified in the last fish survey, state and federal agencies
need to focus time, money, and energy on restoring smelt populations
instead of turning up the pumps. If California loses Delta smelt, the
salmon will follow, then larger aquatic species that rely on salmon runs
like Puget Sound Orcas will die off as well. We are looking at the
potential collapse of an entire food chain.”



Last year the Klamath River suffered the worst fall run salmon return in
history, and the Sacramento River only had 230,700 projected fall run
salmon returning down from

650,000 only years before. Low salmon runs led to a disaster declaration in
California and Oregon due to the loss of the commercial fisheries. The
Trinity River is the Klamath's largest tributary.



The rally will take place on the sidewalk outside 650 Capitol Mall
<https://maps.google.com/?q=650+Capitol+Mall&entry=gmail&source=g> at 1
p.m., while the public meeting will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in the
Stanford Room, 650 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814.



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