<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:AllowPNG/><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260279" dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2017/10/16/states-own-evidence-shows-tunnels-project-will-harm-fish" class="enhancr2_e050adf6-2f33-f8e2-ca45-54092a548d85" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260562">State’s Own Evidence Shows Tunnels Project Will Harm Fish</a><br></div><div><br></div><div id="enhancr2_e050adf6-2f33-f8e2-ca45-54092a548d85" class="yahoo-link-enhancr-card ymail-preserve-class ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" contenteditable="false" data-url="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2017/10/16/states-own-evidence-shows-tunnels-project-will-harm-fish" data-type="yenhancr" data-category="article" data-embed-url="" data-size="medium" dir="ltr"> <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2017/10/16/states-own-evidence-shows-tunnels-project-will-harm-fish" style="text-decoration:none !important; 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line-height:19px; margin:0 0 4px 0;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;word-break:break-word;">State’s Own Evidence Shows Tunnels Project Will Harm Fish</h2> <div class="card-richinfo-primary" style="font-size:11px;line-height:15px;color:#999;">By Jonathan Rosenfield</div> <div class="card-description" style="font-size:11px;line-height:15px;color:#999;word-break:break-word;">The Brown administration is denying scientific evidence when it comes to the impact that the proposed delta tunn...</div> </td> <td style="text-align:right;padding:16px 12px 16px 0;"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </a></div><div><br></div><header style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260430"><h1 itemprop="headline" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 0.92; letter-spacing: -2px; font-size: 72px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0; max-width: 100%;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260431">State’s Own Evidence Shows Tunnels Project Will Harm Fish</h1></header><div style="box-sizing: inherit; position: relative;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260432"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.9em 0px; line-height: 1.7; box-shadow: rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.247059) -1px 0px 0px inset; width: 738.46875px; padding-right: calc(3.333% + 1px); float: left;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260433"><div itemprop="description" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); letter-spacing: -0.5px; margin: 0 auto 1em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260434">The Brown administration is denying scientific evidence when it comes to the impact that the proposed delta tunnels project would have on endangered species and fisheries, says scientist Jonathan Rosenfield of The Bay Institute.</div><table style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; font-family: 'Whitney A', 'Whitney B', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; border-collapse: collapse; width: 702.140625px; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin-top: -8px; box-shadow: rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.298039) 0px 7px 10px -10px, rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.0980392) 0px 60px 70px -70px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260435"><tbody style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260436"><tr style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260437"><td style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 8px 10px 6px; border: 1px solid rgb(224, 228, 229);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260438"><small style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; display: block; opacity: 0.33;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260439">WRITTEN BY</small><span style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260440"><a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/contributor/jonathan-rosenfield" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260441">Jonathan Rosenfield</a></span></td><td style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 8px 10px 6px; border: 1px solid rgb(224, 228, 229);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260442"><small style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; display: block; opacity: 0.33;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260443">PUBLISHED ON</small><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: FontAwesome; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; position: relative;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260444"> </span><time itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2017-10-16 12:05:54 UTC" style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260445">Oct. 16, 2017</time></td><td style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 8px 10px 6px; border: 1px solid rgb(224, 228, 229);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260446"><small style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; display: block; opacity: 0.33;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260447">READ TIME</small>Approx. 4 minutes</td></tr></tbody></table><div itemprop="publisher" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia; font-size: 19px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260448"><div itemprop="logo" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260449"></div></div><figure itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.25em 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia; font-size: 19px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260450"><figcaption itemprop="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: 'Whitney A', 'Whitney B', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; opacity: 0.8; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 5px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.247059); padding-bottom: 12px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260452">A juvenile delta smelt inside a rearing tank at the U.C. Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Lab, located 80 miles from the Davis campus on the grounds of the California Department of Water Resources - John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility near Byron, California in Contra Costa County.<cite style="box-sizing: inherit; opacity: 0.5; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia; margin-left: 4px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260453">Dale Kolke / California Department of Water Resources</cite></figcaption></figure><div itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia; font-size: 19px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260454"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260455"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext; text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 0.725em; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.75px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260456">GOV. JERRY BROWN </span>deserves credit for leading the fight against climate change in the face of Washington’s fact-free narratives. That’s why it’s so frustrating that his administration ignores scientific analyses regarding the impact of his controversial proposal to build two giant tunnels that would divert Sacramento River water under the Delta.<b style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260457"><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260458"></b></div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260459">Despite years of assuring Californians that the new $17 billion tunnels would protect the San Francisco Bay estuary and would not increase the total volume of water exported from this ecosystem, the state’s own documents – including the <a href="http://cms.capitoltechsolutions.com/ClientData/CaliforniaWaterFix/uploads/FIX_BA_TOC_Rev.pdf" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260460">Biological Assessment</a> and <a href="http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/2015PublicReview/PublicReviewRDEIRSDEIS/PublicReviewRDEIRSDEIS_Links.aspx" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260461">Draft Environmental Impact Report/Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement</a> (<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15.4375px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260462">RDEIR</span>/<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15.4375px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260463">SDEIS</span>) – show the opposite.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260464">Currently, less than half of the winter-spring runoff from the Central Valley reaches the Bay in an average year, and it receives even less during dry years. An overwhelming amount of research leaves no doubt that the San Francisco Bay estuary – the largest estuary on the Pacific coast of the Americas – has been severely damaged by decades of this unsustainable water withdrawal. Unless we change course:</div><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260465"><li style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260466">Extinction of several native fish species is imminent;</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260467">Fisheries for salmon and other species that support recreational businesses and thousands of commercial fishing jobs from Morro Bay through Oregon will collapse;</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260468">Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria will become increasingly frequent;</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260469">The estuary will continue to be dominated by invasive water-weeds and other non-native species.</li></ul><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260470">The best available science consistently demonstrates that we must allow more of the water in Central Valley rivers to reach San Francisco Bay as part of any comprehensive response to this estuary’s decline. Even colleagues who offer tepid support for the tunnels concept acknowledge that “…the best option for smelt, and other native fishes, especially salmon, is … a large increase in freshwater flows through [their] habitat,” as scientists Peter Moyle and James Hobbs wrote in a <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2017/09/04/reasons-for-optimism-about-california-waterfix-from-a-fish-perspective" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260471">Water Deeply op-ed</a> last month.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260472">Yet, contrary to suppositions made by Moyle and Hobbs, the governor’s tunnel project (misleadingly named “California WaterFix”) will increase water exports from the Delta (<i style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260473">see</i>, e.g., California WaterFix Biological Assessment <a href="http://cms.capitoltechsolutions.com/ClientData/CaliforniaWaterFix/uploads/App_5.A_CALSIM.pdf" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260474">Appendix <span style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260475">5A</span></a>. Figure <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15.4375px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260476">5.A.A.3</span>-20). Indeed, the state’s own analyses reveal that operations of the new water diversions will reduce the flow of fresh water to San Francisco Bay and accelerate the ongoing decline of Chinook salmon and other native species. Reductions in fresh water flow are expected to increase residence time and to decrease turbidity (cloudiness) of water in the Delta (<i style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260477">see</i>, e.g., <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15.4375px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260478">RDEIR</span>/<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15.4375px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260479">SDEIS</span> <a href="http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/RDEIRS/4_New_Alternatives.pdf" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260480">Chapter 4</a>); such conditions promote the increasing frequency of toxic cyanobacteria blooms.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260481">For years, cheerleaders for the tunnels have argued that “the status quo is unsustainable.” Indeed it is. Ironically, the state’s sales pitch for the expensive twin tunnels is now an exercise in rationalizing maintenance of the status quo and avoiding analyses that demonstrate that this project will make conditions worse. For example, rather than argue that this project will improve conditions for imperiled species, the state now only attempts to show that the project will not increase the risk of extinction, which is already high.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260482">Yet, despite serious flaws and major gaps in the state’s analyses, they clearly show that the tunnels will harm native species. Survival of juvenile Chinook salmon through the Delta, already unacceptably low, is projected to decline under WaterFix. For example, California Department of Fish and Wildlife evaluated the expected effects of the tunnels on the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon and found: “Overall, the [Winter Run Life Cycle Model] results indicated lower abundances and lower cohort replacement rates under the Project compared to the [No Action Alternative]. Under all scenarios, abundance was lower under the Project relative to the <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15.4375px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260483">NAA</span> throughout the time series and all scenarios had a lower mean and median cohort replacement rate than the <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15.4375px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260484">NAA.</span>”</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260485">Other models of Chinook salmon survival indicated similarly poor results with operation of the proposed tunnels.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260486">In addition, forage fish species, which are currently circling the drain, will continue to decline under the plan, increasing the likelihood that we will lose some of these populations forever. Even entrainment of fish into the existing south Delta export facilities – the one environmental problem the twin tunnels were designed to address – will increase dramatically for longfin smelt, a state-threatened species, as the <a href="http://cms.capitoltechsolutions.com/ClientData/CaliforniaWaterFix/uploads/App_4.A_Longfin_Smelt.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260487">Incidental Take Permit Application</a> shows.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260488">We live in a country where ignoring strong scientific evidence has become routine and extraordinarily expensive projects are promoted with the most cynical rhetoric. It’s disappointing to see this from a state that prides itself on environmental protection.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260489">Reducing reliance on the Delta’s fresh water supplies is state law. California is also required to protect fisheries, water quality and endangered species. The twin tunnels project fails on all of these and other counts. Meanwhile, the Brown administration’s fixation with this risky, outdated and expensive engineering project diverts resources from practical solutions like water recycling and improved efficiency that can simultaneously improve water supply reliability and protect the estuarine ecosystem.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260490">During the recent drought, Californians demonstrated that we can conserve a tremendous amount of water. But most water districts across the state have barely tapped the potential to improve regional self-reliance through water recycling, conjunctive use and stormwater capture. These approaches can secure the state’s water supply and protect fishing communities and the environment at far less cost than boring two giant tunnels under the Delta.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260491">Californians deserve better. It’s time we followed the best available science to protect our imperiled ecosystems by investing in durable innovations that will secure California’s water supplies into the future.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 0.5em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260492"><i style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260493">The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Water Deeply.</i></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260494"><i style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260495"><br id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260496"></i></div></div></div></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260275"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1508169263595_260290"><br></div></div></div></body></html>