<html><head></head><body><div class="ydpddb0decbyahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><a href="http://eastbaytimes.ca.newsmemory.com/?publink=2a2b281ca" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="">http://eastbaytimes.ca.newsmemory.com/?publink=2a2b281ca</a><br></div><div><br></div></div><div><div><p class="ydpa092c45dmaintitle" style="margin: 8px 0px 8px 10px; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 30px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_6">Newsom must fight Trump’s Delta fish extinction plan </span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_2" style="font-weight: bold;">By John McManus</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">The Trump administration last week launched an attack on the health of the San Francisco Bay, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and California’s salmon fishing industry with new rules allowing big increases in water diversions from this teetering, vulnerable ecosystem.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">Under the federal Endangered Species Act, these rules are supposed to protect a halfdozen listed fish species, including two Chinook salmon runs, from harm caused by the massive state and federal dams, reservoirs, canals, pipes and pumps that move billions of gallons of water annually.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">The new Trump administration rules replace prior ones that weren’t strong enough to protect salmon and other wildlife in the last drought. They only make the situation worse.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">Heavy loss of salmon during the drought years of 2014 and 2015 from excessive water diversions and a shortage of cold water led to widespread agreement to strengthen the rules to better protect salmon runs.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">Enter President Trump and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist and litigator for the Westland Water District, the biggest growers in the dry western San Joaquin Valley. This area largely lacks a sustainable local water source and instead relies on diversion of Northern California water needed by salmon.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">In July, dozens of federal scientists reviewed the new Bernhardt proposal and concluded it would violate federal law and risk multiple extinctions, including to salmon.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">Bernhardt’s response was to throw out the scientists’ findings and let the federal Bureau of Reclamation (the agency that</span> <span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">operates the dams and pumps) help rewrite them and rubberstamp the increased water diversions. The result of this political manipulation was released last week.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">To no one’s surprise, the new Bernhardt rules conclude that struggling Bay-Delta salmon and other fish will be just fine if he turns the pumps up. Way up. The new rules will now allow the Central Valley Project to kill many more salmon eggs</span> <span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">in spawning rivers and baby salmon as they try to migrate through the Delta and Bay.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">This is a Trump extinction plan. Today, Delta smelt are teetering on extinction. The new Bernhardt rules appear designed to push them over the edge. Salmon runs are next in line.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">This new massive water diversion plan threatens more than fish. It threatens tens of thousands of us whose jobs are tied to the salmon industry.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">The California salmon fishing industry was shut down entirely in 2008 and 2009 after water diversions jumped about 16% in 2000. The current federal administration is determined to wipe out environmental protections enacted as a result of the damage done then. It looks like they’re trying to drive California’s</span> <span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">salmon fishing industry out</span> <span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">of business permanently.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">Recently, San Joaquin Valley agriculture and southern California</span> <span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">water users persuaded Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto Senate Bill 1, which would have given him new tools to block this federal attack. Now, those same water users are lobbying the governor to endorse the Trump salmon extinction plan. We hope Newsom will say no. Hell no.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">California’s salmon fishing industry calls on the governor to fight back as he has in other areas. He should sue to block these illegal new federal rules. And he should direct the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to strictly regulate Delta water pumping under state law.</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">Gov. Newsom, President Trump has attacked San Francisco Bay, the Delta and salmon fishing jobs. What’s your plan to</span> <span class="ydpa092c45dFid_3">fight back?</span></p><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_4" style="font-style: italic;">John McManus is president of the Golden State Salmon Association.</span></p><img src="http://us5lb-cdn.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/eastbaytimes/20191029/1029000xa008_w-or9.pdf.0/img/Image_1.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 1.75px 20px; padding: 0px; max-width: 138px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; width: 136px;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" data-id="1572447455469"><p class="ydpa092c45dabody" style="margin: 10px 20px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_15">The Trump administration’s plan to divert more Northern California water to farmers will harm the fish industry in the Delta.</span></p><div><span class="ydpa092c45dFid_1">BAY AREA NEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO</span></div></div></div></div></body></html>