To salmon, Indigenous tribes and conservationists, Newsom says: Let them eat almonds

A salmon caught by Karuk Tribe member Ron Reed using a traditional dip net sits on the banks of the Klamath River at Ishi Pishi Falls on Sept. 29, 2022, in Siskiyou County. Troy Hockaday, a Karuk Tribe councilman, pointed out sores on the fish, attributing it them to failings upstream. XAVIER MASCAREÑAS xmascarenas@sacbee.com

This piece was originally published in the Sacramento Bee January 18, 2024

BY TOM STOKELY

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made it a point to tout his green credentials whenever possible — citing his administration’s initiative to derive 90% of the state’s energy from sustainable sources by 2035, for example. But Newsom has a blind spot in his progressive environmental agenda, and it’s overshadowing his laudable efforts elsewhere. Under Newsom’s watch, the state’s once abundant salmon runs are plummeting. But instead of promoting policies that could reverse the trend, the governor is actively driving the fish to extinction.

Salmon need clean, cold water in their natal rivers to survive. And while it’s true that recent droughts have severely taxed these iconic fish, Newsom has failed to help them even when he had the means at hand — as he did this year, following one of California’s wettest winters on record. There was plenty of cold water sitting behind the state’s dams for our beleaguered salmon. But instead of releasing it for the fish, Newsom directed the State Water Resources Control Board to waive rules designed to protect salmon.

The greatest beneficiaries of this move? Large corporate agricultural enterprises in the San Joaquin Valley, which concentrate on the production of almonds and pistachios for export.

Newsom rescinded that request following a massive backlash and more rain. But his policy remains one of not-so-benign neglect, and the salmon are still free-falling to extinction.

Most of California’s remaining salmon are concentrated in the main stems and tributaries of three large rivers: the Sacramento River, Trinity River and Klamath River. Since the late ’80s, state and federal authorities have issued orders mandating cold water releases down the Sacramento and Trinity Rivers sufficient to sustain the fish.

These decisions were heralded as evidence of government commitment to salmon conservation. One example is the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation controls water releases from both Trinity Dam on the Trinity River and Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River (the systems are connected). Via a tunnel, Trinity water can be released to the Sacramento River for Central Valley agriculture. But if too much water is sent to the Sacramento system, Trinity River salmon may be denied the cold water they need to survive. In 1990, the State Water Resources Control Board decreed that water diversions from the Trinity River to the Sacramento River must not come at the expense of Trinity salmon.

Unfortunately, these regulations have never been enforced over the 30-plus years of their existence. Worse: Even if they were enforced, salmon would continue to die because the established temperature parameters are far too warm to ensure their survival. Indeed, water temperatures in the Trinity and Sacramento Rivers’ spawning reaches regularly exceed the salmon’s lethal limit of 56° F, killing fish year after year.

This inequity doesn’t just affect seafood lovers who want local wild salmon. Commercial fishing and sport angling were once revenue-generating dynamos for the state, and both were eliminated this year by fishing closures due to the crash in salmon numbers. The decline is also a social justice issue: the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes on the Trinity River are among California’s largest tribes, and salmon have been a dietary staple and revered cultural touchstone for both communities for centuries. Today, these tribes are denied a foundational resource simply to provide the mega-farms of the Central Valley with maximum water deliveries.

The Newsom administration deserves credit for supporting the removal of four dams on the Klamath River, a project that will restore hundreds of miles of spawning habitat for anadromous fish. But taking down the dams won’t be enough to save the salmon. Without releases of cold water from the Trinity River, the Klamath will experience major fish kills, such as the major warm water-induced die-off that wiped out 65,000 adult salmon.

This must change. Water and salmon are public trust resources. Newsom must immediately direct the State Water Resources Control Board to update and enforce its orders governing water releases to accommodate the biological realities of the salmon life cycle.