News articles and links from July 19, 2013

Bay Delta Conservation Plan 

Environmental documents for proposed delta project criticized

From: Bettina Boxall, LATimes.com

Federal agencies reviewing draft environmental documents for the state's proposal to re-plumb the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are criticizing the work as "insufficient," "biased" and "confusing."

Fisheries

Big batch of threatened salmon get more cool water

From: Heather Hacking, ChicoER.com

Hot weather predicted for today and tomorrow means more cold water from Philbrook Lake to Butte Creek.

PG&E began releasing the extra water Thursday morning, and within about 22 hours the temperatures should drop a bit along the 11 miles where threatened spring-run chinook salmon are waiting to spawn.

The fish have made a good comeback this year, with an estimated 16,000 fish returning from the ocean.

Delta

Spotlight on predation in the Delta

From: Coalition for a Sustainable Delta

With the recent adoption of the Delta Plan and work on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan continuing, the state is making progress toward addressing big picture problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but there are still a number of individual Delta stressors that can, and should, be addressed immediately.

One of those stressors is predation, particularly predation by striped bass and black bass on native species, including delta smelt and salmon. The Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) will convene a workshop next week to focus on the effects of predation on native species.