Joe Biden only got Repugnant support for his infrastructure bill after climate change provisions were deleted. If any action on planet heating is to take place in this Congress, it will be up to Democrats who are hobbled by copperheads like Joe Manchin. Repugnants took shots at the bill despite 19 of them supporting its limited provisions. Punk legislator, Josh Hawley criticized it for supporting salmon recovery programs; perhaps after reading this post he might change his mind, but US Person doubts it.
Spring Chinook migrating up what is left of the Sacramento River watershed face numerous man-made obstacles, but in a year extreme drought, the struggling salmon were simply overwhelmed. All juvenile winter run salmon are expected to expire before spawning due to water mismanagement, so the expectation of a large adult run in the spring was welcomed news. An estimated 18,000 fish were expected to return, the second largest migration since 20,000 fish swam up the Sacramento in 1998. However, a large number of Chinook are expiring before they spawn due to oxygen depletion and the outbreak of two fish diseases. Spring Chinook are a distinct run that ascends the high elevation tributaries of the Sacramento. They reach maturity in the river and do not spawn until fall. Some of the best remaining habitat for salmon are tributaries of the river: Battle Creek, Mill Creek, Deer Creek and Butte Creek. In Butte Creek 12,000 salmon have died before spawning according to the latest in the water survey. The fish are protected from human fishing, but not water temperatures that are running between 70 and 80 degrees.
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Butte Creek run before the mass die-off
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Several dams have been removed to aid this unique run, but the hydroelectric operations of PG&E still stand in the way of their full recovery. PG&E’s De Sabla-Centerville project brings reservoir water over the mountains into Butte Creek for hydroelectric power. The reservoir water is warmer than the creek's high altitude water. Agencies have refused to take action against PG&E, which wields god-like political influence in the state of California. According to salmon experts the fish need to be able to reach their spawning grounds without encountering warm water and decreased flow due to diversions. The spring Chinook also swam upriver to the Butte Slough outfall gate below Colusa on the Sacramento River. They bashed their heads against the outfall gates for weeks before the Department of Water
Resources opened the gate in late March under pressure from commercial recreational interests.
Irony is dead, but this is tragic: PG&E recently informed the FERC that it would not renew its permits for the DeSabla project because it is, “no longer economically viable for PG&E’s electric customers.” So the bottom line is salmon are needlessly dying in the thousands for a unprofitable hydroelectric project that the company is trying to sell. A salmon activist told reporters, “When it comes to expanding habitat, this is probably the best path
possible to expand salmon habitat in California. Prior to the fish kill, we had over 18,000 fish knocking at the door, with no trucks involved and no recapturing of juveniles needed. It’s a wild system that operates the way it should, but we have to get the hydroelectric project out of
the way.” Friends of Butte Creek are suggesting the hydro project be terminated and a tunnel constructed to divert cold water into Butte Creek. Tell that to PG&E and people like Josh Hawley. [photo credit: Friends of Butte Creek]
