Letter to Michael Koepf

Dear Mr. Koepf:

Thank you for your letter dated June 9, 2009, regarding the state of California’s salmon industry, water shortages and agriculture. I share your belief that farmers and fishermen have much in common and I agree that the public is misinformed that Delta pumps that provide water to farmers and 25 million Californians are the principle cause behind declining salmon stocks.

There is no doubt that both farmers and fishermen are facing economic ruin under the current water supply and regulatory climate. Salmon numbers are at record lows, which caused the closure of the fishing season during the past two years. At the same time, water supply cuts related to federal agency-produced biological opinions related to the Delta smelt and more recently Chinook salmon have driven water deliveries from export facilities to the lowest level since the construction of the projects 60 years ago.

While your plan to diversify hatchery programs throughout California seems to be a reasonable and prudent way to help revive your industry, I am concerned by the public comments by those representing California fishing interests who seem to only attack farmers. Time after time “corporate agribusiness” and the managers who operate the State and federal water supply projects are blamed for the ills of the Delta, which by the way, we agree needs to be fixed.

We need more people like you interested in having a serious discussion on things that will truly help fishing AND farming in California. Only then will we be able to do what’s necessary for sustainable ecosystems and water supplies that we all depend on.

Thanks again for your letter.

Sincerely,

Mike Wade
Executive Director
California Farm Water Coalition

Water supply cuts and failed environmental policies

As unemployment lines grow longer and rural communities suffer under the economic hardships of the regulatory drought, we can feel better knowing that today’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) biological opinion includes whales among the species protected by reduced Central Valley water deliveries.

That’s right, I said whales.

The 844-page Biological Opinion on the Long Term Operation of the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project claims that Central California salmon are the food supply for federally-listed “Southern Resident killer whales,” and therefore, the whales are in jeopardy because of low salmon stocks.

But what is causing the salmon to decline? A mountain of data going back 30 years or more shows that operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project pumping plants could be responsible for about five percent of the impact on the affected species. Other factors include striped bass predation, overfishing by commercial fishermen, upstream water quality, invasive species, ocean conditions and even the Clean Water Act. Studies of “adult equivalent” impacts show fishermen have almost 10 times the impacts on salmon as the projects.

None of these factors were addressed in the Opinion and the focus has remained where it has for years without any recordable improvements in the health of the Delta. The result is an enormous hardship on working families who depend on farm water for their livelihoods and a crashing ecosystem that is failing because of misguided policies. In today’s economic times taxpayers should be demanding results, not a rehash of the failed environmental policies of yesteryear.