{"id":785,"date":"2026-05-21T10:36:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=785"},"modified":"2026-05-21T10:36:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:36:04","slug":"salmon-are-at-risk-with-federal-plans-to-give-farmers-more-water-from-shasta-lake-critics-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=785","title":{"rendered":"Salmon are at risk with federal plans to give farmers more water from Shasta Lake, critics warn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Trump administration says it will increase the water it\u2019s sending to Central Valley farmlands this year from Shasta Lake, the state\u2019s largest reservoir.<\/p>\n

Read more Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt need Latinos, not Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said agricultural water agencies south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta will receive 25% of their total contracted amount, up from an initial 20%. Cities and towns will also get more from the federal canals that are part of the Central Valley Project. <\/p>\n

The agency cited \u201cmodest improvements\u201d in reservoir levels after some rainstorms in April.<\/p>\n

Environmental and fishing groups reacted to Tuesday\u2019s announcement with concern, saying that taking too much water out of Shasta Lake threatens to harm Chinook salmon by depriving them of vital cold water in the Sacramento River in the late summer and fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really bad,\u201d said Vance Staplin, executive director of the nonprofit Golden State Salmon Assn.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s plan, he said, \u201cis likely to kill salmon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dispute is the latest fight over what California needs to do to protect seriously declining fish as it draws heavily from rivers.<\/p>\n

When Chinook salmon swim upstream from the ocean to spawn in rivers and creeks, they need cold water for their eggs to survive. Research shows the water needs to be below 56 degrees.<\/p>\n

But when Shasta Lake is drawn down to low levels, the water flowing from Shasta Dam can get dangerously warm.<\/p>\n

During the last drought in 2021, it got so warm at one point that most of the eggs and young fish died.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration has proven that they are very aggressive as far as sending water south,\u201d Staplin said. \u201cI would hope that they would rethink what they\u2019re doing and come back and adjust their plan to save these fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shasta Lake is now 89% full. Each year, the Bureau of Reclamation is required to release a plan detailing how it will keep water downstream of Shasta Dam cold enough to protect salmon.<\/p>\n

But California regulators have told the Trump administration they\u2019re concerned this year\u2019s would likely put salmon at risk. <\/p>\n

In a last week, Diane Riddle, an official with the State Water Resources Control Board, warned the federal plan would \u201cthreaten conditions\u201d for returning adult salmon in September and \u201clead to mortality\u201d of salmon eggs.<\/p>\n

Riddle asked the Bureau of Reclamation to revise the plan so the water that\u2019s released from the dam stays cold enough for salmon.<\/p>\n

The bureau said in its announcement<\/u> that it is taking \u201cprudent\u201d steps and continuing to meet environmental requirements.<\/p>\n

The state water board said in a written statement that it expects the Bureau of Reclamation will submit an updated plan for managing water temperatures in the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

Salmon numbers have declined due to dams, which have blocked off their spawning areas; the loss of floodplain habitat; and global warming, which is intensifying drought and heating rivers. <\/p>\n

Biologists track distinct runs of salmon in the Sacramento River, each named for when the fish return from the Pacific.<\/p>\n

Read more Democrats may cast last-minute ballots for governor. What it will mean for the count<\/a><\/p>\n

The winter-run<\/u> Chinook is endangered, while the spring-run<\/u> is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n

The most numerous are the fall-run Chinook, which fishers catch commercially and recreationally along the coast when salmon numbers are high enough. For the last three years, however, there were so few fall-run Chinook that regulators banned commercial fishing. <\/p>\n

This year, commercial fishers have resumed going for salmon after a rebound in the population prompted regulators<\/u> to allow it under strict limits.<\/p>\n

The long shutdown put some fishermen out of work<\/u> and led others to turn to catching crabs or other fish to make a living. Staplin said he blames state and federal officials for failing to ensure sufficient river flows for salmon during the last drought.<\/p>\n

He said he hopes the Bureau of Reclamation will heed the state\u2019s call for compromise \u201cto avoid another massive salmon kill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to learn that we\u2019ve got to come up with a balance, a balance between the fish and water needs,\u201d Staplin said.<\/p>\n

Much of the water released from the dam goes to irrigate crops including almonds, pistachios, oranges, grapes and tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Managers of agricultural water agencies in the San Joaquin Valley welcomed the announcement of an increase in supply, but also said 25% is disappointing and less than they had hoped for.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we appreciate the Bureau\u2019s ongoing effort to update allocations as conditions evolve \u2026 this allocation update falls short of our growers\u2019 water needs,\u201d Allison Febbo, general manager of Westlands Water District, said in a written statement<\/u>. She called for changing water management policies to \u201cfix an outdated and broken system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agriculture uses most of the water from the Central Valley Project. But the federal government announced that cities south of the Delta will also receive more water \u2014 75% of their historical usage. Among them are Tracy, Huron and Coalinga, as well as Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

Last year, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to \u201cmaximize\u201d water deliveries in California. State officials and Democratic lawmakers criticized that approach as ill-conceived and harmful. <\/p>\n

The includes 20 dams and about 500 miles of aqueducts and canals, stretching from the Redding area to near Bakersfield. One of California\u2019s two main north-south water conduits, it pumps water from the Delta near the intakes of the other major system, the State Water Project. <\/p>\n

Pumping from the Delta has taken a toll on the ecosystem. Various types of native fish have suffered declines, including steelhead trout<\/u>, white sturgeon<\/u> and longfin smelt<\/u>.<\/p>\n

Jon Rosenfield, science director for the group San Francisco Baykeeper, said the Trump administration is moving toward the same kind of water mismanagement that caused the last shutdown of salmon fishing. He said the federal plan conflicts with permits that require sufficient cold water for salmon. <\/p>\n

If the plan stands, he said, \u201cwe know that it\u2019s going to be lethal for some salmon eggs this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a desperate situation where you have a lawless agency flouting the laws and threatening resources,\u201d Rosenfield said. \u201cThe outcome is, we\u2019re going to lose these and other fish that exist nowhere else on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more MAGA still loves Trump. What does that mean for November?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fishing groups and environmentalists say the Trump administration’s latest plan to send more water to Central Valley farms threatens California salmon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate"],"yoast_head":"\nSalmon are at risk with federal plans to give farmers more water from Shasta Lake, critics warn - California Relocation Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=785\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Salmon are at risk with federal plans to give farmers more water from Shasta Lake, critics warn - 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