California Gov. Gavin Newsom backs dam removal projects aimed at sustaining salmon populations

EUREKA, California — California Governor Gavin Newsom is promising to accelerate more than a half-dozen projects by the end of his term to remove or bypass dams that keep salmon from returning to the state’s cold mountain streams and functioning as the cornerstone of a complex ecosystem that supports both the economy and the spiritual beliefs of tribes.

Newsom — now in his second term and seen as a potential Democratic presidential candidate beyond 2024 — has worked hard to stake his claim as the nation’s most environmentally conscious governor. But his record has been dogged by criticism from environmental groups who say his water policies benefit big agriculture at the expense of salmon and other fish species at risk of extinction.

Millions of salmon once filled California’s rivers and streams each year, bringing with them important nutrients from the ocean that provided the state with an abundance of natural resources so important to indigenous peoples that they formed the basis of creation stories central to the way of life of tribes. to live.

But last year there were so few salmon in the state’s rivers that officials closed the commercial fishing season.

Frustrated by criticism of him and his administration, Newsom released a plan Tuesday outlining his strategy to protect salmon — a plan that includes major aid to projects that would remove or bypass aging dams that prevent them from returning to streams of their birth. lay eggs.

“These are tangible. And a lot of the work that we do is, you know, you can’t see it, you can’t feel it,” Newsom told The Associated Press in an interview on the banks of the Elk River in Eureka, near a recent completed project. returning some of the farmland to a floodplain habitat for salmon. “But when you see a dam being removed and you come back a few months later – a year or two, five years later – and you see real progress.”

Newsom’s salmon strategy includes a pledge to reach an agreement by the end of the year to remove Scott Dam and replace the Cape Horn Dam along the Eel River, which has blocked salmon access to 290 miles (463 kilometers) of habitat. Once completed, the Eel would be the longest free-flowing river in the state, flowing north through the Coast Ranges before emptying into the Pacific Ocean near the town of Fortuna.

By next summer, Newsom said he would complete plans to remove the nearly 100-year-old Rindge Dam along Malibu Creek in western Los Angeles County, which would provide steelhead with an additional 15 miles of spawning and rearing habitat. And by 2026 — the final year of Newsom’s term — he pledged to complete the infrastructure needed to remove the Matilija Dam in Ventura County, along a tributary of the Ventura River.

These projects have already been announced and are in the early stages of development. Newsom’s plan, however, lays out his goal of either completing them or having them approved by state regulators before he leaves office.

“I have three years left. And I want to get it all out there,” Newsom said.

Newsom’s embrace of some dam demolitions comes as the largest dam removal project in U.S. history got underway in earnest last week when crews blew a hole in the bottom of the Copco No. 1 dam along the Klamath River near the border between California and Oregon. It is one of four dams that will be removed along the Klamath.

In addition to dam demolitions, Newsom is trying to draw attention to some of the $800 million he has signed in recent years for projects that will return some creeks and streams to their natural state so salmon can live there.

On Monday, Newsom trudged through thick mud to visit a project along Prairie Creek in Redwoods National Park. The creek had been converted into a ditch, with steep rock walls that prevent the water from flowing into a floodplain where baby salmon can feed and grow before heading to the ocean. The goal is to allow the baby fish to stay in this creek longer so they can grow bigger before entering the ocean – making them more likely to return.

Newsom watched as Kate Stonecypher, a graduate student at Cal Poly Humboldt, pulled juvenile coho salmon and steelhead trout from the river that had been tagged with a tracking device. Researchers are still studying the results. But the first signals were positive. Fish from the creek were later found to travel 50 miles to Humboldt Bay.

But the biggest criticism of Newsom’s environmental policies was not a lack of restoration projects, but a lack of water in the rivers. Newsom’s salmon strategy includes a controversial proposal to enter into voluntary agreements with large farmers on the amount of water they can take from rivers and streams. Some environmental groups, including the San Francisco Baykeeper, have called this plan “astonishingly weak.”

San Francisco Baykeeper Science Director Jon Rosenfield said California has implemented many habitat restoration projects, but they have failed to significantly increase salmon populations.

“Without the essential ingredient of a river, which is water flow, the fish will not survive,” he said. “The governor is promising actions that are not sufficient to restore the population.”

He also pledged to continue working with indigenous tribes, who often consider the rivers where salmon live as their church. Newsom formally apologized to Native American tribes four years ago for the state’s historic treatment of them. And he has committed to working with them to carry out much of the work around salmon habitat.

On Monday, Frankie Myers, vice chairman of the Yurok Tribe, told Newsom that the tribe’s work on Prairie Creek had transformed the community by restoring the tribe’s purpose.

“This goes beyond that apology. It’s about recovery,” he said.