Water Battle turns ugly, CSPA in the thick of it

[JerryInLodi]

Here are three articles at the top of the CSPA website. Things are getting very ugly. The full stories can be read at http://www.calsport.org

***********************************

Water Board hearing on consolidating pump usage turns hostile, DFG and NMFS refuse to defend fish


CSPA, C-WIN, Defenders of Wildlife, South and Central Delta Water Agencies and the County of San Joaquin fight acrimonious battle in face of fundamental violations of ethical behavior


May 3, 2009 -- On April 27 and 28, the State Water Resources Control Board held an evidentiary hearing on the petition by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) and California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to consolidate their respective places-of-use in their water rights permits in order to expedite water transfers over the next two years. The State Board will now consider the testimony and evidence in a closed session on 5 May and then issue a draft opinion for adoption at a subsequent public board meeting...(Continued)

*****************************************

CSPA and coalition of tribes, fishermen and environmentalists seek injunction in suction mining lawsuit; DFG and miners oppose


CSPA joins commercial fishermen in supporting Wiggin's SB 670 banning suction mining on critical streams


May 3, 2009 -- CSPA is attempting, in this lawsuit, to prevent the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) from spending state money to support suction dredge mining until the Department completes a long-overdue court ordered EIR. The harmful effects of suction dredge mining on fragile ecosystems and the remobilization of mercury in the streambed has long been established. Yet, DFG has blatantly refused to adequately regulate these harmful activities to protect fisheries and public health...(Continued)

***************************************

85% of California's lakes polluted, risky to eat fish


by Bill Jennings, Executive Director, CSPA

May 2, 2009 -- The State Water Resources Control Board's Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program has released the initial results from the first year of a two-year screening survey of fish contamination in California's lakes. The results reveal that the vast majority of lakes are severely polluted and pose some degree of risk to those who eat fish caught from them - only 15% of the lakes sampled were in the clean category. The actual situation is likely worse because the study admits that many problems may have been missed due to the limited scope of the screening study. The study monitored a limited group of pollutants and did not evaluate pollutant impacts to fish and wildlife. The study can be found at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_...l...(Continued)

[windwalker]

Read the first article, which doesn't really explain the background very well. What are the reasons for consolidating the pumping operations, and why would this be bad for the environment?

[Darian]

Tried the link to Water Resources Control Board article and received an error message....

[wasatch]

"fundamental violations of ethical behavior" and "Water battle turns ugly" sound pretty egregious. Any facts to support those claims?