After canal failure, Butte Creek Canyon residents ask for accountability

Canyon residents want long-term plan for salmon survival
By Leslie Layton | Posted August 30, 2023

photo by Karen Laslo
Mechoopda Indian Tribe Environmental Director He-Lo Ramirez said a “primary goal” is the restoration of wild salmon on Butte Creek.

How to hold Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. accountable was a top concern at an Aug. 24 community meeting in Butte Creek Canyon following the canal failure that created a landslide earlier this month.

Butte Creek Canyon residents, still worried about the welfare of this year’s relatively small spring run of wild Chinook salmon, also want to know how future accidents can be prevented and whether steps to conserve the fragile ecosystem will be taken. The canal failure washed out a hillside, for a short time damming the creek and for a couple of days turning it sludgy orange.

“This is a sacred, sacred part of California and deserves more loving care because we have the last salmon run,” said Phaedra LaRocca Morrill, one of the organizers of a meeting attended by some 100 people that crowded into the historic Centerville School House on a warm summer evening. read more

Governor slashes water quality protections; lawsuit threatened

Fish advocates, conservationists say they're "enraged"
By ChicoSol staff | Posted March 10, 2023

photo by Karen Laslo
The governor’s order must be rescinded to “ensure adequate public safety,” said Carolee Krieger of the California Water Impact Network.

A coalition of environmental groups, including Chico-based AquAlliance, has submitted a notice of intent to sue the State Water Resources Control Board over an order to suspend water quality and fish protections in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.

The Board issued the order following a decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom to retain water in state reservoirs to ensure future deliveries for Central Valley agriculture, an AquAlliance press release says. The coalition also includes the California Sportfishing Alliance and the California Water Impact Network.

“Fish advocates and conservationists were enraged by the order, given 2023’s abundant rainfall and snowpack and repeated cutbacks over the years in the reservoir releases that sustained the ecological health of the Sacramento River and its Delta, resulting in the collapse of California’s iconic salmon runs,” the press release says. read more