Environmentalists ask California to protect burrowing owls

San Francisco Chronicle – March 5

A coalition of conservation groups filed a petition on Tuesday asking the California Fish and Game Commission to protect burrowing owl populations in five parts of the state including parts of the Bay Area and the Central Valley. Declaring the owls an endangered or threatened species as requested by the coalition could protect them by eliminating the destruction of their burrows or the eradication of ground squirrels, but such rules also could limit development of large-scale solar and wind energy farms as well as some agriculture and large housing subdivisions. Submitting the petition starts a lengthy process that involves public hearings before the Fish and Game Commission and studies from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

News

U.S. Navy acknowledges rising toxic groundwater threat at San Francisco Superfund site

KQED – March 7

The U.S. Navy, for the first time, has acknowledged what Bay Area climate scientists and residents have asked the agency to look into for years: that in just over a decade, potentially toxic groundwater could surface at a San Francisco Superfund site partly because of climate change. Every five years, the agency reviews the cleanup of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard next to the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. In its latest review, the Navy found that in 2035, contaminated groundwater from heavy metals and “low-level radiological objects” could surface in an area of the site called “Parcel D-1,” which the Navy used for ship repair, maintenance, and radiological research. The Navy capped this area with asphalt to keep any remaining pollution underground. The Navy’s assessment said heavy metals in permanent groundwater could surface in five other places by 2065.

New EPA office to focus on Valley agricultural and rural communities

The Sentinel – March 4

Agriculture and rural affairs in the California Central Valley will be a top priority for a new office established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On March 1, EPA announced it is establishing the Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to "expand engagement opportunities with agricultural and rural communities," according to the news release. The Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is the first of its kind and represents efforts to improve environmental stewardship and economic opportunity in rural areas of the United States.

Lower Colorado River Basin states submit competing water conservation plan as deadline looms

The Hill – March 6

The Colorado River’s Lower Basin states, including Arizona, California, and Nevada, published a proposal Wednesday for the watershed’s long-term operation, just hours after their Upper Basin peers, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, unveiled a rival offer — and as talks between the two key contingents founder ahead of a looming federal deadline. The vying proposals pertain to the forthcoming update of the Colorado River’s 2007 Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages, which are set to expire at the end of 2026. These rules will govern future conservation policies for the 1,450-mile river, which provides water for about 40 million people in the U.S. and Mexico.

Half of U.S. states join GOP lawsuits challenging new EPA rule on soot pollution

Associated Press – March 6

A new EPA rule that sets tougher standards for soot pollution faced a barrage of legal challenges as 25 states and a host of business groups filed lawsuits on Wednesday seeking to block the rule in court. Twenty-four states, led by attorneys general from Kentucky and West Virginia, filed a joint challenge arguing that the new EPA rule would raise costs for manufacturers, utilities, and families, and could block new manufacturing plants and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The EPA rule sets maximum levels of fine particle pollution — sometimes referred to as soot — at 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms established a decade ago under the Obama administration. Environmental and public health groups hailed the rule as a major step to improve the health of Americans, including future generations.

Almost a million young salmon released in Klamath River die from gas bubble disease

CBS News – March 4

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said Saturday that 830,000 Chinook salmon fry, released from its Fall Creek Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County, are presumed to have died due to gas bubble disease in the Klamath River. The fish were hatched at CDFW’s new $35 million state-of-the-art hatchery, which CDFW said represents California’s long-term commitment to supporting and restoring both Chinook and coho salmon runs on an undammed Klamath River. CDFW said there are indications the fish were killed by gas bubble disease that likely occurred as they migrated though the Iron Gate Dam tunnel, old infrastructure that is targeted for removal along with the Iron Gate Dam itself later this year.