BK In The News: February 15, 2022
After two critically dry years that coincided with Trump-era rollbacks to environmental protections, some iconic Delta fish are closer than ever to the point of no return. Last fall, for the second year in a row, the fall midwater trawl found zero wild Delta smelt, while a coalition of...
Blog Post: January 12, 2022
Last year, the Sacramento River’s winter-run Chinook salmon were almost entirely killed off. How? California’s State Water Resources Control Board allowed water releases into the river that were too hot.
The salmon need the cold water stored behind Shasta Dam to survive. But the Newsom...
Blog Post: December 7, 2021
In response to our advocacy efforts to reduce pollution in Bay fish over a decade ago, a local water agency informed us that there was “no evidence of subsistence fishing in the Bay Area.” This came as a surprise – on patrols, Baykeeper’s staff and skippers regularly saw fisherfolk along the...
BK In The News: August 13, 2021
If you’ve eaten sushi anywhere in the U.S., chances are the rice came from California’s Sacramento Valley. Fritz Durst, a sixth-generation farmer, has grown the grain and other crops there for more than four decades. But this year, amid a historic drought, Durst is planting only half as many acres...
BK In The News: July 12, 2021
In California, it’s not unusual for wildlife officials to truck salmon between their native river habitat and the Pacific Ocean. That’s especially true during droughts, when the Sacramento River runs too low and too warm for the young fish to survive.
But a long-stalled plan to save Sacramento...
Blog Post: July 7, 2021
In this documentary, actor Adrian Grenier and National Geographic Explorer Shannon Switzer Swanson explore the growing problem of water scarcity in the US—including right here in the Bay Area.
In this segment, Baykeeper scientist Dr. Jon Rosenfield explains how depleted freshwater flows are...
Blog Post: June 4, 2021
California is facing a punishing drought… again. Our rivers are running low and can’t support fish and wildlife, and people across the state will have to scramble to cut back on water use. But some urban water utilities—notably the Bay Area’s powerful San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (...
Blog Post: April 19, 2021
Sometimes justice delayed is justice denied. And so it could be with the Bay’s longfin smelt.
This native fish population has declined 99.9 percent since the late 1980s, signaling widespread decline in the larger San Francisco Bay ecosystem. Identifying this fish as a federally endangered species —...
BK In The News: April 8, 2021
A tiny silver fish few people in the Bay Area have heard of could be a new symbol of the state’s continuing battle over water resources. San Francisco Baykeeper sued the Biden administration on Thursday to list the local population of longfin smelt as an endangered species. The environmental group’...
Blog Post: March 24, 2021
In this roundtable discussion moderated by Baykeeper Senior Scientist Dr. Jon Rosenfield, a panel of water experts discusses California's infamous "water wars" and the award-winning documentary River's End.
Panelists:
Dr. Jon Rosenfield - Senior Scientist, San Francisco Baykeeper (moderator)
Alan...