CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : NORTHERN CALIFORNIA : State Takes Action to Protect Salmon

The state Water Resources Control Board has acted to tighten its control of the temperature of water in the Sacramento River in an effort to improve spawning conditions for salmon. The board adopted a new order recognizing a fact known to fishing experts for years--water temperatures in the Sacramento below the Shasta and Keswick dams can rise above 60 degrees in mid-autumn, with devastating effects on salmon spawning. Fisheries biologists consider the maximum safe spawning temperature for Chinook salmon to be 57.5 degrees. The board’s action makes the quality of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s releases into the Sacramento a “water rights” issue directly affecting the permits under which the federal agency operates the Central Valley Project, California’s largest water distribution system.