HOW MUCH WATER FOR HOW FEW FISH
from SavetheStan.org

The State Water Resources Control Board wants to unfairly divert an estimated 300,000 acre-feet of water annually from the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers. It claims it?s needed to restore salmon populations in the three rivers, but offers no scientific explanation about how more water ? absent predation control and habitat restoration -- will create more fish. 

So how many ?new? fish does the state expect? It estimates 1,100 to 4,000 a year. That?s it? All that water for so few salmon? And if current rates hold true, about 40% of those salmon will be harvested by commercial fishermen before they ever return to the rivers to spawn.    

Meanwhile, the state low balls the economic damage to our agriculture-based region, pegging the annual number at $260 million and thousands of jobs lost. Compare that to the Fisheries Management Council?s estimate of a minimal $33,000 benefit to the commercial fishing industry. 

Is that fair? Of course not! 

Let the state water board know you oppose its irresponsible plan. Share this email with your friends, family and neighbors. Ask them to go to SavetheStan.org, click on the ?How to Help? link and write a letter.

From the LTA
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