More Federal Appropriations Bill Mischief

Written By Ron Stork

California Department of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Wildlife tag spring-run Chinook salmon at the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville. Credit: Kelly Grow, Department of Water Resources.

H.R. 4821, the Interior Appropriations bill, proposes to substitute what should be a scientific conclusion — that the Central Valley Improvement Act (CVPIA) is “complete” — for a Congressional “expert” political opinion.  Among CVPIA’s goals were the doubling of natural stocks of salmonid fish using the San Joaquin and Sacramento River Delta for part of their journey to and from the rivers and ocean. Of course, these fisheries have declined instead.

The 1992 Central Valley Improvement Act was a major environmental legislative accomplishment by now retired Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) and Rhodes scholar and NBA basketball star U.S. Senator Bill Bradley (D‑New Jersey).

The “CVPIA-is-compete” provision of H.R. 4821 is to end the collection of a modest part of the sales price on federal Central Valley Project (CVP) water sales to be used for fishery restoration purposes. Those collections helped to fund significant restoration efforts. H.R. 4821 drew a sharp rebuke from the Hoopa Tribe in northwestern California and some disapproving press.

Ron Stork

Ron has worked for decades in flood management, federal water resources development, hydropower reform, and Wild & Scenic Rivers. He joined Friends of the River as Associate Conservation Director in 1987, and is now a senior member of FOR’s policy staff.

Ron was presented the prestigious River Conservationist of the Year award by Perception in 1996 for his work to stop the Auburn dam. In 2004, he received the California Urban Water Conservation Council’s Excellence Award for statewide and institutional innovations in water conservation. In 2024, he received the Frank Church Wild and Scenic Rivers award from the River Management Society for outstanding accomplishments in designation and management of wild and scenic rivers in California and nationally.

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