New podcast, Delta Flows, Launches Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Find on YouTube, Spotify, and more!
We’re excited to introduce Delta Flows, a new podcast from Restore the Delta that explores the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, one of America’s most vital ecosystems.
The Delta, the freshwater heart of the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, supports 700 native species, iconic salmon runs, and millions of Californians. But it’s facing serious threats from ecological collapse, industrialization, and climate change.
Delta Flows dives into these challenges, sharing stories on how everyday people can help protect this vital region. We believe this podcast will resonate with anyone who cares about California’s water future and the Delta’s cultural significance.
Available on YouTube (video), Captivate, Spotify, and more! Links for Apple and Amazon will be available soon.
ICYMI: Mercury News OpEd: The Delta Tunnel: A Risky, Destructive, and Unnecessary Gamble
On Sunday, the Mercury News ran our latest OpEd with our friends at Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and Golden State Salmon Association. It highlights the critical threats posed by the Delta tunnel project to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast. The tunnel would devastate wildlife, harm salmon fisheries, and endanger the livelihoods of Delta and Tribal communities, all while offering questionable economic benefits.The State Water Resources Control Board is fast-tracking public hearings, limiting meaningful participation. The OpEd makes a strong case against the Delta tunnel, and delivers our message directly to Governor Newsom and state agencies who continue to seek this destructive path.
Except from the OpEd:
“The Delta sustains thousands of jobs in agriculture and fishing, industries integral to California’s economy and essential to supporting tribal and marginalized communities in the region. The construction and operation of the tunnel would jeopardize all of this, reducing water flows, increasing toxic algal blooms, and raising salinity levels that could irreparably harm the Delta’s delicate balance. The Delta needs increased water flows — not a new tunnel to divert even more — and improved water quality standards that have not been updated since the 1990s.The tunnel would also harm the cultural sites of Tribal Nations. These lands hold profound historical and spiritual significance, yet the tunnel plan disregards sacred places for a costly and destructive infrastructure project. Proceeding with this project would dismiss the rights and voices of Indigenous peoples and Delta communities of color, further perpetuating a history of marginalization and disrespect. It is a far reach for state agencies to claim, as they have, that the tunnel is an environmental justice project. In fact, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is considering a civil rights complaint by tribal and environmental justice groups against the State for their failure to protect the Delta.”
ICYMI: Spencer Fern with Restore the Delta featured on The Delta Dispatch podcast
“Have you ever seen bright green patches of algae floating in the water? You might be seeing a bloom of algae… and it might be harmful to you and your pets!In this episode, we explore Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with Guests Tricia Lee (Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program) and Spencer Fern (Restore the Delta). We delve into what HABs are, examine their causes and impacts on human health, and discuss the performance measure aimed at monitoring and mitigating their effects.”