Representatives for consideration. The SOS Act (H.R. 4582) eliminates the counterintuitive doubling requirement established by the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) for striped bass, a known non-native predator fish of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead.“The drought has taken a significant toll on the Central Valley and I’m proud to put forward a smart and bipartisan solution to a counterproductive policy from 24 years ago,” said Rep. Denham. “By eliminating the doubling requirement of non-native predator fish, federal agencies can focus solely on native fish recovery and stop wasting taxpayer dollars on a shortsighted policy.”
The CVPIA mandated population doubling for all anadromous fish in an effort to protect the fish populations. The policy included doubling requirements for both native species and non-native predator fish, specifically striped bass. As a result, millions of acre-feet of water have been sent to the ocean in addition to the expenditure of millions of dollars every year to protect fish populations across the Central Valley. Removing predator fish from the doubling requirement will give native fish species a better chance to repopulate while saving time, money and water.
Since its introduction in February 2016, the SOS Act has received support from 15 water agencies and irrigation districts throughout California. During a testimony in front of the Natural Resources Committee in April 2016, the Department of Interior stated its support for Rep. Denham’s SOS Act.
The SOS Act will now go to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. Full bill text of the SOS Act is available here.
Source: Representative Jeff Denham
Also:
Committee Passes Rep. Denham’s “Save Our Salmon Act”
Bipartisan Bill Addresses Predation Threat Currently Exacerbating Drought
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 15, 2016 -Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup on 19 bills including H.R. 4582 (Rep. Jeff Denham), the “Save Our Salmon Act,” which will exclude striped bass from the fish doubling requirement and other provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA). H.R. 4582 passed as part of a broader unanimous consent package.
“This is bipartisan and common-sense legislation means less money, time and water wasted,” Rep. Denham said. “The committee unanimously approved the bill today and I look forward to seeing it enacted into law soon.”
The non-native striped bass poses a direct threat to the endangered Pacific salmon. Federal, tribal, state and local governments have spent billions of dollars and sent millions of gallons of water into the ocean on ESA-related recovery efforts, exacerbating the California drought.
In a February 10, 2016, Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee oversight hearing on predation, a National Marine Fisheries Service witness testified that some salmonid populations in California are “extremely low due to an abundance of striped bass.” One focus of the hearing was the Central Valley Project Improvement Act's statutory goal to at least double the natural production of anadromous fish, which includes both salmon and one of their non-native predators, striped bass.
As a result, Rep. Denham introduced H.R. 4582 to eliminate this ongoing federal conflict between protecting striped bass and endangered salmon in California. At the Subcommittee’s April 20, 2016 legislative hearing on H.R. 4582, the Administration testified that: “In consideration of the striped bass’s function as a fish that contributes to mortality for listed species and is not native to the Bay-Delta or even California, the Department has no concern with the removal of striped bass from the CVPIA’s fish doubling goals.”
Source: House Committee on Natural Resources
