Rosenfield said the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation took excessive water this spring and summer despite warnings. <\/p>\n
The federal dam agency defended its work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bureau of Reclamation is managing Shasta operations under a temperature management plan developed in coordination with state and federal fishery agencies,\u201d Reclamation spokesperson Peter Soeth said in an email. <\/p>\n
It is complying with the Endangered Species Act, he said.<\/p>\n
State officials have also criticized the Trump administration\u2019s push to pump more water<\/a> to Central Valley farmlands. <\/p>\n Shasta Dam stands 602 feet tall, forming California\u2019s largest reservoir. Since its completion in 1945, the dam has blocked Chinook salmon from returning upstream to the cold spring-fed streams near Mt. Shasta where they once spawned.<\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n For decades, dams have blocked salmon from many of their historical spawning areas. In recent years, as global warming has intensified droughts<\/a> and heated rivers, salmon numbers have declined dramatically.<\/p>\n Each year, the Bureau of Reclamation is required to have a plan detailing how it will keep water downstream from Shasta Dam cold enough to protect salmon. In June, regulators at the State Water Resources Control Board objected to the Trump administration plan<\/a>, saying they were concerned about the temperature. <\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia is continuing to see climate change-driven losses in snowpack that result in far less cold water available in the Shasta reservoir for releases to support salmon,\u201d said Jackie Carpenter, a spokesperson for the state water board.<\/p>\n She noted that the board \u201craised concerns with the Bureau of Reclamation this spring regarding its approach.\u201d She said in an email that the state will continue monitoring and consider options for keeping temperatures in check.<\/p>\n Rosenfield said the state could have required the Trump administration to keep more water in Shasta Lake to protect fish, but failed to act.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was absolutely ample water available to keep it colder,\u201d he said, but the Trump administration chose to take large quantities of water out of the reservoir this summer.<\/p>\n San Francisco Baykeeper is one of two environmental groups suing the Trump administration in federal court over the issue of river temperature, arguing it\u2019s violating the federal Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n A biologist near the bones of a Chinook salmon on the banks of the Sacramento River in Redding. <\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Others who closely watch the issue say it\u2019s too soon to tell how many salmon eggs will die, and how the toll this year will compare to previous years. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s of concern, but you need more data before you start accusing [the federal government] of operating this way,\u201d said Greg Gartrell, a former manager of the Contra Costa Water District. \u201cIt\u2019s a complicated situation, and we don\u2019t have enough data yet.\u201d <\/p>\n Scientists track distinct \u201cruns\u201d of salmon in the Sacramento River, each named for when the fish return from the Pacific and swim upriver to their ancestral streams to spawn. The endangered winter-run<\/a> Chinook finished spawning in August, while the spring-run<\/a>, listed as threatened, start spawning in September.<\/p>\n The most numerous are the fall-run Chinook, which fishers catch along the coast when their numbers are high enough. For the last three years, however, there were so few fall-run Chinook that regulators banned commercial fishing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Environmental and fishing groups accused federal and state agencies of causing the shutdown by mismanaging water during the last drought from 2020 to 2022. At one point, the Sacramento River got so warm that most of the eggs and young fish died<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bureau of Reclamation practically sterilized the Sacramento River,\u201d said Barry Nelson, an advisor with the Golden State Salmon Assn. \u201cThey killed virtually all the juvenile salmon.\u201d<\/p>\n Wet winters in 2023, 2024 and 2025 helped increase salmon numbers. This year, commercial fishing boats again spread out along the coast as regulators allowed fishing under strict limits<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, with the river again too warm, Nelson said he\u2019s concerned about another potential shutdown. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s too early to know how bad the mortality is going to be this year, but we\u2019re off to a terrible start,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"Shasta](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790074329_498_.jpeg\")
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