Newsom Unveils Plan to Protect California's Declining Salmon Populations

Strategy Includes Dam Removals, River Flow Restoration, and Hatchery Modernization Amid Criticism from Environmental Groups

Governor Gavin Newsom has unveiled a state strategy to protect and restore declining salmon populations in California, which includes tearing down dams and improving passages for migrating salmon, restoring flows in key waterways, and modernizing hatcheries.
Fewer than 80,000 Central Valley fall-run chinook salmon returned to spawn in 2022, marking a decline of nearly 40% from the previous year and the lowest since 2009.
Many of the projects and solutions outlined in Newsom’s report are already underway, including the historic demolition of four aging hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, and reintroduction of endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook eggs to the McCloud River upstream of Lake Shasta.
Some environmental groups have criticized the plan as a ploy to improve Newsom's image, pointing to his waiver of water quality requirements in the Delta that protect salmon, his support of a controversial pact with major water suppliers, and his backing of the Delta tunnel project, which could put salmon at risk.
Newsom's strategy document warns that the plan will require time, effort, and funding, and that the pace will depend upon the feasibility and availability of resources and competing priorities.