Enviro Updates – Page 2 – An environmental newsfeed for Sonoma County

Round Valley Indian Tribes respond to Trump administration’s attempt to thwart Eel River dam removal

January 31, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

James Russ and Joseph Parker, the former and current presidents of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, are seeking to make their reservation healthy again.

That means helping their people, they say, and specifically tackling high rates of diabetes and obesity that affect their tribal nation and many other Indigenous communities.

It also means restoring their land and the river that has been intrinsically linked with their people for millennia.

“We are Native people tied to the resources and rhythms of the Eel River,” Parker said. “Our health is connected to the river.”

Now, the tribal nation is confronting the Trump administration over the river’s future and fighting some of its regional allies to reclaim water rights that have been overlooked for a century.

Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, Potter Valley Project, Russian River, salmon, salmon habitat, Scott Dam, water diversion

West Coast monarch butterfly populations hit historic low

January 30, 2026

Meg Tanaka, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Western monarch populations hit the third-lowest count since 1997, with just 12,260 recorded along California’s coast this winter.
Scientists worry the low numbers represent the ‘new normal’ for western monarchs, raising serious concerns about their future survival.
Coastal development and habitat destruction threaten remaining overwintering sites, though some communities show conservation and growth can coexist.

Wildlifehabitat loss, monarch butterflies, pesticides

Neighbors of spectacular new Bodega Bay preserve overwhelmed by visitor traffic

January 30, 2026

Austin Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT

To paraphrase that haunting voice in the movie “Field of Dreams”: If you preserve it, they will come.

Ever since word got out about the opening of the spectacular Estero Americano Coast Preserve, just south of Bodega Bay, outdoor enthusiasts have arrived in droves, from all over the Bay Area and beyond.

The 547-acre parcel, formerly the Bottarini Ranch, is owned and managed by The Wildlands Conservancy, which acquired it in 2015, following a purchase put together by the nonprofit Sonoma Land Trust. The property features 5 miles of trails wending through coastal prairies, along dramatic bluffs and down to a remote beach.

Sonoma CoastEstero Americano Coast Preserve

A hard look at the 3,000-page Bay-Delta Plan

January 27, 2026

Alastair Bland, MAVEN’S NOTEBOOK

Staff Report in support of updates to the Bay-Delta Plan
Water Quality Control Plan for the SFBay/Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta Watershed

Is a state plan to update Delta water rules double counting restoration of water and habitat?

A historic effort to pump some life back into the San Joaquin River’s devastated salmon runs began more than 15 years ago as water users began releasing more water each year from Friant Dam for restoration purposes. Under the rules of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, Friant water users are permitted to recapture that water downstream of the 153-mile project area, but only if doing so has no adverse impact on the environment downstream of the recapture point.

Now, as part of a state-backed plan known as the Voluntary Agreements that would rewrite Bay-Delta water and ecosystem management rules, the Friant water users have offered up to 50,000 acre-feet of annual Delta outflow to improve conditions for fish. To achieve this, they propose to forego recapturing the San Joaquin River restoration flows.

But environmental watchdog groups are crying foul. For one thing, Friant water users recapture very little water in the first place, so foregoing recapture would not produce much flow for the Delta. Opponents to Friant’s plan also assert that San Joaquin River Restoration flows that benefit the Delta ecosystem cannot be credited to the Voluntary Agreements. To do so, they say, would amount to double counting—using one block of water to meet the rules of two programs.

WaterBay-Delta Plan, Chinook salmon, minimum water flows, State Water Resources Control Board, water diversion

Trial begins in chemical runoff case against tire manufacturers

January 26, 2026

Margaret Attridge, COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

A chemical additive in car tires is leaching into rivers and other waterways, killing protected fish species, lawyers for a conservation group and a fishing trade association told a federal judge during a bench trial in San Francisco, California, Monday.

After a three-day trial, the judge will determine whether tire manufacturers — including Bridgestone America, Goodyear Tires and Michelin North America — are violating the Endangered Species Act by harming protected and endangered fish species like coho salmon, steelhead trout and Chinook salmon.

The plaintiffs claim the tire manufacturers make or distribute products that contain an additive called 6PPD, a chemical that ultimately transforms into 6PPD-quinone when it reacts with ozone. As the tire interacts with the environment and roads, 6PPD-quinone leaches onto hard surfaces. When it rains, the chemical falls into rivers and other waterways, where it can kill fish in a matter of hours, they add.

After exposure, fish start displaying symptoms of urban runoff mortality syndrome, causing them to lose equilibrium and die within a few hours. Even if they’re transferred to non-polluted water before they die, they don’t recover from the syndrome, the plaintiffs say.

Water, Wildlife6PPD-quinone, coho salmon, Earthjustice, endangered species, Endangered Species Act, fisheries, PCFFA, urban runoff mortality syndrome, water pollution

Constellation Energy completes $26 billion acquisition of Calpine, major operator at The Geysers

January 26, 2026

Jeff Quackenbush, NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

But Earthjustice, together with Public Citizen, PennFuture and Clean Air Council, petitioned federal regulators to block the combination, claiming it would increase electricity costs by reducing competition and it would increase pollution via the natural gas plants.

The biggest operator of geothermal power plants at The Geysers field straddling Sonoma and Lake counties is now under new ownership.

Constellation Energy Corp. (Nasdaq: CEG) has finished its $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine Corp., which has been involved with The Geysers 36 years ago and expanded its holdings to become its top producer a decade later.

The transaction, originally announced a year ago and completed early this year, finalizes one of the largest power-generation deals in U.S. history and creates what the company describes as the nation’s top producer of electricity.

It brings together Baltimore-based Constellation’s zero-emission nuclear fleet with Houston-based Calpine’s natural gas and geothermal assets, positioning the combined company to meet rapidly rising power demand driven by data centers, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and electrification. They collectively serve about 2.5 million customers nationwide and operate 55 gigawatts of capacity across nuclear, natural gas and geothermal resources.

Climate Change & EnergyCalpine, Constellation Energy, geothermal, Geysers geothermal field

Cotati seeks to spur building near SMART train station

January 26, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Cotati’s Santero Way is a winding, tree-lined road that starts at East Cotati Avenue and dead ends in less than a quarter-mile at a self-storage business.

Other than dozens of townhomes in the middle and a car wash at one end, the main defining feature is the train stop for Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit.

But change for the quiet street is coming as Cotati leaders have tapped Santero Way and the surrounding area for future ambitious development.

The vision — with at least one major project on the drawing board for the area and possibly other smaller ones joining it — could add up to one of Cotati’s most significant pending developments, giving the city of 7,500 people the type of trackside residential and commercial district that much larger North Bay cities have struggled to establish.

“You are leading Sonoma County on this issue,” said Omar Lopez, policy coordinator with Generation Housing, a North Bay housing advocacy nonprofit, adding that the vision was “strongly encouraging” for residents looking for local affordable housing options.

Land Use, Transportationdevelopment, mixed-use development, SMART station, transit oriented development