Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 25, 2007
3. Watersheds
DELTA SMELT:
Delta smelt force emergency action at water pumps; Agencies, wildlife monitors alarmed at steep drop in fish population - Contra Costa Times
Lawsuit planned to protect smelt - Sacramento Bee
MARSH CREEK FISH LADDER:
Group seeks fish ladder for creek; Structure would provide more waterway for spawning salmon - Contra Costa Times
SALMON FISHERIES:
Salmon fishing disaster aid is at hand - Sacramento Bee
INVASIVE SPECIES:
State to enlist holiday boaters for fight with quagga mussels - Riverside Press Enterprise
DELTA SMELT:
Delta smelt force emergency action at water pumps; Agencies, wildlife monitors alarmed at steep drop in fish population
Contra Costa Times – 5/24/07
By Mike Taugher, staff writer
New alarm that a tiny Delta fish has taken yet another dramatic plunge toward extinction has triggered emergency measures that could threaten water supplies in parts of the state.
On Wednesday, the first day after an annual month long slowdown of the pumps, water managers did not take the usual step of beginning the annual ramp-up to normal summer pumping levels.
And officials are preparing to tap a $13 million fund that has never been used before to buy water that could be used to help prevent Delta smelt from going extinct. When that money runs out after five to 10 days, officials could be forced to take more drastic actions impacting the state's water supply if the smelt are still imperiled.
This latest crisis is unfolding as massive pumps that ship Delta water to farms and cities from Dublin to San Diego have slowed to a relative trickle -- just enough to keep water flowing to a handful of East Bay and South Bay cities, Tracy and a few farms in northern San Joaquin Valley.
"If we were lower than that there would be people who would lose drinking water supplies, at least in some places," said Jerry Johns, deputy director of the Department of Water Resources. "We really couldn't do more without dramatic impacts."
Still, pressure is building on water officials to do more. Most biologists believe the forces that are killing fish are varied and complex, but only one thing can cause an immediate effect: Slow down pumps that deliver Delta water to 25 million Californians and millions of acres of farmland in the
On Tuesday, state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, chairman of the natural resources committee, asked state agencies to explain why they have not taken further steps recommended by biologists to save the smelt. In particular, biologists have emphasized that the pumps should slow down enough to stop the flow from reversing in two Delta rivers, a step that has not been fully implemented.
And environmentalists are incensed that has not been accomplished.
"This is crunch time," said Tina Swanson, a biologist at the San Francisco Bay Institute, a science and environmental advocacy organization. "It's not a question of doing things that don't hurt too much. It's a matter of doing everything."
The heightened tensions are the result of surprisingly bad results in the latest survey for Delta smelt, which were listed as a threatened species in 1993 but began a precipitous population decline with several other fish species around 2002.
Recent surveys were showing a smelt population that seemed to be stabilizing at a dangerously low level. But the latest survey -- which counts juvenile fish about 3/4 of an inch long -- surprised some biologists with yet another massive drop-off.
Only about two dozen juvenile smelt have been caught during the survey so far. That is about one-tenth the record low for this point in the survey. The survey is not yet done -- three of eight trawls remain -- but biologists do not expect big improvements.
"It's very bad. It's quite a step down from what was alarmingly bad from previous" surveys, said Bruce Herbold, a fisheries biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Herbold and other biologists have expressed concern that Delta smelt, once the most abundant fish in the Delta, could be on a fast-track to extinction.
The Delta smelt numbers are so low that biologists said they can no longer reliably estimate the health of the population. The surveys were designed to track the population when there were far more fish.
"They're getting to the point where they're dropping below the radar," said William Bennett, a research ecologist and Delta smelt expert at UC Davis.
The main concern is that there might be so few fish left that they will not be able to find other fish and reproduce next year.
And since nearly all Delta smelt live only one year, extinction, if it happens, could occur quickly.
"They're closer now than they have ever been," Bennett said.
Bennett said he was not surprised by the population plunge this year because last year's adult fish were smaller than normal, probably because of last year's weather.
Biologists say the severe decline of Delta smelt along with other open-water fish species is likely due to a combination of pumping, toxins and invasive species.
The pumps already are operating under a major cloud: A state judge has determined the state-owned pumps are operating illegally because the water resources department never obtained regulatory approval to kill smelt or salmon. The fish are protected under the state and federal endangered species laws.
Delta smelt appear to be a good indication of the overall health of the Delta, one of the most important habitats for fish and wildlife in
"I think we're seeing a general collapse of the estuary's ecosystem," said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. "This is something Californians need to think about. This is a public trust that was handed to them by their parents. They're obligated to hand it off to their children." #
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_5975517
Lawsuit planned to protect smelt
Sacramento
By Matt Weiser, staff writer
The smelt is now "threatened" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the groups want it uplisted to "endangered" in hopes of spurring more protections.
Early results of a spring trawl net survey found only 25 smelt, a record low and well below a seven-year average of 353.
Government biologists expressed a "high degree of concern" in a May 15 memo and sought water operation changes.
The Bay Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity served the wildlife service with a 60-day notice of intent to sue, based in part on the agency's failure last year to meet deadlines to consider a status change for the smelt under an earlier request.
Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Al Donner said the agency doesn't have adequate resources for a timely response to all listing requests. #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/193463.html
MARSH CREEK FISH LADDER:
Group seeks fish ladder for creek; Structure would provide more waterway for spawning salmon
Contra Costa Times – 5/25/07
By Paula King, staff writer
Now the Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed is hopeful that the community will help make the waterway a better habitat for the traveling fish. The local group has proposed building a fish ladder so that the Chinook salmon can access another seven miles of the creek in central
"Every year the Friends have been leading salmon walks and there are more and more people interested each year," said Sarah Puckett, restoration ecologist with
Right now, the fish can only swim in the three miles of creek from the Delta to this area of the waters near
"What it does right now is it is blocking the salmon," creek advocate John Alcorn said. "They can't really spawn there, but upstream there is some good spawning areas."
The Natural Heritage Institute is a partner with the local Friends group on this restoration project. According to Puckett, they have already raised $140,000 through grants from the State Coastal Conservancy,
She added that the group needs to raise from $25,000 to $75,000 more depending on some pending grants. It welcomes donations of any size, including services from local contractors.
Alcorn said that the fish ladder project will generate more interest in the creek as the fish would become more of an attraction. The city and Friends are launching several other projects to restore the creek bank and waterway.
"We think the fish ladder would be the key once the salmon could go up and people could see them swimming in their backyard," Alcorn said.
Each winter, the salmon swim up Marsh Creek in search of suitable spawning areas. The Friends would like to see them end up near the park along the creek. This area of the creek provides a better habitat for them with more shade and better conditions.
"It is just a much nicer area. We will be continuing to restore that area. That is our hope and that is the city's plan," said Alcorn.
According to Puckett, the money must be raised by the end of May to build the structure this fall. Otherwise, the fish would have to wait until next September for the amenities.
The Friends organization was established in 2004 and holds regular creek walks and cleanups. The group meets monthly on the second Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the
For more information or to help, visit the group's Web site at http://www.fomcw.org or call coordinator Anne Littlejohn at 925-516-2147. #
http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_5985479
SALMON FISHERIES:
Salmon fishing disaster aid is at hand
Sacramento
By David Whitney, staff writer
This time it looks like they will get it.
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, a leading House advocate for the disaster money, said Thursday that the spending bill presents "the best chance so far" for the money being disbursed.
The relief comes after closure of almost all the commercial salmon season last year off the coasts of
The closure was necessary to protect poor runs in the
Last year's commercial harvest was slashed to 88 percent of normal, idling commercial boats from
After first balking at issuing a disaster finding, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a fishery failure in August and appealed to congressional leaders to allocate $60 million in relief.
That action followed letters from
But Congress adjourned late last fall after passing only temporary spending authority for most of the federal government. After returning to work in January under Democratic control, Congress passed only a pared-down funding bill for the rest of fiscal 2007 with no money for add-ons like salmon disaster assistance.
Thompson and other West Coast lawmakers won a provision in a war spending bill for the disaster assistance, but Bush vetoed that measure because it called for a timetable for withdrawing troops from
"We have fishing families who have lost their homes or lost their boats, or who can't go out and fish because they don't have the money," Thompson said. "We have resort owners who have been living off of credit cards. People have been badly harmed by this."
Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations said the disaster money "means the world to us."
"There are still a lot of people whose boats are at risk of foreclosure,"
Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, said the assistance will help fishing families as far south as
"Our salmon fishing communities have been devastated by this disaster and have been waiting for the federal government to do the right thing and come to their aid," she said. #
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/193551.html
INVASIVE SPECIES:
State to enlist holiday boaters for fight with quagga mussels
Riverside Press
By Jennifer Bowles, staff writer
State fish and game wardens will be out in force at Inland lakes and the
Boats that aren't properly dried have the potential to carry quagga mussels from one lake to another, where the mollusks can clog pipes and dramatically change the ecosystem. In the
The first quagga in the West was discovered in January at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, on the
Quaggas were soon found downstream and in the aqueduct that carries water to 18 million
Bob Muir, a spokesman for Metropolitan Water District, which owns the aqueduct, said he is unaware of any further discoveries of mussels since about 800 were found in March when the eastern portion of the aqueduct was drained for maintenance and inspections.
Angel Raton, a captain in the enforcement division of the California Department of Fish and Game, said wardens starting today will be stationed at Inland lakes, including
Raton said wardens will hand out pamphlets that explain to boaters how to avoid transporting hitchhiking mussels from one body of water to another.
The baby mussels are so small that they are hard to see with the naked eye. Officials advise letting a boat dry out for at least five days before placing it in another water body.
"We want to make sure everyone understands what the issue is, and we'll inspect boats at the ramps," Raton said.
Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said boats will continue to be inspected for mussels at agricultural checkpoints such as Yermo, near
For more information, visit www.dfg.ca.gov/quaggamussel or call the state's quagga hot line at 1-866-440-9530. #
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_quaggas25.3e9ce47.html
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