Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
June 21, 2007
1. Top Item -
Smelt deaths again prompt lawsuit that aims to suspend water exports
Extinction may be imminent for the native delta fish, activists say. A
Jump-started water pumps could be slowed down again -
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Smelt deaths again prompt lawsuit that aims to suspend water exports
Extinction may be imminent for the native delta fish, activists say. A
By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
SACRAMENTO — Warning that a recent boost in water exports is nudging the delta smelt closer to extinction, environmentalists have asked a federal judge to order state and U.S. officials to cut back pumping that imperils the tiny fish.
Increased pumping into aqueducts that move water as far south as
U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger in
"What happens over the next week could be the difference between survival and extinction for this species," said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
The latest court fight follows months of wrangling between environmentalists and water managers over how to balance the plight of an endangered fish with water demands from Central Valley farmers and urban areas such as Los Angeles, which this year is experiencing record-low rainfall.
Each spring, mammoth pumps that supply the state and federal aqueducts rev up to meet demand. The pumps are so powerful that they can reverse the flow of water in nearby delta channels. The diminutive smelt, which are notoriously poor swimmers, can fall prey to their tug and perish.
As the delta water warms in late spring to temperatures considered lethal to smelt, the fish typically flee to colder water near
"Life for the smelt is looking worse and worse," said Kate Poole, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
State and federal water managers recently have taken steps to stem the death toll, curtailing pumping for nine days this month. It was the first time since 1999 that the pumps have been shut down for the smelt.
But when water exports ramped up in earnest again last weekend, the number of smelt fatalities soared, reaching an estimated 180 deaths on Sunday and an additional 90 on Monday. Most of the fish were sucked into state pumps that feed the California Aqueduct.
Jeff McCracken, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokesman, said federal water managers remained confident that their pumps were being properly managed to ensure smelt survival. He said recent days have seen conditions take a turn, with warmer water prodding the fish to flee parts of the delta near the pumps. The federal pumps are now operating at full tilt.
Christina Swanson, a fisheries biologist who has studied the smelt for more than a decade, said the fish face "an imminent risk" of extinction. Smelt are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
In court papers, Swanson said the plummeting smelt population had shrunk to an unprecedented low in recent years. A recent survey found that the number of juveniles stood at less than one-tenth of normal.
If sufficient numbers of young fish don't live to become spawning adults, the species may not survive, Swanson said. "We may already have fallen below this threshold."
Although the temporary reduction in water exports isn't expected to prompt any mandatory cutbacks in Southern California, officials at the Metropolitan Water District — which gets 60% of its water from the delta — are urging Southland residents to conserve.
Whatever the outcome, the smelt predicament has cast a spotlight on the fate of the delta, considered by environmentalists to be an ecosystem in collapse. A congressional subcommittee led by Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) has planned a Bay Area hearing July 2 to address the delta's environmental troubles and the movement of water between Northern and
Scientists say pumping is just one factor that has been contributing to the demise of smelt, a key indicator species for the delta. Toxic contaminants also have caused problems, and invasive species have rearranged the delta food chain.#
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-smelt21jun21,1,879543.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Jump-started water pumps could be slowed down again
By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer
An environmental group has mounted a new legal challenge over an endangered fish that could once again slow the massive Northern California water pumps that deliver two-thirds of
The latest legal challenge, which comes just as the state started to ramp the pumping stations back up after a May 31 shutdown, could hurt all Californians, because regional water officials have already started dipping into backup water storage.
Any lengthy slowdown of the pumps would mean taking more water out of storage, which, if combined with another dry year in
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Officials from the Natural Resources Defense Council said Wednesday that they have petitioned U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger to issue a temporary restraining order that could slow the massive State Water Project pumps back to a trickle in order to protect an endangered fish, the delta smelt. Wanger is scheduled to hear the petition Friday.
Water officials around the state, meanwhile, said they were stunned when the state abruptly shut down the pumps May 31 because they were killing delta smelt, the two- to three-inch fish that lives only in Northern California's Sacramento-San Joaquin bay delta. The delta is the fragile heart of
Regional and local officials had mixed reactions Wednesday to the news of the latest attempt to slow down the pumps.
Officials from
Some growers, particularly San Diego County's $300 million avocado and citrus industry, buy "interruptible" agriculture water at much cheaper rates, with the condition that they would take 30 percent cuts before anyone else if water rationing became necessary.
Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, said local agriculture officials on Tuesday night got word of the latest legal challenge and possible pump slowdown.
Although there has been no mention of any mandatory water cuts by Metropolitan, Larson said that tree growers -- citrus and avocado -- were wary.
The bay delta's legal and regulatory problems have only worsened a bleak
Larson said even if the latest challenge doesn't push the system to the brink, growers feel that another dry year in
He said most growers would probably deal with any water cuts by taking 30 percent of their trees out of production, rather than by trying to stretch 30 percent less water over 100 percent of their groves.
"There's a mood of resignation," Larson said. "Imagine if your boss walks in and says your income is going to be slashed by 30 percent, but your house payment is going to stay the same, and your car payment is going to stay the same."
Kate Poole, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Wednesday that the group filed its lawsuit to slow down the bay-delta pumps because state operators -- in their desire to ramp the pumps back up and jump-start water deliveries -- have ignored biologists' recommendations to slow down because smelt were still being killed.
State officials shut down the pumps May 31, hoping the endangered fish would migrate away from the pumps to another portion of the bay delta.
The state restarted limited pumping June 10 and have slowly ramped back up to near-normal speed.
Metropolitan General Manager Jeff Kightlinger said when the pumps were shut down last month that Metropolitan had enough stored water to last the region 18 months or so. Metropolitan delivers water to nearly 18 million Southern Californians in six counties, including
But Kightlinger also said that if the shutdown lasted longer than 10 to 12 days,
Congress members from
U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray,
Schwarzenegger and state legislators have started lobbying to resurrect the idea of a peripheral canal that was rejected by
"This is exactly why so many of us were saying the peripheral canal was the way to go in 1982," Bilbray said. "We're talking about 50 percent of our water in
The canal would be built around the fragile bay delta to continue delivering Northern California rainfall and snow melt to Southern California, without damaging the bay delta or its inhabitants.#
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/21/news/top_stories/1_02_076_20_07.txt
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