A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
September 4, 2007
1. Top Item -
Ruling to protect delta smelt may force water rationing in Bay Area -
San Francisco Chronicle
Judge limits Delta pumps
Effort to save fish will hurt farmers and others, the state says. -
Court ruling on delta alarms water officials -
Ruling to cut into water flow to region
Judge's order will protect fish, but cause shortages -
Smelt ruling may cut into water supply
Official says the decision in an environmental suit could force a one-third reduction in shipments from the delta to the Southland. -
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Judge imposes water limits to protect Delta fish -
Judge: Cut water to help endangered fish
Delta fish near extinction -
Ruling to protect delta smelt may force water rationing in Bay Area
San Francisco Chronicle – 9/1/07
By Peter Fimrite, Staff Writer
Cities around the Bay Area face the possibility of mandatory water rationing next year as a result of a federal court decision Friday to protect a rare fish found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, state officials and water experts said.
The decision, which could cut by up to a third the amount of water drawn from the delta, will definitely force conservation measures and, in the end, could be the most far-reaching decision ever made under endangered species laws, according to experts.
The ruling, made Friday evening by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, was an attempt to help the delta smelt, a tiny fish once plentiful but now facing extinction. Environmentalists insist the huge Tracy-area pumps used by the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project suck up smelt, killing huge numbers of them. Those water systems redistribute delta water to parts of the Bay Area, the
"This is the most drastic cut ever to
Water agency representatives said cropland is likely to go fallow, and cities in the Tri-Valley,
Agencies that rely on delta water - such as the Zone 7 Water Agency that serves
The court case, which started Aug. 21 in
The environmentalists, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, were pitted against state and federal water brokers and their contractors. At stake was not only a rare species of fish uniquely adapted to the delta's shifting currents and brackish water but also the drinking water for 25 million Californians and irrigation for 750,000 acres of cropland.
The ruling came after more than a week of expert testimony. In his decision issued from the bench, Wanger did not prohibit pumping. Instead, he required state and federal water officials to maintain sufficient water flow by reducing pumping or releasing more water upstream to prevent the smelt from being sucked into the pumps.
The complicated ruling set water flow targets from late December through June, the primary spawning season when young smelt are in particular danger of being sucked into the pumps. It could mean up to 35 percent less water for the state, according to officials from the state Department of Water Resources.
The decision is meant to be effective for about a year, after which federal wildlife officials are expected to issue their own decision on how to protect the smelt. But experts said there is no reason to expect that decision will free up more water.
Some environmentalists said it didn't go quite far enough.
"It's not as protective as we would have liked, but we're pleased that the government will be taking some measures to protect the smelt," said Kate Poole, one of the lawyers for the National Resources Defense Council. "It's a step in the right direction to restoring the delta. It's not clear whether this will protect the smelt and prevent its extinction."
Jerry Johns, the deputy director of the Department of Water Resources, said the ruling might not have been as severe as environmentalists wanted, but it was harsh. Selling water around the state will be more difficult now that the delta pumps can't work as hard, he said.
"The ability to move water across the market is greatly limited here because the delta can't perform," he said.
The water fight started in 2005 when environmentalists sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after the agency issued an opinion saying that the federal and state water projects would not jeopardize the delta smelt.
The plaintiffs said the pumping plants were primarily responsible for a drastic decline in the number of smelt in the delta.
In May, Wanger ruled against federal authorities, essentially ordering the government to establish new guidelines to protect the fish. The state Department of Water Resources and the Fish and Wildlife Service now are attempting to come up with a new "biological opinion" - a conclusion about the impact the jointly operated water projects have on the fish species.
Such biological opinions are required under the Endangered Species Act. The latest hearing was to determine what measures should be taken to protect the fish until that opinion is completed in about a year.
The fact that the delta smelt is unique to the delta's vast network of channels, islands and marshes makes it a crucial gauge of the ecological health of the region. The species adapted over the eons to the brackish water, varying currents from converging rivers and flooding that has historically inundated the valley.
Smelt swim only in bursts to get to locations where they can drift with the currents and feed, according to experts. They live for about a year, spawn and their larvae then drift down to
Over the past four or five years, experts have noticed a precipitous drop in the number and range of the smelt, historically the most common fish in the delta.
Peter Moyle, a professor of fisheries at UC Davis, and Tina Swanson, the senior scientist at The Bay Institute, testified during the hearing that the smelt appear to get confused in the south delta because the pumps actually change the direction of the current.
Moyle believes the delta smelt is on the verge of extinction. The fish is particularly vulnerable now, he said, because it is concentrated mostly in one area where a toxic spill or disaster of some sort could wipe them all out.
Lawyers for the state and federal governments and water contractors argued that the pumps are only a minor part of the problem and that other factors - like nonnative predatory species, toxic runoff, wastewater dumping and unregulated pumping from farmers - are the major culprits. They wanted the other issues studied and addressed before limits on pumping were put in place.
Environmentalists contend a limited water supply might impress upon the farmers the realities of global warming, thereby forcing them to grow more sustainable crops and install more efficient irrigation systems.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/01/MNPCRT83Q.DTL
Judge limits Delta pumps
Effort to save fish will hurt farmers and others, the state says.
Sacramento
By John Ellis - Fresno
A federal judge on Friday ordered less water to be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect the threatened Delta smelt, a decision state water officials said will hurt
State Water Contractors, an organization representing more than two dozen agencies that buy water from the state, called the decision by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger in
"This may be the biggest impact anywhere,
In an average year -- when close to 6 million acre-feet of water is sent south from the Delta -- the giant pumps serving both the state and federal water projects could deliver up to 35 percent less water under the federal order, said Jerry Johns, deputy director of the state Department of Water Resources.
At issue are the giant pumping stations that are key to the state and federal water systems, devices that environmentalists say have driven the smelt to the brink of extinction.
"The evidence is uncontradicted that these project operations move the fish," Wanger said after hearing objections from defendants, who had argued that other factors led to the fish's decline.
"It happens, and the law says something has to be done about it."
Under the ruling, limits would be put in place from the end of December, when the fish are about to spawn, until June, when young fish can move into better habitat with more food.
Wanger also prescribed other measures, such as increased monitoring of the fish's presence in its adult and juvenile stages at several points in the Delta.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a written statement that the ruling would have "a devastating impact on the state's economy and the 25 million Californians who depend on Delta water."
The full impact of the ruling remained unknown. People on both sides of the issue are working to grasp the details of Wanger's decision, which was delivered to a courtroom so packed that spectators were seated in the courtroom's jury box.
Environmentalists, while pleased with the decision, were quick to point out that they didn't get everything they wanted.
"It's kind of a mixed bag, but it's better than what we have now," said Trent Orr, an attorney with Earthjustice who is involved in the case.
Environmentalists, for instance, had asked Wanger to require increased river water flows into the Delta starting this fall, which would push back saltier water that smelt can't tolerate and allow them to reach critical feeding grounds.
Wanger declined to do that.
His ruling Friday stems from a 2005 lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sought to help protect the Delta smelt population, which is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The 3-inch-long fish, which lives only a year, is considered an indicator of the Delta's health.
"This species is not only in jeopardy, it is at the tipping point," Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Michael Wall said in his closing argument.
State and federal water officials agree the smelt population is in decline, but there is broad disagreement with environmentalists on the reasons. Water officials say pumping is one reason, but other factors, such as loss of food supplies and the introduction of foreign plant and fish species, have altered the environment and caused the smelt population to plummet.
Pumping can cause the river channels to run backward. Smelt are often tricked by the flow and can move with the current into the pumps, according to testimony during the hearing.
State authorities for that reason took the unprecedented step in May of shutting down huge water pumps for 10 days in the south Delta after they found that rising numbers of the rare fish had been sucked to their death.
Orr, of Earthjustice, said Wanger's ruling doesn't necessarily mean pumping must be reduced. He said increased releases from
Wanger gave both sides 50 days to take his oral statement and fashion it into a written order. He urged them to work together, and warned that if they didn't, he would take written submissions from both sides and craft the order himself.
Earlier this year, Wanger threw out a key U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opinion on water management and pumping in the Delta. His decision required the opinion to be rewritten.
Friday's ruling will be in effect only until that opinion is rewritten. Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, expects that to be completed around this time next year.
In the meantime, however, he said the lack of rainfall this past year has put reservoirs at critically low levels. Low water levels combined with Wanger's decision mean agricultural interests on the San Joaquin Valley's west side could see water deliveries cut in half -- and that's if rainfall is normal in the upcoming season, Nelson said.
If it's a dry year, he said, "we'll be lucky to deliver any water to farms."
West side farmer Dan Errotabere, who grows almonds, pistachios, garlic and other crops on a little more than 5,000 acres, said the decision adds to uncertainty at a time when he is planning for 2008.
Farmers and growers in the Westlands Water District say Wanger's decision could force them to pump groundwater, which is of lower quality.
It could also lead to more land being taken out of production, an increase in dust emissions from unfarmed land and the risk of land subsiding when groundwater is pumped out.
"It was an uncertain business before," Errotabere said. "It's certainly more now."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.#
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/355526.html
Court ruling on delta alarms water officials
By Sean Webby, staff writer
Santa Clara County water officials were envisioning possible water shortages and mandatory conservation in the wake of a federal judge's ruling Friday expected to dramatically cut the amount of water flowing to the rest of the state from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta.
The cuts, ordered by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, are intended to protect endangered fish. But restricting the flow from the water pumps to save the fish could cut statewide water flow from the delta by one-sixth to one-third. About half of
The "
Officials were still studying the ruling Friday and were unsure of exactly what effect the ruling would have, Siravo said. But if the area suffered more dry bouts or drought conditions, the cutbacks could mean mandatory conservation.
Officials could be forced to draw on some of the area's emergency water reserves. The county's 10 reservoirs were at 57 percent capacity this week.
Residents could also notice drier streambeds. The district manages about 100 miles of streams. And Siravo wondered aloud if the ruling, intended to protect smelt, would hurt sensitive habitats of steelhead trout, red-legged frogs and turtles in the valley.
"If the water is coming out of people's taps, they are happy and may not realize what the challenges are that are facing us," Siravo said, asking for more public education and awareness. "A lot of people don't know how reliant we are on the delta."
Wanger's decision sent shock waves through the state.
The judge ruled that pressure from the pumps helped reverse the natural direction of water within the estuary, damaging habitat and killing delta smelt, a fish that experts say might be on the brink of extinction.
"The evidence is uncontradicted that these project operations move the fish," Wanger said after hearing objections from defendants, who had argued that other factors led to the fish's decline. "It happens, and the law says something has to be done about it."
Under the ruling, limits would be put in place from the end of December, when the fish are about to spawn, until June, when young fish can move into areas with better habitat and more food.
Wanger also prescribed other measures, such as increased monitoring of the fish's presence in its adult and juvenile stages at several points in the delta.
Pumps operated by the Central Valley Project - operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - send water to farmers in the agricultural valley south of the delta. The State Water Project - operated by the California Department of Water Resources - delivers the water to urban and rural water users as far south as
The water serves more than 25 million Californians and thousands of acres of crops.
In a year with an average amount of precipitation, about 6 million acre feet of water is pumped from the delta, and up to one-third of that could be lost under Wanger's order, said Jerry Johns, Department of Water Resources deputy director.
Tim Quinn, who heads the Association of California Water Agencies, said the ruling would have a serious impact in a state already coming off a dry winter and spring.
"A sober assessment of this says it's a very large deal," Quinn said.#
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_6778881?nclick_check=1
Ruling to cut into water flow to region
Judge's order will protect fish, but cause shortages
By Michael Gardner
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger's extraordinary ruling to save the endangered delta smelt could cost
The San Diego County Water Authority expects to be squeezed. The
“Supply shortages and mandatory water-use restrictions are a very real possibility,” said Fern Steiner, chairwoman of the water authority board.
Longer term, the loss of urban and farm deliveries will pile more water woes on an already parched state.
Solutions will be costly and polarizing, from building reservoirs to resurrecting the once-rejected
Wanger's decision in a
“Today's federal court ruling to drastically cut delta water exports is further proof that our water system is broken, unreliable and in crisis,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “This decision is also going to have a devastating impact on the state's economy and the 25 million Californians who depend on delta water.”
State water suppliers agreed that the decision is the most far-reaching of its kind in the history of
“It will have a significant impact on our economy and quality of life,” said Maureen Stapleton, general manager of the water authority.
The
In his ruling, Wanger sided with environmentalists who say the 3-inch smelt are sucked down the delta and killed by the water pumps. The smelt also is an indicator of the overall health of the delta's valuable ecosystem, they say.
“The evidence is uncontradicted that these project operations move the fish,” Wanger said, according to The Associated Press. “It happens, and the law says something has to be done about it.”
State and federal officials, as well as many farmers and businesses that rely on supplies, counter that other factors such as pollution and predators are also to blame.
Officials were still sorting out the ruling Wagner made from the bench, but late yesterday they estimated that the smelt safeguards will prevent state and federal pumps from delivering 14 percent to 37 percent of normal capacity. That amounts to 800,000 acre-feet to 2 million acre-feet a year.
The judge did not set a precise figure. The final amount, as interpreted by state water officials, depends on how close the smelt are to the pumps and at what time of the year.
The order will stay in effect from December until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service adopts a new plan to safeguard the fish, probably in spring. By all accounts, that plan will also require a large amount of water.
In effect, water officials say, the smelt will compound
At the same time, agencies will have to scramble to find water from willing sellers, potentially creating a bidding war. However, it might be difficult for those securing supplies to find a time when the pumps will be free to ship additional supplies.
The region's 2007 water-supply figures clearly show its precarious position.
The water authority is counting on the delta for 288,580 acre-feet. That's 39 percent of its total deliveries of 748,000 acre-feet and enough to serve about 577,000 households for a year. An acre-foot is enough to meet the annual needs of two households.
Still undetermined is whether the fallout will mean droughtlike rationing or continuing less-onerous voluntary conservation. But water managers statewide say rationing is more likely now.
The water authority contracts with Metropolitan for 614,000 acre-feet a year, or 82 percent of its annual need.
A decision on how much and how soon the cuts will carve into the region's supply will be debated in the Metropolitan board room this fall.
How much
The longe-range forecast for drought-busting storms is not promising, said Doug Le Conte, a drought specialist with the National Weather Service.
“The news is not good,” he said.
Le Conte forecasts below-average snowfall throughout the
Heavy snows in the Sierra may not materialize, compounding shortages in the Delta. The Sierra snowpack was about 30 percent of normal last season. Only brimming reservoirs forestalled immediate and more painful reductions.
Le Conte predicts a normal weather pattern – at best – for the Sierra.
In response to the deepening supply crisis, water districts across
County water authority officials are searching to buy up to 50,000 acre-feet water to store in
In
Schwarzenegger has endorsed a $5.9 billion bond to pay for two reservoirs, study a water conveyance system, open more groundwater aquifers and improve the delta.
But key Democrats were leaning against the governor's proposal, not convinced of the need to build reservoirs and wary of a new aqueduct.#
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070901/news_1n1water.html
Smelt ruling may cut into water supply
Official says the decision in an environmental suit could force a one-third reduction in shipments from the delta to the Southland.
James Ricci and Eric Bailey, staff writers
A federal judge Friday ordered protective measures for a tiny endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a mandate state water officials warned could cut Northern California water exports to
Environmental lawyers disputed the officials' draconian assessment of U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger's decision to protect the delta smelt, a creature that biologists say is facing extinction in large part because of increased pumping from the delta. The fish are weak swimmers and tend to be sucked into the water system's massive pumps and killed.
Water officials said the judge's decision could be the most significant ever on the state's ability to deliver water through the delta, the key crossroads for the movement of water supplies to
In a normal water year, they said, deliveries through the delta could be cut by up to 37% -- a loss of enough water to supply upward of 4 million households. Dry years could see smaller cuts, but there would be less water to begin with.
"It means there will be less water delivered than we normally do," said Jerry Johns, deputy director of the state Department of Water Resources, which runs the California Aqueduct.
The decision comes in a suit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice against the Department of Interior and water agencies, among others.
Kate Poole, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, questioned the officials' numbers. "I don't think they can say that," she said. "I don't think anybody has yet figured out how much delivery reduction this would cause."
Wanger ordered that water flows be maintained at sufficient levels to keep the endangered fish away from the pumps from the end of December, when they're about to spawn, until June, when young fish are moving into areas with more food. A major way of maintaining the flow levels is reducing the amount of water being moved out of the delta.
With several water districts already eyeing the possibility of mandatory water rationing, the results for the
"A sober assessment says it's a very large deal," Quinn said. "Water agencies have to prepare for the worst."
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides drinking water to nearly 17 million people, obtains 60% of its water from the delta. The district has already warned local farmers to expect a 30% cutback Jan. 1.
In anticipation of a water shortage, the authority in recent years struck a deal for more
Concerns about the effect of the ruling reverberated in
The authority, which provides water to 24 local agencies, recently asked residents to reduce daily usage by 20 gallons per person. Authority General Manager Maureen Stapleton said it is time to begin serious negotiations about a canal that would loop around the delta.
Though any restrictions created by the judge's decision eventually would be replaced by a new biological opinion being fashioned by federal wildlife managers, Quinn said there is "no reason to believe a biological opinion will be any easier on water supplies."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the decision "further proof that our water system is broken, unreliable and in crisis" and "a devastating blow to our water system and state economy."
Schwarzenegger cited his proposed $5.9-billion comprehensive water plan, which includes $1 billion for delta restoration and a new system for diverting water around the delta, as the sort of investment needed to guarantee supplies to the 25 million Californians who depend on delta water while also protecting its ecosystem.
Terry Erlewine, general manager of the State Water Contractors, said farmers in the
Michael Boccadoro, spokesman for the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, a group of users who depend on delta water, said the decision means "the delta crisis is now a full-blown catastrophe. We have effectively relinquished control of our major water supply systems -- the lifeblood of our economy -- to the federal courts."
Delta smelt, the subject of the court's decision, grow to about 3 inches long and live only about a year. A so-called indicator species that is a harbinger of ecological conditions in the delta, the smelt were declared endangered in 1993. Since then, federal and state water managers occasionally have had to cut back on the amount of water released from the delta to protect the fish.
In June, water diversion was suspended entirely for nine days after unusually large numbers of smelt died in the pumps.
Biologists and environmentalists contend that the increasing diversion of delta water is nudging the fish toward extinction. A recent survey showed the number of juveniles to be less than one-tenth of normal -- a dire portent for the survival of the species.
Delta water exports in the last five years have been among the highest on record, according to state figures. Environmentalists have contended that the increase has had a direct effect on smelt numbers, which biologists say are at unprecedented lows.
In 2005, when a large number of the California Water Project's 40-year contracts with its customers were coming due, water managers asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine what effect their plans would have on the tiny fish. In a biological opinion, the federal agency concluded that water operations in the delta did not jeopardize the smelt's survival.
The finding brought howls of protest from environmentalists, who promptly sued in federal court. They said the biological opinion was part of a pattern of Bush administration environmental decisions that ignored sound science.
Wanger invalidated the biological opinion in May. He called the delta smelt "indisputably in jeopardy as to its survival and recovery," and castigated the federal report as "arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law."
When the nine-day shutdown of water exports in June was over, and the massive pumps were back in full operation, smelt fatalities rose dramatically. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice asked Wanger to order state and
Wanger refused their request, instead convening the trial that led to Friday's decision.#
Judge: Cut water to help endangered fish
Delta fish near extinction
By Mike Taugher, STAFF WRITER
The order is expected to force water agencies up and down the state to consider water rationing next year and could force
The momentous decision did not go as far as environmentalists hoped nor as far as farmers and other water users feared it might.
Still, officials said the ruling could end up reducing daily water deliveries out of the Delta by about 1 million acre-feet, or enough for 2 million households. Under one worst-case scenario, state water officials said Delta water deliveries could be cut by twice that amount.
State and federal water officials recently have been taking about 6 million acre-feet year from the Delta, a record high amount so the 1 million acre-feet cut could become even more crippling in a drought year.
"These reductions represent the single largest court-ordered redirection of water in state history," said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.
Quinn also called the ruling the most significant endangered species decision in history.
The order by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger comes three months after he ruled that a key permit that allows state and federal water pumps to operate even though they
kill the protected Delta smelt is insufficient and illegal.
The Delta smelt population, along with several other small fish of the Delta, has suffered a dizzying decline in recent years. Water deliveries are contributing to the problem but pollution and invasive species are factors, too.
The judge said he considered his task nearly impossible but believed the law required him to step in because federal regulators in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to prescribe conditions that would protect the fish from going extinct.
"The party that has responsibility for protecting the species is here, and that's the federal government," Wanger said. "What the evidence does show is there is more to be done than is being done. The impacts are extreme and severe. There's no question about that."
His order will put in place new restrictions on pumping during the first half of the year. It was not as strict as Fish and Wildlife Service biologists recommended in a proposal developed for his consideration, but it also was not as relaxed as the California Department of Water Resources wanted.
He also denied a request from environmentalists to require more water released from reservoirs in the fall in order to improve the Delta habitat with fresher water.
"This is better than what we had before but we didn't get some things we wanted," said Trent Orr, attorney for Earthjustice, which brought the case on behalf of environmentalists.
Urban water agencies from the Bay Area to
Farm districts, which typically have less water in reserve, will be hit more immediately.
"This is a fundamental change," said Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority. He said
The order will be in effect until the Fish and Wildlife Service drafts a new permit, which is expected about a year from now.
But water agency are very worried that its conditions represent a new status quo because it is based on conditions recommended from the Fish and Wildlife Service.
"We are looking at an indefinite period that won't end if there's rain," Quinn said. #
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_6786102
Judge imposes water limits to protect Delta fish
Sacramento
By JULIANA BARBASSA - Associated Press Writer
U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger said pressure from the pumps helped reverse the natural direction of water within the estuary, damaging habitat and killing delta smelt, a fish that experts say might be on the brink of extinction.
"The evidence is uncontradicted that these project operations move the fish," Wanger said after hearing objections from defendants, who had argued that other factors led to the fish's decline. "It happens, and the law says something has to be done about it."
Under the ruling, limits would be put in place from the end of December, when the fish are about to spawn, until June, when young fish can move into areas with better habitat and more food.
Wanger also prescribed other measures, such as increased monitoring of the fish's presence in its adult and juvenile stages at several points in the delta.
Pumps operated by the Central Valley Project - operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - send water to farmers in the agricultural valley south of the delta. The State Water Project - operated by the California Department of Water Resources - delivers the water to urban and rural water users as far south as
The water serves more than 25 million Californians and thousands of acres of crops.
In a year with an average amount of precipitation, about 6 million acre feet of water is pumped from the delta, and up to one-third of that could be lost under Wanger's order, said Jerry Johns, DWR's deputy director.
Tim Quinn, who heads the Association of California Water Agencies, said the ruling would have a serious impact in a state already coming off a dry winter and spring. Some districts have already ordered conservation measures and tapped into their water reserves, he said.
"A sober assessment of this says it's a very large deal," Quinn said. "We are not only losing supply here, you are greatly compromising the tools we have developed to deal with water shortages."
The Natural Resources Defense Council and four other environmental groups had asked Wanger to demand an immediate change to the pumping rate to reduce harm to the smelt until a new set of pumping guidelines is expected next year.
Both sides agree the smelt population has declined precipitously. The fish are protected under the California Endangered Species Act, and their well-being is considered a measure of the environmental health of the fragile delta ecosystem.
In May and June, state and federal agencies stopped or slowed down their pumps in an effort to protect the smelt, after the population reached an all-time low. But environmental groups want permanent measures to improve conditions for the fish.
Friday's decision was complex, and both sides said they needed time to fully understand its impacts. But environmentalists largely welcomed it as an improvement over current conditions.
"It's better than what there was before," said Trent Orr, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, which was party to the suit.
But they wanted more, said Orr, including measures that would have protected habitat from encroaching salt from the
Water contractors who get their supplies from the state and federal projects said the measure would likely curtail their access to water to the point where it would harm rural economies and hamper urban water use.
"Rural communities have an economy based entirely on ag. ... This is a huge hit on economies that are already depressed," said Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, which serves about 1 million acres of farmland as well as the urban water district in
Nelson believed the decision would leave farmers with half the water they were expecting in the coming year and urban users having to make do with the minimum deliveries guaranteed by contract.
The ruling will have "a devastating impact on the state's economy and the 25 million Californians who depend on Delta water," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "We need to invest in a better conveyance system so we have reliable water supplies and are able to protect the Delta's fragile ecosystem."
Schwarzenegger has asked the state Legislature to approve a $5.9 billion bond to build two new dams and study the possibility of building a canal to route fresh water from the
http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/354671.html
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