[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 5/7/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

May 7, 2008

 

3. Watersheds -

 

 

Longfin smelt under consideration for endangered status

The Sacramento Bee – 5/7/08

 

 

Another Delta Smelt May be Protected

California Farmer -5/6/08

 

 

Richmond spill killed up to 300 fish - delay probed

San Francisco Chronicle – 5/7/08

 

 

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Longfin smelt under consideration for endangered status

The Sacramento Bee – 5/7/08

By Matt Weiser

Another Delta fish will be considered for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, following a sharp population decline last year.

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it will conduct a status review of the longfin smelt to determine whether it warrants protection as a threatened or endangered species.

 

The longfin, a 4-inch fish native to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, last year registered its lowest population count in four decades of monitoring.

 

The decision to conduct the review came in response to a petition filed in August by environmental groups.

 

The longfin is a cousin of the Delta smelt, a threatened species since 1993 whose population also has declined steeply in recent years. The longfin is slightly bigger, normally lives for two years instead of one and travels through a wider range of salinity conditions.

 

Biologists have struggled to understand the declines, but as with the Delta smelt, they believe a combination of poor water quality, invasive species and water pumping is hurting longfins.

 

"This is another species that lives in the estuary in a slightly different way, and it's in equally bad trouble. It's telling us there are problems in the ecosystem, and we need to address them," said Tina Swanson, a senior scientist at the Bay Institute, one of three petitioners.

 

The Delta supplies water for 25 million Californians and some 2 million acres of farmland. Court-imposed water export restrictions to protect the Delta smelt have already reduced supplies to these customers, and new protections for the longfin could mean even less water.

 

Other protected fish in the Central Valley include Sacramento River green sturgeon, listed as threatened in 2006, steelhead, and both winter- and spring-run chinook salmon. Fall-run chinook is not protected but also saw a sharp population drop in 2007, forcing regulators to close salmon fishing this year for the first time in history.

 

Tuesday's action by the Fish and Wildlife Service was long past its 90-day deadline to rule on the petition. Swanson said the petitioners were about to file suit to force a decision.

 

"We never get to things as fast as we'd like to because we have a limited budget as defined by Congress," said Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Al Donner. "We moved it as fast as we were able."

 

The service now has until August to rule on whether the longfin should be protected.

 

The service ruled against listing the longfin population in 1994. It acknowledged then that the species had declined by 90 percent but concluded the Delta population was not distinct from other longfin groups, which range as far north as Alaska.

 

But these populations may be physically isolated from each other, meaning the declining Delta longfin cannot be naturally supplemented by other groups.

 

If federal protection is granted to the longfin, it could expand pumping limits or require more freshwater releases from dams.

 

Though similar to Delta smelt, the longfin breeds earlier in winter, in different places and under different conditions.

 

"I hope they move forward quickly and make the changes in overall management of the system that are going to be necessary to sustain this species," Swanson said.#

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/918520.html

 

 

Another Delta Smelt May be Protected

California Farmer -5/6/08

Compiled by Staff

 

As if the Delta's users and fish don't have enough problems, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today announced its determination that a petition has presented sufficient information about the imperiled condition of the longfin smelt to initiate a status review and consider listing it for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service's determination today, commonly known as a 90-day finding, is the first step toward possible protection for the species under the ESA. The action is based on the information provided in a petition to list the longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) population that lives in San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and on information readily available to the Service. The petition asked that the Service list longfin smelt within that area as a distinct population segment (DPS). The finding is available at http://www.fws.gov/sacramento/. Today's action by the Service opens a 60-day public comment period, closing July 7, 2008, during which experts and the public are encouraged to submit all relevant information about the species. The Service then will complete its next stage of review, commonly known as a 12- month review. Longfin smelt is an anadromous species, about 5 inches long, that tolerates wide ranges of salinity. It has a two-year life cycle, typically spawning in Suisun and San Pablo bays from November to June. Outflow from Central Valley rivers into the bays has been correlated with longfin smelt numbers. The petition was filed Aug. 8, 2007 by three environmental organizations: Bay Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council. The petition asserted that the Bay-Delta population is physically and reproductively isolated from populations further north, that it is genetically differentiated and lives in a unique ecological setting. It also argues that reduced outflow caused by exports from the Delta has contributed to decline of the longfin smelt. In 1992 a similar petition to list the entire population of longfin smelt, which ranges from San Francisco Bay to Alaska, was filed with the Service. In 1993 FWS issued a positive 90-day finding. But in 1994, in its 12-month finding, the Service concluded that the petition was not warranted because, although the Bay Area longfin smelt population was declining, it did not seem "biologically significant to the species as a whole, and may not be sufficiently reproductively isolated." In its 1994 decision, the Service acknowledged that longfin smelt numbers in the Delta had declined by 90% since 1984. One index, the Fall Mid-Water Trawl Survey recorded an annual average of only 537 longfin smelt from 1987 through 1994, whereas in the previous 20 years it had averaged more than 17,000. Just after the 1994 decision, California experienced a wet period and the annual index rose to more than 4,000 during the years from 1995 to 2000. Then, from 2001 through 2006, the index dropped to an average of 569 each year. In 2007 the index dropped to a record low of just 13. "The Service has not made a decision on whether to propose listing the longfin smelt," says Steve Thompson, regional manager of the Service's region 8 (California/Nevada). "The 90-day finding is our recognition that new information has developed." Thompson continued, "Over the next few months, the Service will evaluate this new information, and all the additional information we obtain, then make a decision on whether there is sufficient risk to the species to proceed with a listing proposal." # http://californiafarmer.com/index.aspx?ascxid=fpStory&fpsid=33645&fpstid=2     Richmond spill killed up to 300 fish - delay probed San Francisco Chronicle – 5/7/08 By Carl Nolte   A toxic chemical spill Monday at the north end of Richmond apparently killed between 200 and 300 fish in an irrigation canal - and brought an investigation about delays in reporting the spill.   The fish - mostly sculpin and sticklebacks - were found Tuesday in a canal near storage tanks belonging to the Reaction Products plant at 840 Morton Ave. Two dead mallard ducks also were found.   The tanks were the source of a spill of a toxic chemical called toluene that was discovered Monday. Thieves had apparently climbed a chain link fence to get at the tanks and stole brass valve fittings, causing a leak.   Managers at the company noticed the leak at about 8:15 a.m. Monday. Reaction Products called in Clean Harbors Environmental Services to clean it up.   According to Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan, Dwight Merrill, the owner of Reaction Products, initially reported the spill as 500 gallons of mineral spirits - a less toxic substance.   But the environmental cleanup firm determined that the spill was actually toluene, a highly toxic substance, and notified the Contra Costa County office of emergency services, which called the Coast Guard at 11:09 a.m., almost three hours after the spill had been discovered.   The Coast Guard recommended that Contra Costa hazardous materials personnel issue a shelter-in-place order about 1 p.m. for residents of the neighborhood.   Now, said Coast Guard Lt. Lauren Kolumbic, authorities want to know why it took so long to put out the alarm about a toxic chemical spill. "We are not talking blame," she said, "but an investigation is under way."   On Tuesday, cleanup crews collected about 7,300 gallons of toluene mixed with saltwater. Crews have put up booms to contain the leak, which is near an environmentally sensitive marsh, and expect to finish the cleanup in two or three days.   Nearby, Point Pinole regional shoreline and an adjoining fishing pier were closed Tuesday. The areas are expected to be reopened today. # http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/07/BAG910I16J.DTL