A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 4, 2008
3. Watersheds –
Smelt decline indicates overall system failure: Water pumping restrictions cost $350 million
Antelope Valley
Invasive species bills stuck in Congress
Associated Press- 8/4/08
Redding Record-Searchlight- 8/3/08
Judge seeks salmon impact report: State, federal agencies must file update by Aug. 29
Capital Ag Press- 8/1/08
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Smelt decline indicates overall system failure: Water pumping restrictions cost $350 million
Antelope Valley
By Linda Lee, Staff Writer
What is two inches long, smells like cucumber and costs $350 million?
It's the Delta smelt, a tiny fish that is native to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and is threatened with extinction. Its survival is at the heart of a battle to change how the state operates its massive water distribution system, potentially affecting cities, farms, fishing and recreational uses as well as the fragile ecosystem on which they all depend.
The delta is the hub of the state's water distribution system, formed where the
In the process, a large volume of fresh water is diverted out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, affecting the habitat of the Delta smelt, salmon, bass and other native fish. The huge pumps that send the water south also suck up the Delta smelt and other fish, killing millions each year.
Steps taken to protect the threatened species resulted in recent court-ordered cutbacks from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta into the California Aqueduct. That sent water agencies across the state scrambling to find new water supplies and caused an economic loss estimated at $350 million.
Why so much effort to protect a tiny fish that many refer to as "bait"?
The Delta smelt lives its entire life cycle in one year, and its population numbers can show the overall health of the delta, said Alex Pitts, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As such, the Delta smelt - whose numbers are about 92% less than a decade ago - is called an "indicator species."
"One of the hallmarks of an indicator species is it indicates to you something is wrong. And often species more sensitive than ourselves are our first warning we're causing environmental changes that may come back to bite us," said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, a private, nonprofit conservation organization.
Delta smelt are at the bottom of the food chain, and without them "there's a whole lot of other fish that aren't going to have adequate food," Pitts said.
A declining population of Delta smelt is "a clear indication that the ecological condition in the system is getting worse and this is an ecological system that many more species than Delta smelt depend on: Chinook salmon, striped bass, sturgeon and a bunch of other native species," said Tina Swanson, executive director of the San Francisco-based Bay Institute.
The Delta smelt gets attention because it is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, but "almost all of the native fish are declining in the delta and the Bay and the watershed," she said.
"The fact that all these species are declining is another really, really strong indication something is seriously wrong in the system," Swanson said.
Of the 29 fish species indigenous to the delta, at least a dozen are extinct or endangered, Miller said.
In September a federal judge imposed restrictions on pumping from the delta to protect the smelt, which cluster dangerously close to the pumps: they get sucked up and ground to pieces.
Restrictions in delta pumping have slashed California's water supply during the first quarter of this year by 600,000 acre-feet, enough to serve Los Angeles' 3.8 million residents for more than a year.
The pumping restrictions have cost
"So far at the local level, you're not seeing a lot of impacts because water agencies are digging into their drought reserves, they have those reserves on hand and that's where they're serving you from," Moon said.
Moon said further restrictions on pumping from the delta could come in December to protect the longfin smelt and again in 2009 to protect salmon.
"The State Water Project supplies are under threat today and things are going to get worse before they get better," Moon said.
"We have a delta that is in crisis and that ecological crisis is equating with a very risky delivery system for us. As long as we are relying on water supplies that are being moved through the delta and the delta is in an ecosystem crisis, our water supplies are going to get hammered." An estimated worst-case scenario could mean that drought reserves would be depleted by the end of 2010.
In normal rainfall years, the State Water Project supplies about 4.2 million acre-feet annually to water agencies around
Moon predicted more drastic cuts could mean delivery of 1.4 million acre-feet per year. While cutbacks to the water flowing down the aqueduct affects cities, farmers and businesses, others point to the economic loss of the California fishing industry due to degrading delta conditions.
"People may not care about a two-inch fish that smells like cucumbers, but people certainly care about salmon, sturgeon and some of the other fish, and if we don't fix the problems of the delta, (they) are not far behind," said Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity.
In May the state Fish and Game Commission announced the closure of all stream fishing for salmon except in the Klamath River and a section of the Sacramento River north of
"We've got a huge commercial industry, a huge recreational industry dependent on them," Miller said. "How many billions are lost due to the collapse of the salmon fishing industry and sport fishing, gas sales, boat rentals and everything that goes with it?
"If we don't fix the delta that's going to be business as usual. We're going to lose our salmon fishing industry, which is a multi-million, if not a billion dollar industry. We're going to lose a lot of recreational fishing, which a lot of the tourist industry depends on, and more importantly, we're going to lose our native fish species."
The potential cost from closing the fisheries is $255 million, along with the loss of 2,263 jobs, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.
"I think from a largely scale perspective, the delta ecosystem is a critical link in the chain for a number of fish species that do have commercial values, Chinook salmon being the most prominent," said Swanson of the Bay Institute.
"If we lose the delta, the link between the rivers where the salmon spawn and the ocean where they grow, we could very well lose the good commercial salmon fishery as well as the sport salmon fishery which is already in deep trouble ... and that's something that I think is important economically speaking, I think it's important culturally and of course it's important ecologically."
Swanson and Miller say determining how much water can safely be diverted out of the delta is a critical component to sustaining the delta ecosystem.
"Clearly we're taking more fresh water than ever before and that absolutely correlated with the crash of the fish population.
That's probably the No. 1 cause of the fish decline. There's a lot of finger pointing. People want to point to other things and say, 'No, it's not us,' but that part is clear," Miller said.
Moon, of the State Water Contractors Association, said water deliveries from the delta increased for five or six years early this decade after a period of drought, but the amount was not unprecedented.
"We had a string of wet years in the first half of the decade and did pump more than in the six years before because of the drought," she said. But a similar amount was also pumped in the 1980s, she said.
"We're going to have to come to grips that there's a finite amount of water that comes through the delta ... there's only so much we can use," Miller said. "In dry years it's just not going to be there for us. We're using more than nature allocates."
While water diversions and the aqueduct pumps are factors in the Delta smelt's decline, other potential causes include pesticides, sewage, power plant operations, climate change, and an invasive species of clam that competes with the fish for food.
While toxins are a problem, the extent "can't be quantified very well right now," said Swanson, a biologist.
The Center for Biological Diversity is challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's registration and authorization of 46 toxic pesticides in the upstream of habitats for
"Certainly we should be addressing the other problems also, and not just to help the fish, but for our own health," Miller said. "All these pesticides that are coming into the delta are known carcinogens, they're known endocrine destructors, they're affecting humans in a pretty profound way."
The Delta smelt is listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. An effort is under way to change the designation of the Delta smelt from threatened - likely to become endangered - to endangered, a decision that could come early next year.
While protections for threatened and endangered species are similar, an endangered designation offers a little more insurance, Miller said.
"As the squeeze is put on, there is a clamor for exemptions," Miller said. "It's a signal to regulatory agencies that this is a species you need to pay attention to."
The Bay Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council have also petitioned for state and federal endangered species protection for the longfin smelt, and in May the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made an initial finding to do so.
Last month a federal judge ruled that operation of the state and federal water projects must be modified to protect threatened and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead populations from the threat of extinction.
The success of the future of
The system was designed in the mid-1950s, as a means to move water as efficiently and economically as possible to where it was needed. But in the 21st century, officials must consider both the environment and the economy in order to ensure adequate water supplies for all uses,
This requires local and regional programs such as conservation and use of drought-tolerant landscaping, and maximizing existing water sources by recycling, he said.
But a new canal to bring water through or around the delta and new reservoir are also needed,
"Those are the two pieces that are viewed by us as the elephants in the room that need to be dealt with by decision makers in
In the near term, a number of environmental alternatives are being developed that would improve the fish habitat without cutting back on pumping, Moon said.
"If you shut off the pumps, and these species are crashing because of environmental conditions, it's not going to do any good," she said. "They're going to crash anyway."
"We're working with the regulatory agencies ... on programs that would make conditions throughout the ecosystem better for the fish so they have a chance at a recovery. And we're saying, if we do this, and fund these things, you should allow some of the pumping restrictions to be lifted."
Another proposal is installing temporary barriers to keep fish away from the pumps.
In the long term, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan is being developed by water officials, environmental organizations and state and federal agencies to identify ways of improving the design and operation of the state's water delivery systems and to map out a conservation plan for the delta.
The goal is to get water deliveries back to the levels before restrictions were put into place to save the Delta smelt, Moon said.
Parallel to that effort, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Delta Vision task force is developing a sustainable management program. Miller said one of the major necessities is revamping water use by Californians and setting the minimum level of water needed in the delta to allow native fish to survive.
"The good news is, you look at a city like
http://www.avpress.com/n/03/0803_s2.hts
Invasive species bills stuck in Congress
Associated Press- 8/4/08
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tiny foreign mussels assault drinking water sources in
These are no exotic seafood delicacies. They're a menace to
Yet Congress is moving to address the problem at the pace of a plain old garden snail.
With time for passing laws rapidly diminishing in this election year, two powerful Senate committee chairmen are at loggerheads over legislation to set the first federal clean-up standards for the large oceangoing ships on which aquatic invasive species hitch a ride to U.S. shores.
The dispute is between Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Boxer is blocking a clean-up bill passed by Inouye's committee over concerns it would pre-empt stronger standards in
Similar clean-up legislation has already passed the House, but advocates on both sides are pessimistic about breaking the impasse before Congress finishes up work for the year.
Experts say there's no time to waste.
"We are working against the clock, not just politically but out there in the real world, because every year that passes we get more invasions and those invasions stay forever," said Jennifer Nalbone, invasive species campaign director for Great Lakes United.
It's "clearly a national crisis," Nalbone said.
Most aquatic invasive species travel in the ballast water that large ships take on for balance when they're not carrying cargo.
Ballast water picked up near Japan and dumped off the coast of California, for example, can bring with it hundreds of foreign species ranging from microscopic bacteria to weeds, fish, crabs and mussels.
Some of these new arrivals establish themselves quickly, and with devastating effect.
Among the best-known cases: Little quagga and zebra mussels from Eastern Europe were discovered in the Great Lakes two decades ago, likely having boarded ships from
Then the mussels began to spread, making their way to Lake Mead in
There's agreement that the current method for dealing with aquatic invasive species is inadequate. Under Coast Guard oversight, ships are supposed to dump out their ballast water 200 miles from
But the program is not closely enforced, and not all invasive species are eliminated, since some just sink to the bottom of the tank and don't wash out.
"By the time the ship finally makes it into shore most of what you got rid of will have regrown," said Joel Mandelman, vice president and general counsel of Nutech 03, Inc., a company working on technology to clean ballast water by blasting it with ozone. And "you don't know what new or additional invasive species you'll pick up."
The pending legislation would set standards for how many invasive organisms can be in ballast water when it arrives in port. That's meant to drive development of technology such as Mandelman's that would clean ballast water directly.
"There is no doubt that ballast water legislation that stems the tide of invasive species entering our waters from ships needs to be passed immediately," Inouye said through a spokesman. He declined to comment directly on Boxer's opposition, but said he was "disappointed that we have not yet been able to move this bill out of the Senate."
Under Senate procedures, opposition from a single senator is enough to stop a bill. But Boxer said in an interview that she still hoped for a deal.
"I think we can make this work, and all I care about is the end result," Boxer said. "And I'm here for one reason — I've got to protect the health of the people I represent."
But Inouye doesn't support letting states set their own standards stricter than federal rules, as Boxer insists upon. For the shipping industry and companies working on ballast water technology, that's a nonstarter. They say they need a uniform standard to build to.
Leading environmental groups including the National Wildlife Federation are behind the federal legislation, saying it's important to put strong, national standards in place now. But the Natural Resources Defense Council and others prefer the status quo, especially after environmentalists won a federal appeals court ruling in July that requires the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate ballast water discharge under the Clean Water Act.
The EPA is finalizing a permit that enshrines the Coast Guard procedure already in place — ballast water exchange 200 miles offshore. Supporters of federal legislation say that's much too weak, but opponents view the ruling as a starting point that will allow states to maintain existing programs, and give environmentalists the right to sue for stronger rules going forward.#
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hw4eLR_BLIP-FwN2qHeWOeo4EAGQD92BBJ7G0
Redding Record-Searchlight- 8/3/08
MANTON -- A 42-mile stretch of
In what's been billed as one of the largest cold water anadromous fish restoration efforts in North America, six government agencies will team with a private utility to restore habitat in the creek, a tributary to the
The project will also restore an additional six miles of habitat in
"Given the current salmon emergency, this restoration project demonstrates a commitment by all of the involved
entities to resolving habitat issues directed toward recovery of the various runs of salmon in the
Teaming to implement the project are the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, the California Department of Transportation, the Bay Area Toll Authority, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
The first phase of the project will target the removal or retrofitting of dams within the Battle Creek Hydroelectric Project.
This will include installing fish screens and ladders at the North Battle Creek Feeder and Eagle Canyon Diversion Dams, removing Wildcat Diversion Dam and North Fork conveyance systems, installing an
The project also will increase cold water flows in
The Battle Creek Hydroelectric Project is a small system owned and operated by PG&E and licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. PG&E supports the effort even though it will reduce the production of renewable energy, the release said.
The effort is funded with $42.75 million from various state agencies and another $6.5 million from the Iron Mountain Mine Trustee Council, as facilitated by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Bureau of Reclamation had already received $28 million from the CalFed Bay-Delta Program.
The partners hope to award first-phase construction contracts next year and that the work will be done in 2010. Other partners are being sought for additional phases, which would include installing an Inskip Powerhouse tailrace connector and bypass on the South Fork and installing a fish screen and ladder at the Inskip diversion dam.
Other work would include removing Lower Ripley Creek Feeder, Soap Creek Feeder, the Coleman and South diversion dams and various conveyance systems.#
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/aug/03/battle-creek-improvements-to-aid-fish/
Judge seeks salmon impact report: State, federal agencies must file update by Aug. 29
Capital Ag Press- 8/1/08
By Elizabeth Larson
A federal court judge has ruled that Central Valley Project operations are detrimental to certain fish species, but so far he's made no decisions about what modifications the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation must make to reduce the impact on fish.
Judge Oliver Wanger hasn't instituted any other emergency remedies on behalf of three fish species - winter run chinook, spring run chinook and steelhead.
In a hearing held Wednesday, July 23, Wanger ordered the federal defendant and the California Department of Water Resources to file a status report by Aug. 29 that contains an update on current project operations as well as those proposed through next March, the status of any jeopardy to the fish and an analysis of proposed remedies to protect species and habitat.
"We're evaluating his recommendations right now and putting together our strategy for coming back to the table for a conference with him," Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Pete Lucero said. "We'll be prepared to discuss with the court what we've come up with in the way of meeting his requirements from his bench."
"It's not entirely clear what's going to happen next," said Natural Resources Defense Council spokesman Craig Noble.
However, Noble said, "The status quo is unacceptable."
What will follow has yet to be decided, he said.
Wanger ruled July 18 in
His 118-page decision is part of a case brought by the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations/Institute for Fisheries Resources and the National Resources Defense Council against Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez.
The suit last month had looked at possible changes to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam, with the defendants asking that it either be removed or closed much earlier in the irrigation season. Wanger ruled against both proposals.
He decided having the dam close a month-and-a-half earlier would provide an insignificant benefit to fish, said Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority General Manager Jeff Sutton, who witnessed the proceedings. However, Wanger retained the right to revisit that issue.
Sutton said the canal authority was relieved by Wanger's decisions, which will allow farmers to get their crops through the harvest this year.
"We certainly avoided an economic catastrophe to the region if the decision had been unfavorable," he said.
In a separate case in April, Wanger found that both the State Water Project and Central Valley Project violated federal law by failing to adequately evaluate impacts on the three fish species.
Wanger also threw out the federal government's biological opinion on the 2004 Operations Criteria and Plan for management of the state and federal water project - which increased water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. He ordered that a new opinion must be completed by March 2009.
Kate Poole, one of the Natural Resources Defense Council attorneys working on the case, said the burden is on the federal and state agencies to show they can manage the water projects without harming fish while a new biological opinion is finalized.
She said Wanger appears most concerned with monitoring the operations from now until March 6, 2009, when the opinion is expected.
The plaintiffs have asked for a status conference on Sept. 4 so they can discuss what happens next,
Lucero said that biological opinion will be critical to any decisions the bureau or the state make regarding how best to operate their respective water projects in the future.
Elizabeth Larson is a staff writer based in
http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616&ArticleID=43336&TM=34542.74
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