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It's come to this.
A drought approaching epic status in California may force the state to choose one imperiled species of fish over another.
On Thursday, state and federal water agencies petitioned regulators to relax standards for flows of fresh water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, hub for most of California's water supply.
This means holding fresh water in the state's severely depleted reservoirs. Water officials fear there won't be enough cold water behind those dams this fall to trigger and sustain the Central Valley's fall run of iconic chinook salmon.
But the controversial move would leave less fresh water for other fish species breeding in the Delta now – namely the threatened Delta smelt and its cousin, the longfin smelt.
"We pray it won't be the extinction of these species," said Spreck Rosekrans, an analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund. "This is unprecedented."
Smelt and salmon are both already severely depleted. Ironically, the longfin last week was recommended for threatened status under the state Endangered Species Act by the Department of Fish and Game.
The state's water shortage threatens to become a death blow.
Jerry Johns, deputy director at the state Department of Water Resources, said the proposed changes are unlikely to severely affect smelt. He also said similar actions were taken during the 1976-77 drought, one of the worst on record.
"This drought we're in currently is looking pretty dismal to us," Johns said. "So we just want to make sure people understand how bad it could get, and we're taking proactive actions early to make sure we can preserve species later in the year."
But critics say that without adequate freshwater flow now, the agencies are clearly making a choice that may be harmful to smelt.
Reducing freshwater flows could leave smelt without enough habitat to breed successfully. They may also be more likely to die in the massive water export pumps that deliver Delta water to California's parched cities and farms.
Johns said holding water in reserve for salmon also means it may be available for diversion to people during the fall – often the worst of the dry season in California.
But he said that depends on many other variables, and he emphasized that their primary concern is balancing needs of fish species.
The state Water Resources Control Board received the agencies' request Thursday but won't review it until Monday, because the entire department is on furlough today in response to the state budget crisis.
Board spokesman Bill Rukeyser said the board's executive director can approve the request administratively, so it could happen quickly.
As evidence of its determination to respond rapidly to the drought, the water board on Thursday approved an urgent request to transfer 10,300 acre-feet of water from Delta Wetlands Properties, owner of Bouldin Island and Webb Tract in the Delta, to the giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
That transfer requires pumping more water out of the Delta, which could further imperil smelt.
DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation control two massive pump and canal systems in the Delta that divert drinking water to two-thirds of California residents and millions of acres of farmland.
Those diversions, along with water pollution and invasive species, have contributed to the decline of the smelt species.
The two water agencies propose to begin the Delta flow reductions this month. They also warn that further actions may be needed in subsequent months if the drought worsens.
The state's reservoirs, they note in the letter, are at historic lows – lower, even, than during the 1977 drought.
But if winter conditions improve and bring a significant increase in snow, the agencies say they will restore normal outflow conditions.
Their request means salty water from San Francisco Bay could intrude into the Delta even more than is typical during dry years. This may compromise farming in the Delta and water quality for urban agencies that draw directly from the Delta, such as the Contra Costa Water District.
"It's unfortunate, with all the forecast and planning tools that the agencies have available, that we couldn't have foreseen this situation," Rosekrans said. "We're at a situation in California where we've been trying to do too much with a limited resource, and we're caught with an empty bank account."
More...
A drought approaching epic status in California may force the state to choose one imperiled species of fish over another.
On Thursday, state and federal water agencies petitioned regulators to relax standards for flows of fresh water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, hub for most of California's water supply.
This means holding fresh water in the state's severely depleted reservoirs. Water officials fear there won't be enough cold water behind those dams this fall to trigger and sustain the Central Valley's fall run of iconic chinook salmon.
But the controversial move would leave less fresh water for other fish species breeding in the Delta now – namely the threatened Delta smelt and its cousin, the longfin smelt.
"We pray it won't be the extinction of these species," said Spreck Rosekrans, an analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund. "This is unprecedented."
Smelt and salmon are both already severely depleted. Ironically, the longfin last week was recommended for threatened status under the state Endangered Species Act by the Department of Fish and Game.
The state's water shortage threatens to become a death blow.
Jerry Johns, deputy director at the state Department of Water Resources, said the proposed changes are unlikely to severely affect smelt. He also said similar actions were taken during the 1976-77 drought, one of the worst on record.
"This drought we're in currently is looking pretty dismal to us," Johns said. "So we just want to make sure people understand how bad it could get, and we're taking proactive actions early to make sure we can preserve species later in the year."
But critics say that without adequate freshwater flow now, the agencies are clearly making a choice that may be harmful to smelt.
Reducing freshwater flows could leave smelt without enough habitat to breed successfully. They may also be more likely to die in the massive water export pumps that deliver Delta water to California's parched cities and farms.
Johns said holding water in reserve for salmon also means it may be available for diversion to people during the fall – often the worst of the dry season in California.
But he said that depends on many other variables, and he emphasized that their primary concern is balancing needs of fish species.
The state Water Resources Control Board received the agencies' request Thursday but won't review it until Monday, because the entire department is on furlough today in response to the state budget crisis.
Board spokesman Bill Rukeyser said the board's executive director can approve the request administratively, so it could happen quickly.
As evidence of its determination to respond rapidly to the drought, the water board on Thursday approved an urgent request to transfer 10,300 acre-feet of water from Delta Wetlands Properties, owner of Bouldin Island and Webb Tract in the Delta, to the giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
That transfer requires pumping more water out of the Delta, which could further imperil smelt.
DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation control two massive pump and canal systems in the Delta that divert drinking water to two-thirds of California residents and millions of acres of farmland.
Those diversions, along with water pollution and invasive species, have contributed to the decline of the smelt species.
The two water agencies propose to begin the Delta flow reductions this month. They also warn that further actions may be needed in subsequent months if the drought worsens.
The state's reservoirs, they note in the letter, are at historic lows – lower, even, than during the 1977 drought.
But if winter conditions improve and bring a significant increase in snow, the agencies say they will restore normal outflow conditions.
Their request means salty water from San Francisco Bay could intrude into the Delta even more than is typical during dry years. This may compromise farming in the Delta and water quality for urban agencies that draw directly from the Delta, such as the Contra Costa Water District.
"It's unfortunate, with all the forecast and planning tools that the agencies have available, that we couldn't have foreseen this situation," Rosekrans said. "We're at a situation in California where we've been trying to do too much with a limited resource, and we're caught with an empty bank account."
More...
