More Delta water restrictions expected

SACRAMENTO
June 4, 2009 12:06pm

The National Marine Fisheries Service has ruled that the operation of both the federal and state water projects in California are contributing to the possible extinction of salmon, sturgeon, southern resident killer whale, and steelhead.

In a briefing for Congressional offices held earlier Thursday, NMFS announced exports from the Delta would be reduced 330,000 acre feet.

The state has an even grimmer view.

“The new opinion, which could reduce Delta export on average by about 300,000 to 500,000 acre feet, further chips away at our ability to provide a reliable water supply for California,” says Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources.

The National Marine Fisheries Service calculates that its biological opinion will reduce by 5 percent to 7 percent combined the amount of water state and federal projects will be able to deliver from the Delta to the San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast and Southern California.

DWR’s initial estimates show the average year impacts closer to 10 percent. That is in addition to current pumping restrictions imposed by biological opinions to protect the Delta smelt and other species.

"Today we are one significant step closer to importing foreign produce to feed the United States,” says U.S. Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced. “We cannot solve the challenges of the Delta ecosystem by continuing to curtail pumping. This biological opinion is significantly skewed because it only examines the pumps as a single factor in the issues surrounding the Delta ecosystem."

Mr. Cardoza calls for a study that examines all of the various issues affecting the Delta, such as non-native fish that are predators of endangered species, climate change, and pollution such as discharged wastewater.

“This decision is unwise, and will have very serious implications for Valley farmers and communities,” says U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno. “Factors leading to the decline of the Delta can be attributed to a variety of factors, including tertiary treatment from sewage facilities in the Sacramento and Stockton area which cause ammonia to drain into the Delta, over 1,600 private pumps in the Delta diverting water without screens, non-point source pollution from the surrounding urban areas, striped bass and other invasive species."

But the Environmental Defense Fund says Thursday's Fisheries opinion was justified.

"The pumping restrictions … will still allow significant pumping and exports from the Delta," it says. "Combined federal and state water pumping out of the Bay-Delta reached all time highs in recent years. At the same time, Chinook salmon and other delta fish have crashed as a result of increased water exports, combined with water pollution from toxic chemicals and invasive species that compete with native fish."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he will seek a meeting with Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to discuss the issue.

“This federal biological opinion puts fish above the needs of millions of Californians and the health and security of the world’s eighth largest economy," Mr. Schwarzenegger says.

"The piling on of one federal court decision after another in a species-by-species approach is killing our economy and undermining the integrity of the Endangered Species Act," he says.

The Westlands Water District, one of the largest users of irrigation water pumped from the Delta, says it intends to join with other public water agencies in bringing a lawsuit to have the Fisheries opinion set aside and "to compel the National Marine Fisheries Service to go back and perform the careful analysis it should have done to assess the potential harm this plan could do to public health and safety, communities and the environment."

Timothy Brick, chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, says the "species-by-species approach to managing the Delta is rapidly leading to a perpetual state of water shortages for much of California.

"Our water system relies on capturing adequate supplies in wet years in order to survive the inevitable dry cycles."

"Every time we get hit with new cutbacks, it's like closing another lane on the water supply freeway. Pretty soon, the only way we'll be able to move water will be by helicopter," says Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors.

"These are supposed to be reasonable and prudent actions, but we're skeptical they actually adhere to those guidelines."