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Delta fish crisis covered by High County News

Posted by: Maven on January 17, 2008 at 11:19 pm

From High Country News:

Fish populations continue to tank in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, according to figures released last week by the California Department of Fish and Game. After tossing the trawl nets and tallying the numbers, the agency found a record low population of longfin smelt in the Pacific Coast’s largest estuary. Populations of Sacramento splittail, American shad, striped bass and the threatened Delta smelt also neared their lowest since the annual fall survey began in 1967.

sac-river-water-intake-by-1flatworld.jpg“These data are just one more clear indication that the overall ecosystem of the Delta is in dire straits,” says Christina Swanson, senior scientist at The Bay Institute, a nonprofit that protects the San Francisco Bay. “Longfin and Delta smelt are teetering on the brink of extinction. They could be gone next year.”

The article notes the amount of water exported from the Delta to support California’s agriculture, but also notes that water exports are not the only problem:

“Clearly these data are confirming that we regularly take too much water out of the Delta and rivers,” says Swanson. The Bay Institute recommends that the state consider higher water efficiency, better management of groundwater, and water recycling to ease Delta demand.

Other problems threaten the Delta’s fish as well. Non-native species, such as the overbite clam, tend to out-compete natives and create less suitable habitat for them. Additionally, the water contains unhealthy levels of herbicides and pesticides from upstream agriculture and ammonia from sewage.

Habitat loss is another important factor in the Delta. Over the past 150 years, most of its marshes and waters have been leveed, drained and rerouted for agricultural and urban development.

To read the full text of this story from High County News, click here. The page also has many links to previous High Country News articles on Delta issues.

Picture of Sacramento River Water Intake by flickr photographer 1flatworld. Click on the picture to visit the flickr website and see more great pictures for this & other flickr photographers.

January 17, 2008 · Filed Under Delta Issues

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