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Editorial: To the defense of delta smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 11, 2008 at 7:02 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle, this editorial:

There is no surprise in the news that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a proposal to add delta smelt to the list of “endangered” animals. The smelt population has plunged in the years since it was listed as “threatened” in 1993, and most experts say that it will be completely extinct within a few years. The smelt are an indicator of the delta’s (ill) health, and the state is well aware of their plight: A sportfishing group sued the state Department of Water Resources in 2006, claiming that the agency had illegally killed tens of thousands of them in the water pumps that send water to southern California. More recently, a judge ordered the state to shut the pumps down temporarily in order to save the smelt - and with the fish, the health of the delta.

So the latest push from U.S. Fish and Wildlife should come as no surprise to the state’s powerful water interests. And yet, their initial reaction to the proposal has been to continue pushing the same old line: That “other factors” are causing the death of the smelt other than the water pumping that has devastated the delta’s ecosystem. Odds are they will call for yet another “blue ribbon commission” to be set up in order to produce “solutions” for the delta. It would be so thoughtful if the state, and the many interests that have benefitted from the pumping, would spare us the endless hand-wringing and delaying tactics that have allowed them to continue the status quo.

The situation in the delta is dire, and it’s not going away. If it takes federal action to do what should have been done at the state level years ago, then so be it.

Read the full text of this editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

July 11, 2008 · Filed Under Delta smelt, Other Delta Issues