This is just one post in the Longfin Smelt Category

Water supplies may drop for California cities & farms as state extends protections for longfin smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2008 at 7:51 am

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

California fish and wildlife managers on Friday approved new rules that could severely restrict pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect a native fish, triggering protests from farmers and cities reeling already from water shortages.

The Fish and Game Commission voted 3-0 to enact emergency regulations that may scale back water pumping from December through February to safeguard the longfin smelt, considered a bellwether species for the estuary.

“Clearly as a society we haven’t erred on the side of the fish in the past; we’ve erred on the side of the water supply,” said Commissioner Michael Sutton. “We have to come down on the side of the fish. If we don’t take care of these ecosystems, they’re not going to yield us the services for much longer.”

Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.

The Stockton Record puts it into perspective:

This is how severe California’s water and fish crises have become: If surveyors find as few as six longfin smelt near the Delta export pumps this winter, water deliveries to farms and cities throughout the state could be cut by 1.1 million acre-feet - enough water to serve more than 1 million families for a year.

That was said to be the worst-case scenario Friday after the California Fish and Game Commission voted to extend protections for the longfin smelt. Combined with drought and court-imposed water restrictions, the action could lead to “a water supply and delivery crisis the likes of which Californians have not seen in decades,” said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources.

But Fish and Game officials said the 1.1 million acre-foot cut cited by Water Resources is unlikely. “Nothing is automatic,” said Fish and Game attorney Ann Malcolm. The plan “requires the exercise an informed judgment after dealing with both science and policymakers.”

The debate illustrates how close some fish species are to extinction - every single longfin smelt is significant, one Fish and Game expert said Friday - and how close the state’s water system is to buckling under the weight of the finger-length longfin smelt and its close cousin, the Delta smelt.