This is just one post in the Judge Wanger delta smelt ruling Category

Stop handing Delta water rules to activists, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 27, 2008 at 10:48 am

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, this editorial, which begins by reviewing the restrictions placed on Delta water exports due to the Delta smelt and now the longfin smelt:

… the impact on smelt of the restrictions so far? Zero. In the last five years, eight smelt were caught in the pumps. The regulations have saved none. Others suspect other culprits in the smelt’s decline, such as pollutants, invasive species and drought.

Only the pumps, however, offer the huge, adverse impacts on the water supply for 25 million residents.

Just how adverse is that impact? Between increasingly onerous smelt rules and continuing drought, the state Department of Water Resources projects that in 2009 wholesale water agencies may get as little as 15 percent of the water they need. Even record snowmelt in the Rockies won’t help, since the State Water Project can’t deliver it.

What would help? A new official attitude that comes right out of a state Supreme Court ruling and recognizes, as Director Don Koch of the Department of Fish and Game put it, “the importance of various agencies’ responsibilities to protect both humans and fish.”

Also at work is the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, a move to address all possible hazards to Delta wildlife’s overall health, including a system to convey water for people around instead of through the Delta. A sizable coalition led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and water and wildlife agencies will run up against the activists and their strident opposition to the dual duty for the Delta.

At least 25 million Californians north and south have all the reason they need to encourage the success of the coalition’s efforts.

Read the full text of this editorial from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.

November 27, 2008 · Filed Under Judge Wanger delta smelt ruling