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State seeks easing of federal Delta smelt protection

Posted by: Maven on May 8, 2009 at 12:44 pm

From the Sacramento Bee:

State water officials have asked the federal government to rewrite rules protecting the Delta smelt, claiming new research suggests the threatened fish may not be as vulnerable to water diversions as previously believed.

The Department of Water Resources asked for the review in a letter sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service late Thursday. The rules to protect the smelt, a native of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, govern both state and federal water delivery operations in the estuary, a source of drinking water for 23 million Californians.

The protective rules were imposed by the wildlife service in December, following a court order that declared previous restrictions inadequate.

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

May 8, 2009 · Filed Under Delta Issues, Wildlife & Endangered Species

Comments

One Response to “State seeks easing of federal Delta smelt protection”

  1. dfb on May 8th, 2009 11:36 pm

    It doesn’t sound like it is as simple as stated. Doesn’t Liberty Island require water and isn’t Liberty Island a small part of the Delta region and isn’t Liberty Island a very recent experiment? That’s at least what the skeptic in me says. What does this say for the rest of the Delta islands? That we need to flood them to restore a healthy, swampy estuary?

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