Rev ‘em up: With delta smelt moved, pumps are a go, plus a guide to smelt terminology

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 19, 2010 at 8:51 am

From the Los Angeles Times Greenspace blog:

“The delta smelt have moved, allowing water managers to turn up — at least for now — the federal pumps that draw water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Only one smelt has been killed at the pumps in the south delta since Feb. 10, and biologists say most of the smelt are in the north delta now, reducing chances that they will be sucked into the pumps. … “

SMELT EXTRA: X2? Turbidity? PEI? Read all about smelt terminology from Infospigot by clicking here.

February 19, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Dan Bacher: Judge Wanger denies TRO in Delta smelt case

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 11, 2010 at 8:34 am

From Dan Bacher, this commentary:

“Thanks to the efforts of attorneys from NRDC, EarthJustice and the federal government, the request by Westlands Water District and other water agencies for a temporary restraining order (TRO) of Old and Middle River (OMR) flow restrictions necessary to protect Delta smelt was denied today (Wednesday) by Federal Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno.

“OMR flows are a measure of whether the San Joaquin is flowing towards the sea or towards the Delta pumps,” said Jonathan Rosenfield, Ph.D. Conservation Biologist with the Bay Institute and president of the Salmon Aid Festival (http://www.salmonaid.org). “Thus, those restrictions go into effect (OMR (reverse) flows limited to -4,000 cfs).

Giving new definition to “ironic,” the Delta smelt flow restrictions were triggered by recent high entrainment of Delta smelt in the Delta pumps that followed Wanger’s suspension of OMR flow restrictions. … “

February 11, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Wednesday’s top of the scroll: Feds reduce Calif. water pumping to protect fish; Request for TRO filed

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 10, 2010 at 8:33 am

From the Fresno Bee:

“The federal government said Tuesday it will reduce pumping in the delta this week because a threatened fish could be killed by the equipment, a decision that follows two years of limited deliveries that left fallowed fields across the Central Valley.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation intends to shut off one of its five pumps beginning Thursday because adult delta smelt swam into the area, said bureau spokesman Pete Lucero.

The restrictions to protect the smelt, a finger-sized fish, primarily affect Central Valley farmers and could last until June 30.

The federal government had been pumping at full capacity since Saturday. That was the day after a federal court judge lifted separate federal pumping restrictions that had been in place to protect salmon. … “

Pumps on, pumps off, it’s hard to keep track … Alex Brietler has more on the action:

” … The pumping shutdown will begin after 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to court documents filed by Ignacia S. Moreno, U.S. assistant attorney general.

This is “necessary for the Central Valley Project and State Water Project operations to avoid jeopardizing the continued existence of the delta smelt and adversely modifying its critical habitat,” the document says.

Attorneys for the water users promptly requested a restraining order and asked that a hearing be held in Judge Wanger’s courtroom on Wednesday. The water users say they are in “immediate danger of irreparable harm.” Their request says that less than one week ago, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife attorney told the court that the smelt had turned left into the north part of the Delta and were out of the influence of the south-Delta pumps. … “

Read this post from Alex Brietler on his blog by clicking here.

But if you really want lots of details, check out this post from the Bay-Delta blog:

” … on February 8, Fish and Wildlife determined that negative OMR flows had to be reduced anyway — but now it was to protect the delta smelt, in accordance with Fish and Wildlife’s own biological opinion. FWS issued a 48-hour Notice of Implementation that would take effect by 5:00 p.m. on February 10, thereby reducing Delta pumping activity in spite of February 5 TRO.

But of course the story cannot end there. For unless Wanger also enjoins implementation of the FWS BiOp as he did the NMFS BiOp, Westlands and other contractors will have substantially lost out on the benefit of their favorable February 5 ruling — particularly because SLDMWA has the option of extending the 14-day TRO for an additional 14 days, if it could show that the extension would not jeopardize fish or critical habitat. And sure enough, SLDMWA has indeed filed a motion for a TRO against the FWS BiOp (PDF), specifically the part of the RPA that Fish and Wildlife plans to implement (Component 1, Action 2). This is actually the second time the contractors have sought a TRO against this BiOp, but it was denied the first time because Component 1 had not actually been implemented. Now that FWS has given notice that Component 1 will be implemented after 5:00 p.m. on February 10, the contractors will take another crack at it. … “

Read this post from the Bay-Delta blog by clicking here.

This story’s changing fast, so stay tuned… I’ll try and post any developments today as promptly as I can….

February 10, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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This just in … New delta pumping cutbacks proposed

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 9, 2010 at 2:22 pm

From the Fresno Bee:

“The federal government today proposed a new set of water pumping restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, just four days after west-side farmers hailed a court ruling that temporarily halted a similar cutback.

The latest restrictions are being triggered by the endangered delta smelt, which are now being found near the massive delta pumps that send water to west-side agriculture and to millions of urban users from the East Bay to Southern California.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger put a two-week hold on pumping restrictions that are part of a controversial management plan for endangered winter-run salmon.

Now, the coalition of agricultural and urban water users that sought the temporary hold for the salmon will seek a similar order for the smelt. Wanger has scheduled a hearing on their request for Wednesday. … “

Here’s the document requesting the Temporary Restraining Order, courtesy of ag leader’s twitter feed.

February 9, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Bay-Delta blog: Here come the Delta smelt restrictions

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 9, 2010 at 8:46 am

The Bay-Delta blog notes that while Judge Wanger may have issued a temporary restraining order for implementing the salmon bi-op, he did not do so for the Delta smelt bi-op:

” … a parallel process has been playing out with the delta smelt. The 2008 BiOp for the pelagic delta smelt was prepared by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Both BiOps issued jeopardy determinations and include reasonable and prudent alternatives (RPAs). The RPAs describe the action items that should be carried out to preserve species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Fish & Wildlife has announced the need to implement one of these RPA measures, and just issued a 48-hour Notice of Implementation (PDF) to that effect. In particular, FWS plans to implement Component 1, Action 2 of the RPA after 5:00 p.m. on February 10, 2010.

The trigger for this action is that FWS has observed an uptick in the salvage of delta smelt. The negative Old & Middle River (OMR) flows may be decreased to protect the fish. Reduction measures of this sort are generally disliked by Westlands Water District because they restrict pumping and result in decreased exports from the Delta. … “

Continue reading this post from the Bay-Delta blog by clicking here.

February 9, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Kate Poole rebuttal to Pacific Legal Foundation: The law is powerful protection against erratic political winds

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 28, 2010 at 8:51 am

From Kate Poole at the NRDC Switchboard blog:

“In his January 25th post, an attorney for the ultra-right wing Pacific Legal Foundation accused my colleague of ignoring the Constitution, claiming that the water cutbacks to protect California’s threatened native fish are “devoid of constitutional authority.” Interesting thought – but one that has been rejected by every federal court that has heard this refrain from PLF before, and there have been many.

While PLF tries to cloak its arguments in constitutional armor (who’s not for the Constitution?), their efforts to attack protections for the crashing Bay-Delta estuary would, in fact, radically undermine longstanding constitutional protections, statutory law (laws made by our elected representatives in Congress), and precedent (law as interpreted by numerous judges over time). Not only do their arguments lack foundation in fact, but they lack grounding in the law.

PLF argues that “the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has no business involving itself with a fish that has no connection to interstate commerce.” The sheer irony of this statement is astounding from an organization that claims that these same fish are causing economic havoc on the entire nation’s food supply that “go[es] far beyond California.” … “

Continue reading this rebuttal commentary from Kate Poole at the NRDC Switchboard blog by clicking here.

January 28, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt, Water & Wildlife

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Delta smelt rules face new challenge in court

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 26, 2010 at 8:30 am

From the Fresno Bee:

“SACRAMENTO — Already thwarted by a Fresno judge, a conservative legal organization is pressing its case that federal rules to protect delta smelt are unconstitutional.

In an appeal filed Monday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on behalf of Valley farms, the Pacific Legal Foundation argues that the government cannot enact the regulations because smelt are not involved in interstate commerce. … “

January 26, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Pacific Legal Foundation asks ninth circuit to strike down Delta smelt regulations that worsen drought

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 26, 2010 at 8:28 am

From the Pacific Legal Foundation:

“In an appeal filed today by attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is being asked to strike down federal Delta smelt regulations that have led to devastating cutbacks on water pumping from the Delta to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. The pumping reductions amount to a “regulatory drought” that exacerbates the water shortages that are already plaguing much of the state, according to PLF. The case is Stewart & Jasper Orchards, et. al. v. Salazar.

Pacific Legal Foundation is the nation’s leading litigator for property rights and a balanced approach to environmental regulations. In the Delta smelt litigation, PLF attorneys represent three San Joaquin Valley farmers who have been hard hit by the water cutbacks caused by federal Delta smelt regulations.

The pumping cutbacks, which are idling farmland, driving up unemployment, reducing our safe food supply, and raising water rates, have been imposed as part of a plan to help the Delta smelt, which is designated as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). But PLF’s lawsuit says the federal government had no constitutional authority to put the Delta smelt on the ESA list, and therefore federal officials are barred from ordering pumping cutbacks as part of a regulatory scheme for the Delta smelt.

“We are asking the Ninth Circuit to put the brakes on out-of-control federal bureaucracies that are depriving farms and communities of the most vital resource – water,” said PLF Attorney Damien Schiff. “The court should reassert basic constitutional restraints on federal power. The Delta smelt has no role in interstate commerce, so federal regulators have no authority to issue any edicts about the Delta smelt, let alone draconian water-pumping reductions that threaten our economy and our food security.” … “

January 26, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Delta smelt regulations being appealed

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 25, 2010 at 8:15 am

From Fresno’s Channel 30 KFSN:

” … On Monday, Pacific Legal Foundation, a firm representing farmers like Ferguson, will file an appeal to the ninth circuit court, challenging federal Delta Smelt regulations.

The announcement was made at a press conference Sunday on the UC-Davis campus, where the National Academy of Sciences panel is meeting this week to discuss the scientific basis behind those regulations.

“We are going to be asking in our appeal to the ninth circuit that these restrictions be eliminated because they are not just bad, they are not just inhumane, but they’re unconstitutional.”

While Ferguson and others on the West Side remain hopeful, environmentalists say a new law suit won’t change rules that are already in place.

“This side that’s filing the lawsuit, you know they just don’t want to recognize that the delta estuary and its fish are important. They want to take every last drop if they could.” … “

January 25, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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PLF asks Ninth Circuit to invalidate delta smelt restrictions

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 25, 2010 at 8:13 am

From the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty Blog:

“Today, Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys will file an appeal to the Ninth Circuit, asking the court to invalidate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s delta smelt water cutbacks as unconstitutional. The appeal will be filed not only on behalf of PLF’s farming clients (Stewart & Jasper Orchards, Arroyo Farms, and King Pistachio Grove), but also on behalf of everyone in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California who are suffering as a result of the regulatory drought.

The government’s delta smelt water cutbacks are just the latest example of the Endangered Species Act being used to put fish and other animal species ahead of people. But no matter the draconian and unnecessary power of this law, the Endangered Species Act does not trump the U.S. Constitution. … “

January 25, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Family Farm Alliance: Scrambling for cover on smelt – Federal fish agency refuses to answer any questions

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 13, 2010 at 8:52 am

From Earth Times:

“FRESNO, Calif. – (Business Wire) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rules cutting off water deliveries to protect the delta smelt have cost California tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in ruined crops and fallowed fields. Those restrictions aren’t helping the smelt; recent surveys show their numbers continue to fall. And now the agency is refusing to answer questions about whether there was any scientific basis for those restrictions in the first place.

As a result, the Family Farm Alliance announced today that it is seeking an order from the court to compel the agency to follow its own regulations: http://familyfarmalliance.clubwizard.com/IMUpload/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Salazar%20Ltr%20Final%2010%20January%202010.doc.pdf

“The court has already determined that FWS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by adopting these restrictions without conducting an environmental impact analysis of the extraordinary harm they are doing to other endangered species and to the human environment,” said Dan Keppen, Executive Director of the Alliance. “The agency has twice failed to perform the kind of independent review of these regulations that federal laws require. And now they’re ducking questions about why the data on delta smelt don’t support the limits on water deliveries that they have imposed.” … “

January 13, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Congressman Gary Miller: California on the hook for a fish

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 5, 2010 at 7:51 am

From U. S. Congressman Gary Miller in the O. C. Register, this commentary:

“Californians are still waiting for Congress or the Obama administration to end the man-made drought plaguing the Golden State. It has been more than two years since Congress was first asked to step in and end this needless calamity.

California water officials recently issued their bleakest initial water-supply forecast in state history – allocations in 2010 of 5 percent of requested supplies. Our state’s grim water crisis is largely due to limited water supplies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta because of Endangered Species Act protections for the California Delta smelt, a 3-inch bait fish.

In 2008, a court ruling found that pumps in the Delta may be harming the Delta smelt by reversing the direction of flow in the Delta during the fishes’ spawning and early juvenile phase. Subsequently, interim restrictions on pumping are in place between late December and June each year until California finds a solution. … “

January 5, 2010 · Filed Under Delta smelt, Water & Wildlife

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Smelt Suit: Water users take their case to the courts

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 20, 2009 at 8:50 am

From CFS Engineering:

“For nearly three decades, Westlands Water District received almost 100 percent of its water allocation from the federal Central Valley Project. Water allocations began to decrease in 1992, thanks to environmental legislation, but there was still enough to grow crops and make a living. However, in February the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the Central Valley Project, announced farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would receive no water. In the end, residents received a drastically reduced amount.

Westlands, which receives all of its water from the CVP, serves about 50,000 people in western Fresno and Kings counties, most of whom depend on agriculture. In March, Westlands and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, an organization that represents CVP water users and of which Westlands is a member, sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The water agencies sued the federal government over a document the Fish and Wildlife Service released in December 2008. The biological opinion examined the effects of operating the CVP and the State Water Project, the state’s two main water systems, on Delta smelt, a threatened fish under the federal Endangered Species Act. The act requires Fish and Wildlife to produce a biological opinion if a federal project could jeopardize an endangered species’ existence. … “

December 20, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Judge Wanger rules that Bureau of Reclamation violated NEPA in accepting and implementing U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion on Delta smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 9, 2009 at 8:47 am

From Brian D. Poulsen of Somach Simmons & Dunn:

“On November 13, 2009, Judge Oliver Wanger of the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, invalidated the Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation) decision to accept and implement the United States Fish & Wildlife Service’s (Service) December 15, 2008 biological opinion (BiOp) addressing the impact of coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) (collectively, Projects) on the threatened delta smelt, and its corresponding Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA). The Court ruled that Reclamation failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq. (NEPA), by provisionally accepting and implementing the BiOp and RPA without first completing an environmental impact statement (EIS) to consider significant effects on the human environment.

Background

In 2005, the Service issued a biological opinion on the effects of the coordinated operations of the Projects on the threatened delta smelt, wherein it found that the operations of the Projects would not jeopardize the continued existence of the smelt. Environmental groups subsequently challenged that opinion. On May 25, 2007, Judge Wanger ruled that the opinion failed to analyze significant information, including the smelt’s total population numbers, and that such a failing rendered the Service’s “no jeopardy” finding arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law. Consequently, Judge Wanger ordered the Service to conduct a new biological opinion. Pursuant to that order, the Service issued the BiOp at issue in this litigation on December 15, 2009. That BiOp found that planned coordinated Project operations would jeopardize the continued existence of the delta smelt and/or adversely modify its critical habitat. … “

December 9, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Afternoon update: Judge says feds must consider impacts of smelt plan

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 16, 2009 at 4:51 pm

From the Silicon Valley Mercury News:

“FRESNO, Calif.—A federal judge says the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation should have considered the environmental impacts before moving forward with a plan to protect a threatened California fish species.

The Fish and Wildlife Service rewrote its rules governing the management of the delta smelt last year. The plan caused cutbacks in the amount of freshwater that could be pumped to farms and cities south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. … “

Read more from the Silicon Valley Mercury News by clicking here.

November 16, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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2 new lawsuits to save S.F. Bay-delta smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2009 at 10:05 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Two environmental groups sued the federal government Friday seeking greater habitat protections for two San Francisco Bay-delta fish species, one of them the delta smelt, a small but important creature in California’s water wars.

One lawsuit asks a federal judge in Sacramento to require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to respond to the groups’ March 2006 request to change the delta smelt’s status from “threatened” to “endangered.” That action would somewhat tighten federal standards for development or water-use permits.

A second suit, filed in San Francisco, challenges the federal agency’s decision in April to deny protected status to the bay-delta population of the longfin smelt. The agency said the local population is not a distinct group entitled to protection because some of the fish migrate up the coast to breed with other longfin, a conclusion the environmental groups called a reversal of the government’s longtime position. …”

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

November 15, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt, Longfin Smelt

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Commentary: Little fish takes big bite; are you paying a “Delta smelt tax” yet?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 15, 2009 at 9:53 am

From the Orange County Register, this commentary by Harold Johnson, attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation:

“Are you paying a “Delta smelt tax” yet?

You are, or might be before long, if you live in one of the 28 Orange County cities or water districts with ties to Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District, which gets water, in part, from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The Delta smelt is a pinky-size fish listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. In a controversial strategy to keep the smelt’s numbers from evaporating, federal officials ordered dramatic cutbacks in the pumping of water from the Delta to central and Southern California.

Pumping less means upping water rates for millions of Californians – hence, a Delta smelt “tax.”

“The [feds'] environmental decision has impacted the flow of water to Southern California by approximately 35 percent,” Garden Grove water services manager David Entsminger told the Register’s Teri Sforza in June. Garden Grove residents’ water rates went up 19.7 percent at the beginning of September. …”

Read more of Harold Johnson’s commentary by clicking here.

November 15, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Flash Report: Meg Whitman protects the Delta smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 10, 2009 at 7:48 am

From the Flash Report:

“On Saturday, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Meg Whitman’s personal foundation has donated thousands of dollars to protect the delta smelt – a revelation that seriously calls into question Whitman’s credibility on water issues and her credibility with voters in the Central Valley.

In 2007, Whitman donated $100,000 to the Environmental Defense Fund’s Center for California Rivers and Deltas. The Environmental Defense Fund is a liberal group that proudly advocates for the rights of the Delta Smelt over the rights of our farmers in the Central Valley.

A donation to the Environmental Defense Fund is bad enough, but directly contributing to the EDF’s main efforts to steal water away from the Central Valley is unacceptable for a supposed “Republican” running for Governor. … “

Read more from the Flash Report by clicking here.

November 10, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Is the Pacific Legal Foundation’s challenge to the Delta smelt regulations headed to the Supreme Court?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 4, 2009 at 1:21 pm

From the Pacific Legal Foundation:

“Pacific Legal Foundation is pursuing a constitutionally based legal challenge to the Delta smelt regulations that are starving farms and communities of water in the San Joaquin Valley.

Watch PLF Litigation Director explain why this might ultimately be a case for the U.S. Supreme Court.

November 4, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Delta smelt remains on the brink of extinction

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 23, 2009 at 11:59 am

From ABC affiliate KFSN Channel 30, Fresno:

October 23, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Thursday’s top of the scroll: Delta smelt still close to extinction, surveys show

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 22, 2009 at 10:25 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

“New surveys this summer of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s tiny smelt show the fish remains close to extinction, prompting questions about whether cutbacks in water pumping to protect the species did any good.

The Delta smelt population this summer fell back to the historic low set in 2005, and is now well below high points recorded in the late 1970s.

Controversial new federal rules this year reduced water diversions from the Delta on behalf of the fish. That hurt the region’s farm business, which was already struggling with another year of drought.

Many observers had hoped pumping cutbacks would help the Delta smelt rebound.

But the latest population data, obtained by The Bee on Wednesday, suggest that one single action, in just one year, doesn’t save a species. …”

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

October 22, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Science-based group sues Fish & Wildlife Service for failing to make decision on uplisting the declining Delta smelt population

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 17, 2009 at 9:29 am

From YubaNet.com, this press release from the Council for Endangered Species Reliability:

“Warning that the federal government is mismanaging the delta smelt into extinction, the Council for Endangered Species Act Reliability (CESAR), a nonprofit public interest group, filed suit today to compel the United State Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to declare these tiny, embattled fish an endangered species with all of the protections that federal law provides. At present, delta smelt are only listed as a threatened species.

“There is no question that the smelt are in desperate need of help,” said Craig Manson, Executive Director of CESAR, who has studied the problem. “But for more than two years, USFWS has been sitting on a petition that would extend to the smelt the full range of protections that good science shows they need.”

USFWS’s failure to act on the petition is itself a violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Center for Biological Diversity, Bay Institute, and Natural Resources Defense Council jointly petitioned to have the smelt declared an endangered species on March 8, 2006. ESA requires the government to respond within 90 days, but instead, the government delayed taking any action until July 10, 2008, when it agreed that an endangered species listing “may be warranted” for the smelt. …”

Read more from YubaNet.com by clicking here.

October 17, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Pacifc Legal Foundation: Thoughts on delta smelt Commerce Clause challenge

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 14, 2009 at 8:54 am

From the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty Blog:

“Last week a federal district in Fresno rejected Pacific Legal Foundation’s constitutional challenge to the federal government’s devastating delta smelt water restrictions. Even though the delta smelt is a noncommercial species that is found only in California, the court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may regulate the smelt under the Commerce Clause. According to the court, in enacting the Endangered Species Act, “Congress had a rational basis for believing that requiring federal agencies to evaluate the impacts of planned activities on all threatened or endangered species, regardless of their geographic range, was the most effective way to protect the commercial benefits of biodiversity.”

We’re obviously disappointed with the decision, but not discouraged. We think the district court applied incorrect legal standards, making its decision ripe for appeal. We also believe that the biodiversity rationale relied upon by the court offers no limit to the power of the federal government. …”

Read more from the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty Blog by clicking here.

October 14, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Pacific Legal Foundation: Delta smelt update – oral argument recap

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 7, 2009 at 7:28 am

From the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty Blog:

“Last week in Fresno, a federal district court heard oral arguments concerning issues related to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s delta smelt biological opinion. One important matter heard by the court was Pacific Legal Foundation’s constitutional cause of action — given that the delta smelt is found only in California and has no commercial value, we don’t believe that the federal government may use its interstate commerce power to impose any sort of delta smelt regulations.

Unfortunately, the court tentatively declined to adopt our argument. We will have to wait for the court’s final decision before determining whether an appeal to the Ninth Circuit is appropriate. …”

More from the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty Blog by clicking here.

October 7, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Michael Fitzgerald: When it comes to Valley ag, Sean Hannity is all wet

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 23, 2009 at 7:50 am

From Record columnist Michael Fitzgerald:

“Sean Hannity parachuted into the San Joaquin Valley last week to broadcast another diatribe about the “man-made drought.” And the maleficent minnow to blame for it.

Why, a meaningless guppy, in cahoots with environmentalists, and an activist judge – wackos who put fish before people – aided and abetted by Barack Hussein Obama, are turning the Valley into a Dust Bowl and God-fearing farmers into the Joads. “To defend this little 2-inch Delta smelt fish,” Hannity marveled, they have decided that the farmers come second and the Delta smelt comes first!”

To my astonishment, the “fish vs. man” hoax has hardened into an article of faith on the right.

Could anybody really believe the state’s establishment gob-smacked its most politically powerful interests in arbitrary defense of a smelt? …”

Read more of Michael Fitzgerald’s column by clicking here.

September 23, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Delta smelt protection project starts

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 19, 2009 at 7:28 am

From the Contra Costa Times:

“Work started this week on a project designed to protect an endangered Delta fish and in the process ensure that people and businesses throughout Contra Costa County have a consistent water supply.

Crews on Wednesday began clearing vegetation from around a river inlet near Delta Road and Tule Lane in Knightsen, where Contra Costa Water District will install a large screen to prevent Delta smelt from being sucked into its pumps.

Delta smelt is considered an “indicator species,” meaning its numbers reflect the overall health of other fish species in the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. The state’s biannual surveys of fish populations show that this native species is in greater peril than ever because of a variety of factors.

Contra Costa Water District pumps water from the southern Delta to approximately 550,000 residential and industrial customers in an area that stretches from Brentwood to Concord and Pleasant Hill, as well as parts of Walnut Creek and Martinez. …”

Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.

September 19, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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NRDC responds to WSJ editorial: Red herrings and Delta smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 3, 2009 at 8:26 am

From Doug Obegi at the NRDC’s Switchboard blog, this rebuttal to yesterday’s Wall Street Journal editorial:

“Today’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal tries to blame all of the Central Valley’s woes on the tiny delta smelt, and on a lawsuit by NRDC, in order to perpetuate myths about the impacts of protecting endangered species in the Bay Delta.

As with all good myths, it starts with a grain of truth – and the truth is, there are real problems in the Central Valley. Some of these problems have been ignored for years: farm workers and disadvantaged communities that lack access to safe drinking water and safe working conditions, and unemployment levels in many Central Valley communities that are far worse than the rest of the State – even in rare wet years when farmers get 100% of their allocations. Those problems have been exacerbated by more recent events – the collapse in dairy prices, the foreclosure crisis and job losses in the construction industry, the global recession, and the past three years of drought.

But rather than addressing the many aspects of these all too real problems, the Journal wants to blame everything on a tiny fish in order to fan the flames of the right wing fantasy of overturning the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Yet the Journal’s argument just doesn’t hold water. …”

Find why Doug Obegi thinks so in the rest of this blog post by clicking here.

September 3, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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The Buzz: Fresno fundraiser offers endangered smelt on menu

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 2, 2009 at 6:43 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

“A Republican running for a Fresno-area Assembly seat next year is offering a Delta delicacy of sorts at an upcoming fundraiser. An invitation from Brandon Shoemaker, at right, for an Oct. 3 feed promises Delta smelt appetizers with a robust meal featuring barbecued beef. …”

More from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

September 2, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Editorial asks, where’s the effort from our U.S. senators when it comes to taking a stand in opposition to the harm that the Delta smelt debacle has created?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 20, 2009 at 9:17 am

From the Western Farm Press:

“Around this time last year this column often provided updates on the alfalfa hay market. We’ve been lax in reporting on the dismal hay market this year, but there’s a larger issue that is troubling and also reveals who stands up for agriculture and our food supply, and who favors Delta smelt over people.

As mentioned last month, Republican Congressman George Radanovich of Mariposa warned that we’ll be buying “gas and food from Hugo Chavez” in Venezuela if the current situation in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta continues. Radanovich is one of several congressmen in the San Joaquin Valley who are pushing for increased water deliveries.

Radanovich’s comment referring to restrictions on water operations came to mind when we recently read about California’s two U.S. senators stepping up to defend a Marin County oyster bed company that was battling the U.S. National Park Service. To their credit Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer stood up for a relatively small company fighting to stay in business. The circumstances involved are somewhat similar to the Delta fiasco where a biological opinion is being vigorously challenged.

But, where’s the effort from our U.S. senators when it comes to taking a stand in opposition to the harm that the Delta smelt debacle has created. It’s puzzling in view of the millions in lost revenues and unemployment rates as high as 40 percent in some San Joaquin Valley towns. It’s something that should have the entire California congressional delegation up in arms. …”

Read more from the Western Farm Press by clicking here.

August 20, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Straight talk on the smelt from the Pacific Legal Foundation

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 7, 2009 at 6:29 am

From the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty blog:

“PLF attorney Damien M. Schiff will be appearing on Libertarian Counterpoint tonight, 8/6, at 8:00 PM and again next Thursday, 8/13, at 8:00 PM. On the 8/13 show he will be discussing the Delta smelt case. These shows stream live at www.accesssacramento.org, click on channel 17. Replays are at noon on 8/7 and 8/14 and 4:00 AM on 8/8 and 8/15.”

August 7, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Family Farm Alliance sues feds over smelt decision; Complaint says the government has failed to divulge data

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 17, 2009 at 7:19 am

From the Capital Press:

The Family Farm Alliance has sued the federal government over its handling of pumping restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

It’s the first time in the alliance’s two-decade history that the organization has litigated. The organization, which represents farm-water interests in 17 western states, sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 10, saying the agency lacks scientific backing for its order last year to cut Delta pumping. The cuts were ordered in a biological opinion issued in December. They reduced pumping to protect the Delta smelt, which are often sucked into the massive state and federal pumps situated in the south Delta.

FFA’s complaint says the feds have repeatedly failed to divulge the full scientific data supporting the order. The agency skipped the pier-review process required by the National Environmental Policy Act, FFA charges. “We’ve been corresponding with the agencies trying to get answers, and not getting answers,” said Brenda Davis, a attorney representing FFA. “Basically, we’ve been stonewalled. That data needs to be accessible to others. That’s what the law requires.”

Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here.

July 17, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Another group files suit over Delta smelt order

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 15, 2009 at 7:58 am

From the Fresno Business Journal:

Another farm advocate group has entered the legal fray over federal restrictions on water pumping for San Joaquin Valley growers.

The Klamath, Ore.-based Family Farm Alliance filed its lawsuit last week against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The alliance is challenging the service’s December 2008 order slashing exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by about 30 percent to protect the Delta smelt. The alliance contends the order doesn’t meet scientific standards.

The alliance advocates on water issues on behalf of family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts and allied industries in 17 Western states. According to its website, the group counts among its board of directors local agribusiness leaders including citrus grower Harvey Bailey with Bailey Brothers in Reedley and Chris Hurd with Circle G Farms in Firebaugh.

Read more from the Fresno Business Journal by clicking here.

July 15, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Monday afternoon update: Family Farm Alliance calls for withdrawal of biased, unscientific order for Delta smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 13, 2009 at 4:57 pm

From the Family Farm Alliance, this press release:

Declaring that fifteen years of failure is enough, the Family Farm Alliance has filed suit to force the withdrawal of the federal government’s latest order cutting back California’s water supplies on behalf of the delta smelt. The order issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) does not meet the Endangered Species Act’s standards for quality of data and scientific integrity according to the suit filed on Friday with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

“Fortunately, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) sets strict standards to protect the public and the environment from biased and unscientific abuses of its provisions,” said Dan Keppen, Executive Director of the Alliance. “We are taking this action to protect the integrity of ESA and to ensure that those standards are applied to correct the federal government’s unmitigated record of failure in the Delta.”

For the past 15 years, federal regulators have ordered more and more stringent restrictions on the water supplies pumped through the Delta to serve California’s farms and cities, on the presumption that the pumps were harming delta smelt. Those restrictions have cost California billions of dollars in economic losses and tens of thousands of jobs. But instead of showing any benefit from these measures, the population of delta smelt has continued to decline.

Among the many defects in USFWS’s December order, which reduced by one third the state’s water supplies to more than 25 million people, the Alliance pointed out that:

Instead of conducting the independent peer review that the law requires, USFWS brought in the authors of the papers on which the agency’s order was based. In effect, they were being asked to review the adequacy of their own work. None would qualify under the standards set by ESA, the Information Quality Act or the federal Office of Management and Budget guidelines.

Although ESA requires USFWS to use the best available scientific and commercial data, the agency instead based its findings in part on an analysis which had not been published or peer reviewed and, supposedly, on data which USFWS refused even to disclose. Moreover, it turns out the agency did not actually possess some of the data that it claimed it used to order the cutbacks in water supplies.

Rather than relying on scientific evidence to form its conclusions as the law requires, USFWS only cited the bits and pieces of information that supported its own assumptions and ignored the rest.

FFA is not alone in questioning the integrity of USFWS’s smelt order. The California Department of Water Resources has formally asked that it be withdrawn for reconsultation and revision. DWR says there is new information on better ways to protect the smelt that was not considered in the existing order.

July 13, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Thursday afternoon update: Pumps bring water, but for how long? Efforts to protect Delta smelt cut water by 660,000 acre feet last year

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2009 at 2:14 pm

From the Capital Press:

Federal government pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta started moving much-needed irrigation water to farms Wednesday, July 1, but questions remain about how long those pumps will continue running.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the audience of a town hall meeting in Fresno Sunday, June 28, that the Central Valley Project pumps would run through the end of the year, facilitating 70 approved water transfers totaling 245,000 acre feet. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor, who also spoke at the town hall meeting, said the agency is working to make the most of this year’s water supplies.

However, there was some skepticism. West side farmer Bob Diedrich said growers already knew the pumps would resume moving water south on July 1, but questioned how long they would remain on considering the latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency biological opinion on salmon recovery. That biological opinion has focused all fish recovery efforts on reducing the amount of pumping from the Delta.

It is unknown how much the opinion would affect pumping, said Sarah Woolf of Westlands Water District. The Bureau of Reclamation told the district they would phase in the restrictions, Woolf said, but there is no guarantee the pumps will remain on.

Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here.

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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Thursday’s top of the scroll: Water pumping restrictions to protect Delta smelt end

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2009 at 8:07 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

Federal officials on Tuesday ended seasonal water pumping restrictions intended to protect the threatened Delta smelt.

The end of the water flow limits came in accordance with a biological opinion that governs Delta water export pumping only through June 30. Tuesday’s action means water exports this summer no longer will be restricted specifically to protect smelt. The pumping rules don’t resume again until winter.

Read more of this brief story from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Delta smelt

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