Tracy Press

Water suppliers say toxic runoff — and not a state pumping plant — may be to blame for the rapid decline of the Delta smelt. By Rob L. Wagner

Two regional groups that supply water to the Central Valley are urging state and federal wildlife officials to investigate toxic runoff as the cause for the dramatic decline of Delta smelt in waterways that feed the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Terry Erlewine, general manager of State Water Contractors, and Daniel Nelson, executive director of San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, said “best evidence” suggests that large numbers of Delta smelt were killed in the northern Delta in the past year from toxic runoff and not by the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant north of Tracy.

“In December and January, the smelt congregated north of Rio Vista, an area that is supposed to be the best habitat,” Erlewine said Tuesday. “The adults did great, (but) when the first surveys were done this spring, they showed nothing. All of a sudden, no baby smelt.”

Last month, the state Department of Water Resources shut down the pumping station for 10 days because state officials believed the smelt were being sucked into the station’s 11 stainless-steel pumps. When the smelt moved away from the station, pumping resumed.

State water and wildlife officials were scheduled to meet Tuesday to determine whether pumping in the Delta should be curtailed for a second time to protect the endangered fish. Ted Strickland, spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources, said no decision had been reached as of late Tuesday.

But Erlewine and Nelson say the pumps are not the problem.

“Simply taking the easy path of turning the knob tighter on the plants … is not the answer,” according to their letter released Thursday and delivered to L. Ryan Broddrick, director of the state Department of Fish and Game, and Steve Thompson, manager of California-Nevada operations for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Erlewine said the pumps are unable to account for the 90 percent drop in the number of juvenile smelt.

“The numbers just crashed,” he said.

Erlewine said water samples taken in the spring showed toxicity in the Sacramento River and the Sacramento Deep Water Channel.

The DWR also wants to examine pollution and toxicity that might have been caused by the Suisun Bay mothball fleet, which consists of 78 decommissioned cargo ships, tankers and other ships.

Closing the pumps sparked concern among water providers who claimed the reduced flow affected 23 million water users, with some cities instituting rationing programs. Nelson said in a statement that the cutback in water flow put the state in “unnecessary jeopardy.”

The State Water Contractors comprises 27 agencies that have contracts from the State Water Project to provide water to farmland and about two-thirds of the state’s population. San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority represents 32 agencies that have contracts with the Central Valley Project to provide water to about 1.2 million acres of agricultural land in the western San Joaquin Valley and in San Benito and Santa Clara counties.

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written by Steve Reshakis , July 05, 2007

This is exactly like the Global warming scam of the Hippy liberals!!
they go beserk , and then new evidence comes in... I have read articles right here in the Tracy press crying about the "Poor Smelt" being killed by the pumps!!! but Guess what!!??? it's a Load of Crap!
You knee-jerk Hippys jump at any chance to fix blame and almost every single time...You Get it WRONG. same with Global Warming...Al Gore is a Eco-GOD...then new facts come in...Al Gore is a MORON...
same with the Livermore Lab...Chicken Little accusations with No Proof...
so here we go again....