Tracy Press

Operations at the state's Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant will have to be adjusted to protect the Delta smelt and maximize water deliveries to Southern Californians.

Federal Judge Oliver Wanger’s order to protect the Delta smelt from extinction is serious stuff for water users in and south of the Delta.

The loss of up to one-third of the water pumped through the gigantic state and federal aqueducts — enough for 4 million homes — could have a chilling economic effect on much of California. For instance, farmers from Vernalis to Santa Nella could have their water allocations reduced up to 55 percent, depending on snow runoff and rainfall in any given year. Water users in Los Angles and San Diego are bracing for a 37 percent cut by Jan. 1. Farmers in Livermore face mandatory conservation orders.

Can California make up for this lost water that’s supposed to go to the south and central Delta to keep the tiny smelt with a one-year lifespan from extinction?

California needs more water storage — that means more dams and reservoirs — more conservation — that means less water for agriculture — and a better system of moving two-thirds of the state’s water from the north to two-thirds of the population in the south.

To Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a growing number of politicians, it means a canal from the Sacramento River to the pumping plants northwest of Tracy. Unless there are serious mitigations, it also means the death of the freshwater Delta.

An anxious Alex Hildebrand, a Manteca farmer and director of the South Delta Water Agency, is blunt with his forecast: The only river that flows into the Delta that isn’t dammed is the Sacramento. Take away this source, and the Delta becomes a salt lake.

Judge Wanger’s ruling doesn’t thrill Hildebrand, a veteran of the Peripheral Canal war of a quarter century ago. Saving the Delta smelt as a natural resource could destroy California agriculture, he says. At the very least, it will make water scarcer and indirectly raise the price of food in the world’s supermarkets.

Instead of a peripheral canal, the South and Central Delta Water agencies are proposing a flood-flow conveyance system, which makes sense because it assures sufficient fresh water in the Delta and to the rest of California throughout the year. It would work on a seasonal timer. Peak flows of the snow runoff and rain would be captured and stored behind Sierra dams and in valley reservoirs until the river levels fall in the late spring. Water stored in the reservoirs would be diverted to the rivers during the dry summer and fall months. This would prevent reoccurrences like this summer, when the flow in the San Joaquin, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers was negligible and the salinity was high.

To improve fish habitat, the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force will recommend installation of rock barriers to separate Old and Middle rivers. This would allow Old River, no longer being drawn down by the pumps, to flow more naturally and keep the fish away from the pumping plant screens.

But these welcomed goals won’t be met until cities like Tracy and Mountain House reduce the level of salt sent into the river from their sewage treatment plants. To prevent Old River from being a sump, both cities should consider blending their discharged water with the canal water they get via the Central Valley Project.

Protecting the Delta smelt should mean protecting the state’s water system — all of it.

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written by Steve Reshakis , September 13, 2007

Yes thats right destroy the Calif Economy! even when there is debate on what is realy causing the smelt decline! we just know it is the Pumps!! shut off the pumps!!! whoops! maybe it is pesticide runnoff!?? stop all pesticide use!!!! bugs destroying crops? too bad! save the smelt!!!!
maybe is is totaly natural for the smelt decline. what will the eco-nuts do then?