The tiny delta smelt wields mighty power in California’s water politics. The tiny fish, which lives only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, is the legally recognized indicator of the health of the bay-delta estuary. It is also why, in small part, the Brown administration wants to build a $23 billion water conveyance facility on the Sacramento River.
Under biological opinions adopted by the federal court, how much and when water is pumped through the state and federal south delta pumps is determined by the condition of the smelt. If too many fish are damaged or killed by the pumps, pumping is curtailed. This year, heavy rains in January sent muddy river water into the delta, forcing the smelt to migrate south earlier than usual. Too many fish ended up in the Tracy pumps, and thus water deliveries were reduced by 700,000 acre feet. The biological opinion also calls for limiting the reverse flows of the river created by the powerful pumps because it is bad for the fish and general health of the estuary.
Thus the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, seven years in the making and unveiled in part on Thursday, would move the water diversion point north to the Sacramento River and then pipe the water 35 miles under the delta in twin, 30-foot-in-diameter tunnels to the south, where the water would be pumped into the state aqueduct.
Delta smelt don’t go into the river. Thus the plan proposes moving the intakes away from the fish. “The fundamental problem is the presence of the fish at the diversion point,” explained California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham at the Capitol press conference.
Assuming the state and federal governments and the water contractors come up with the money to build and operate the paired pipes for 50 years, will it fix the environmental problems in the delta? For us in the San Francisco Bay Area, will it help or harm the bay, a part of the delta estuary? Will it maintain adequate flows through the bay to the ocean for the salmon and other native fish? Will it retain adequate flows for the Bay Area communities that rely on delta water deliveries? Will taxpayers and ratepayers embrace the cost? (To read more, read The Chronicle’s editorial.)
Mark Cowin, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said: “This plan looks at delta conveyance issues, and state and federal water projects.”
Noting that this plan has taken years to accomplish, he added, “If this was a statewide habitat conservation plan, would we ever get it done? “