The devastating fires in Los Angeles County, fairly or unfairly, have put a spotlight on California water policy. This attention has a constructive side in as much as folks are paying closer attention to California water management decisions.
It’s complicated, but this week the massive pumps that move northern California water out of the Delta into the aqueducts for conveyance to the people and farms in central and southern California were throttled back because of increased turbidity in the Delta caused by some high winds that stirred the water up. Apparently, endangered Delta smelt like turbid water, and when turbid water shows up in the Delta, it is assumed that the smelt are attracted to it, and so the rules require the pumps to throttle back to keep the turbid water away, theoretically preventing the smelt from getting too close to the pumps. This rule has existed for about 15 years, and the newest version of the rule adopted last month shortens the time the pumps need to be throttled back from a minimum of five days to a minimum of two days, therefore reducing the loss of water from this action. The Newsom administration put out a press release this week touting this improvement, which you can read here.
It is true that losing less water is better than losing more water, but the question is does this turbidity restriction have any material impact on the endangered Delta smelt at all? There is increasing scientific evidence that there are few, if any, native Delta smelt still in existence. There is a program to grow Delta smelt in a hatchery and release them into the Delta, but recent water surveys have found zero Delta smelt for a number of years now. This reality begs the question about why we are continuing regulations that reduce water supply, but clearly have not worked to save the Delta smelt. The increased public scrutiny of this issue is long overdue.
The Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley issued a statement yesterday calling for the State and Federal governments to avoid water supply cuts that provide uncertain short-term benefits in favor of a long-term solution for the endangered Delta smelt.
It was reported that by Friday, January 17, the water cleared up and the pumps have resumed normal operations.
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs
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