Fishery Groups Oppose Delta Exports

Press Release - Fishery Groups Oppose Delta Exports


Contact

John Beuttler, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance,
jbeuttler [at] aol.com, 510-526-4049

Whitey Rasmussen, California Striped Bass Association,
rodwinder65 [at] yahoo.com, 209-477-8313

Doug Lovell, Northern California Council / Federation of Fly Fishers,
doug [at] fishfirst.com, 510-520-3146



A diverse coalition of fishing groups united on June 29 to oppose the
State¹s untimely and destructive plan to increase water exports from the
Delta.

The San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary is arguably the most ecologically rich
estuary on the west coast of the United States. Home to a great diversity
and abundance of birds, plants, fish, and other aquatic species, it may also
be America¹s most endangered estuary.

"If I just had one gift to leave my grandchildren, it would be a healthy Bay
and Delta, with its once-great runs of salmon, sturgeon, American shad and
striped bass, along with its vast expanse of fertile wetlands restored,"
states Whitey Rasmussen of the California Striped Bass Association, an old
timer who has hunted and fished these waters for 50 years.

Many fishermen and environmentalists echo Rasmussen¹s sentiment. But
according to the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and the
California Department of Water Resources (DWR), we won¹t be seeing the Delta
restored anytime soon. In fact, most fishers and environmentalists believe
we will never see the Delta restored because we rob its lifeblood ­ water.

On 29 June 2005, some 40 concerned fishermen and fisherwomen assembled at
the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area to be briefed by the DFG and DWR on the status
of Delta. Chuck Armor, chief of operations for the DFG Bay-Delta Branch,
presented the State¹s understanding of what may eventually be called the
"Delta Ecosystem Collapse." Armor described biological monitoring that
reveals several resident Delta fish species are at all-time lows, including
threadfin shad, delta smelt, longfin smelt and young-of-the-year striped
bass.

The DFG fears that this is not normal biological variability or indications
of a gradual change; the past 2-3 years show a dramatic drop with an almost
irrefutable crash. Moreover, Armor presented data to indicate that the
Delta¹s foodweb ­zooplankton (copepods) ­ has concurrently plummeted.

DFG isn¹t writing this off to the normal culprit ­ drought - because we¹ve
had normal or above normal water since 2003. Instead, DFG¹s best working
hypothesis is a combination of the effects from invasive species (such as
exotic clams and aquatic vegetation), toxic contaminants
(pesticides/herbicides and toxic algae), and water exports. The DFG has
undertaken focused and expedited studies to sort out the complex
cause-and-effect relationships and diagnose our sick Delta. Armor has
committed to mid-November 2005 for presenting the results; he also states
that an accurate diagnosis may take longer.

For the time being, DFG is not making any corrective action recommendations,
not even to recommend a slight curtailment in pumping. The past two years
have seen historically high water exports at the state and federal pumping
plants in the South Delta. Combined, the two water projects annually pumped
more than 6 million acre-feet (one acre-foot of water will supply the annual
needs of two families, but most of the water is used by agriculture).

"DFG¹s reluctance to recommend pumping reductions is another example of how
the State has weakened resolve for the Delta. I¹d have a lot more
confidence in our State agencies if they demonstrated better ability to
reduce pumping, not just increase pumping," laments Doug Lovell of the
Federation of Fly Fishers.

"The consequences of a foodweb collapse in the Delta will be tragic. The
small fish are disappearing and you don¹t need a PhD to guess what¹s next
... the larger fish, birds, other wildlife will be the next to go," states
John Beuttler of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

But the State is not thinking reduced pumping. Following the presentation
by Armor of DFG, Kathy Kelly, chief of DWR¹s Bay-Delta Office, presented the
proposed South Delta Improvements Package (SDIP, aka 8500), which includes
provisions to increase the pumping limit at the State pumping plant from
6,680 cubic feet per second to 8,500 cubic feet per second (at 8,500 cubic
feet per second, it takes a little over 5 seconds to pump an acre-foot of
water).

Kelly presented DWR¹s latest version of the package that identifies three
different operating scenarios given the proposed increased pumping capacity,
without identifying a preferred operating scenario. Previously, DWR had
stated the operating scenario providing the greatest water export was
preferred. Kelly maintains that increasing the pumping capacity will allow
pumping more water when its environmentally benign and less water when the
ecosystem is at risk.

"Based on the recent evidence from the Delta, it¹s clear that we do not have
sufficient knowledge to make this distinction" comments Tina Swanson, PhD,
senior scientist for The Bay Institute, who also conducts research on Delta
fisheries at UC Davis.

"You have to place a lot of trust with the State agencies to believe this
will work and I don¹t see a track record that builds that trust," states Dan
Bacher, managing editor of the Fish Sniffer magazine. "In fact, I challenge
any state or federal agency to show a single case where a fishery was
actually improved by increasing water diversions from a river or estuary."

The SDIP is part of the Calfed Program, a comprehensive,
multi-billion-dollar, decades-long collaboration of State and Federal
agencies originally devised to restore the Delta ecosystem, increase water
supply reliability, enhance Delta water quality, and strengthen Delta
levees. The SDIP¹s increase in pumping capacity is part of an integrated
set of actions that has been recently attacked by environmental groups,
water users, and legislators as being unbalanced and ineffective, without
sound cost allocation.

Kelly stated that the draft EIR for the SDIP will be released in July 2005
or possibly August, with a 90-day public comment period. Kelly anticipates
the draft EIR will show that SDIP significantly impacts the Delta ecosystem,
particularly the fisheries, with mitigation proposed via the Environmental
Water Account.

"³How can we be expected to submit intelligent comments within this timeframe
when DFG doesn¹t plan to explain the Delta Ecosystem Crash until
mid-November?" stated Dan Odenweller, retired DFG and NOAA Fisheries
employee, representing Deltakeeper, an affiliate of Baykeeper. "We should
get six weeks after DFG¹s mid-November report to digest the information and
prepare a meaningful review of the proposed pumping increase," he added.

However, at the 29 June meeting, after the presentations by DFG and DWR, the
fishery groups collectively and unanimously decided that the proposed
increases in Delta pumping were not acceptable unless or until the ecosystem
is placed solidly on the road to recovery.

"We will join groups like Friends of the River, the Planning and
Conservation League, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club,
along with the Winnemem Wintu (McCloud River) Tribe, in staunch opposition
to pumping increases," states John Beuttler. The fishery groups initially
intend to mobilize a grassroots letter campaign to Governor Schwarzenegger
requesting the SDIP be shelved.

Steve Evans of Friends of the River put the legitimacy of SDIP in
perspective. "Additional stress on the Delta is not necessary. California is
not in a water crisis. In fact, according to the State¹s Water Plan, we can
meet water needs well into the future without taking more water out of the
Bay-Delta estuary. The Water Plan shows that demand in California may
decrease over the next thirty years in response to investments in water use
efficiency and recycling."

The fishery groups were represented at the 29 June meeting by the Anglers
Committee, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the California
Striped Bass Association (including the West Delta, Rio Vista, Sacramento,
Modesto, and Stockton chapters), California Trout, Golden West Women¹s Fly
Fishers, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen¹s Associations, the
Recreational Fishing Alliance, the Northern California Council / Federation
of Fly Fishers (including the following affiliated clubs ­ California Fly
Fishers Unlimited, Tri-Valley Fly Fishers, Fly Fishers of Davis, Grizzly
Peak Fly Fishers), United Anglers of California, and the United Pier and
Shore Anglers of California.

Also present at the meeting were representatives of Friends of the River,
The Bay Institute, Deltakeeper, and the Planning and Conservation League,
who also concurred with the decision to oppose pumping increases.