{"id":4287,"date":"2023-02-19T09:31:49","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T17:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2023-02-19T09:31:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-19T17:31:49","slug":"smelt-status-winter-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/?p=4287","title":{"rendered":"Smelt Status \u2013 Winter 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

In prior posts in December 2022<\/a> and November 2021<\/a>, I described the status of listed delta smelt and of longfin smelt.\u00a0 More recent information shows little change in the dire outlook for these two native Bay-Delta fish (Figures 1-4).<\/p>\n

Delta smelt and longfin smelt populations have declined severely over the past few decades due to poor water management. In the Bay-Delta, where the smelt spend most of their lives, south Delta water exports and warming of the Bay and Delta from reduced inflow and outflow has limited their production.\u00a0 Temporary urgency change petitions (TUCPs) during multiyear droughts and \u00a0subsequent orders by the State Water Board have allowed reduced Delta outflow, leading to higher water temperatures and increased Delta salinity. The State Board is again considering yet another TUCP in winter 2023 that would reduce Delta outflow to allow higher exports.<\/p>\n

In this winter 2023, the Low Salinity Zone has again moved further upstream (eastward) into the Delta because of falling freshwater inflow to the Delta after the January storms. \u00a0Delta exports have fallen with lower Delta inflows as State Board conditions kick in.\u00a0 The TUCPs are an obvious and direct threat to these population remnants living in the Low Salinity Zone. \u00a0Further allowing these weakened standards to be violated is a direct disregard for these nearly extinct species. \u00a0Water management places them at extraordinary risk by (1) bringing them further into the Central-Delta zone of the two large South-Delta water diversions, (2) degrading smelt habitat with lethal water temperature, (3) further degrading their already depleted food supply, and (4) increasing the concentrations of toxic chemicals being relentlessly discharged into the Delta.<\/p>\n

The scientific literature, and water and resource management agencies, all recognize these major problems.\u00a0 Many management and recovery schemes have been developed and implemented over the decades. \u00a0However, nothing has stopped water managers\u2019 relentless excessive use and abuse of the Central Valley hydrology.\u00a0 The salmon, smelt, sturgeon, and steelhead are not just the victims but serve as \u201ccanaries in a coal mine\u201d, <\/em>all dying while the water is continually mined from the system.\u00a0 Meanwhile, water managers blamed this mass extinction event on on climate change, cynically gaming worsening conditions to extract even more water.<\/p>\n

There is more and more talk of employing \u201cecosystem-based management\u201d <\/em>that integrates the environment into all phases of decision-making, effectively giving the environment a seat at the table.\u00a0 <\/em>But the reality is more like giving the chickens a say in how the foxes manage the depopulation of the hen-house.\u00a0 There is also talk about providing more flexibility in how and when water is used – <\/em>allocating environmental water as \u201cfunctional flows\u201d <\/em>or \u201cenvironmental water storage\u201d <\/em>to optimize the ecosystem benefits of what little water is allocated for the environment.\u00a0 <\/em>Placed in he hands of water managers, such efforts simply give them more flexibility to game the system to their advantage.\u00a0 When they think they can get more water, they just ask for it and usually get it.\u00a0 One policy group proposes: \u201cMaking this work may require establishing assets<\/strong> for the environment\u2014such as water budgets, reservoir storage space, and funding to restore physical habitat\u2014that can be flexibly used to adapt to changing conditions.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>No, a piece of bread and a cup of water on the survivors\u2019 deathbeds are all they get.\u00a0 Even the water managers get to choose the physical habitat and how its restored, and how much extra water they can take as a result.<\/p>\n

It is time to change this pattern of abuse of public trust resources by standing up to abusers in the State\u2019s TUCPs, the Update<\/a> of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, and the public review of the Delta Tunnel Project<\/a>.\u00a0 The Tunnel simply adds another straw in the Delta, but further upstream, closer to the mouths of the Feather and American rivers, the main sources of Bay-Delta freshwater inflow.<\/p>\n

\"Figure

Figure 1. Bay-Delta fall-midwater-trawl longfin smelt catch index 1967-2022.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Figure

Figure 2. Longfin Smelt Fall Midwater Trawl Index in recent two decades 2001-2022.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Figure

Figure 3. Log-Log relationship for longfin smelt index year (number shown are brood year \u201crecruits\u201d) vs index two years prior (spawners). Red numbers represent brood years that were the product of dry water years, green numbers = normal water years, and blue = wet water years. Blue dots are six most recent years, 2017-2022: fewer spawners produce fewer recruits.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Figure

Figure 4. Catch of Delta smelt in 20-mm Survey in late March 2022. Seven were captured in the north Delta just upstream of where adult hatchery smelt were released in December 2021<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In prior posts in December 2022 and November 2021, I described the status of listed delta smelt and of longfin smelt.\u00a0 More recent information shows little change in the dire outlook for these two native Bay-Delta fish (Figures 1-4). Delta … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bay-delta","category-smelt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4287"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4293,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions\/4293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}