Decision to reduce water flows in California’s delta sparks debate over imperiled fish

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-10-02/california-water-flow-requirement-debate

By Ian James
Oct. 2, 2024 8:20 AM PT

State and federal officials have decided to curtail additional water flows intended to support endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta this fall — a controversial step that is being praised by major California water districts but condemned by environmental groups as a significant weakening of protections for imperiled fish.

The debate centers on a measure that calls for prioritizing additional flows for endangered delta smelt, a species that has suffered major declines and is thought to be nearing extinction in the wild. The step of releasing a pulse of water through the delta in September and October is typically triggered when the state experiences relatively wet conditions, as it has during the last two years.

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Environmental and fishing groups said the increased exports of water from the delta this fall pose serious concerns.

Barbara Barrigan-Parilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta, said government agencies are “changing the rules to weaken Delta protections for powerful special economic interests,” including large water suppliers and the agriculture industry in the San Joaquin Valley.

“The rules protecting fish only work when they are enforced,” said Chris Shutes, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. He said the current approach amounts to mismanagement and is “making the rules optional each time water contractors clamor for more water.”