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Farmers Delta Politics Backfires

At the request of Stewart Resnick's Paramount Farms, the owner of the Kern Water Bank and one of the state's largest farmers, Sen. Dianne Feinstein requested a National Research Council review in September of the science that prompted reduced Delta pumping to protect endangered fish. About all San Joaquin Valley farmers got for the $750,000 study at taxpayer's expense was one line, "but additional clarification needed."

Most of the actions proposed by two federal agencies to reduce water diversions in the California Bay-Delta in order to protect endangered and threatened fish species are "scientifically justified," but the basis for the specific environmental triggers that would indicate when water diversions should be reduced is less well-supported by scientific analyses, says the new report that was requested by Congress and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The California Bay-Delta region receives its fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries, and the delta's water ultimately flows into the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Tidal mixing from the Pacific Ocean also occurs, resulting in a brackish water ecosystem in many regions of the delta. In addition, pumping stations divert water from the delta, primarily for Central Valley agriculture and southern California metropolitan areas. The effects of an increasing population and the operation of the engineered water-control system have substantially altered the delta ecosystem, including its fish species.

In 2008 and 2009 respectively, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued biological opinions under the Endangered Species Act that contained "Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives" requiring actions to reduce the adverse effects of water diversions on delta smelt, Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, and green sturgeon. Those actions included restrictions in diverting water during certain periods, depending on environmental conditions.

For its study, the committee that wrote the report reviewed an action in the FWS alternative to protect delta smelt by limiting how much water is pumped from the delta to reduce reverse flows in the Old and Middle rivers, two branches of the San Joaquin River. The committee concluded that in winter, high reverse river flows from high levels of pumping probably adversely affect smelt. Therefore, reducing the high reverse flows to decrease mortality of smelt is "scientifically justified."

However, the data do not permit confident identification of when to limit reverse flows of the rivers or a confident assessment of the benefits fish receive by reducing reverse flows, the committee found. As a result, the implementation of this action needs to be accompanied by careful monitoring, adaptive management, and additional analyses.

Regarding the NMFS biological opinion, which applies to the Chinook salmon, steelhead, and green sturgeon in the delta and farther upstream, the committee concluded that on balance the actions are "scientifically justified."

However, as with the FWS opinion, specific environmental triggers, thresholds, and flows should receive additional evaluation that is integrated with the analyses of similar actions for delta smelt. In particular, the NMFS alternative contains an action similar to the FWS action to limit pumping in order to reduce high reverse flows in the Old and Middle rivers, and the committee likewise judged that high reverse river flows probably adversely affect the fish, but that the scientific support for specific flow targets is less certain. The committee also found it difficult to ascertain the extent to which the collective watershed and tributary actions will appreciably reduce risks to the fishes within the watershed or throughout the entire river system and recommended a quantitative framework be created to assess survival.

Farm spin

"This report is an important step toward balanced management of the California Water system," says Paul Wenger, President of the California Farm Bureau Federation, noting that federal agencies have addressed fish problems chiefly by reducing water pumping from the delta.

"We believe the government must do a better job of managing the delta pumps, to make more water available to people while still protecting the fish. The report acknowledges that the existing water system can be managed better for people and fish," he says. "It also reaffirms that our existing water system must be improved."

Wenger noted the scientific panel concluded that a number of other factors—such as sewage treatment plants and non-native fish—present a "potentially large" threat to protected native fish.

"We agree with the Committee's findings that specific triggers to initiate actions prescribed by the biological opinions lack scientific clarity," adds Daniel G. Nelson, Executive Director, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority. "It is the application of these triggers that are causing so much damage to California's communities and to the State's overall economy. Even though no scientific study has ever demonstrated that pumping in the south Delta is the only or even the most important factor accounting for Delta smelt declines, the federal fish agencies' limitations on Old and Middle River flow remain essentially their sole approach. And they have failed year after year to reverse or slow the decline in fish populations."

The farm spin aside, the report is not going to do what farm groups and politicians had demanded, that is ease regulatory restrictions and increase water supplies immediately. By that measure, the report did not deliver what farmers wanted.