The Trump administration’s initiative to increase water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta faced significant criticism five years ago from state authorities and environmental advocates, who argued it could push species like salmon, smelt, and steelhead closer to extinction.
Currently, state and federal agencies are making strides towards a new proposal aimed at enhancing water supplies for urban areas and specific agricultural producers. However, a federal review has raised alarms that this plan may pose even greater risks to the Delta’s ecosystem and its aquatic inhabitants.
Critics of the former administration’s regulations claim they inadequately shield endangered fish while allowing for increased water exports to farmers in California’s Central Valley and urban centers in Southern California. Conversely, the incoming administration’s proposal has been labeled as failing to address key flaws pinpointed by environmentalists regarding the previous plan. As outlined by Jon Rosenfield, a science director at San Francisco Baykeeper, the new plan does not just fail to improve conditions but potentially worsens them for fish populations in the San Francisco Bay-Delta.
Supporters of the new plan, particularly from water districts serving agricultural and urban needs, have expressed their backing despite anticipating reduced water deliveries. They view the new approach as a balanced strategy for managing human water supply while also considering the health of the rivers and fish in the Central Valley.
The Bureau of Reclamation is set to finalize its environmental evaluation by mid-November, after which it will collaborate with state officials to streamline a plan for the operation of California’s two major Delta water conveyance projects. This forthcoming decision underscores the importance of an effective operational arrangement for the State Water Project, which supplies water to millions and vast farmland, and the federal Central Valley Project, also catering to millions of residents and agricultural land. Each system plays a vital role in the annual export of millions of acre-feet of water from the Delta, impacting the water usage of millions of households.
An environmental assessment released in July explored five possible options for the new plan, with the preferred option poised to have detrimental effects on threatened and endangered fish, according to the report findings. The assessment highlighted specific fish, including various species of Chinook salmon and smelt, as likely to suffer from the proposed operational changes.
State and federal officials have suggested that their new plan incorporates elements not present in the previous Trump-era guidelines, such as enhanced temperature controls in the Sacramento River for salmon spawning and controlled water releases during spring to aid young salmon in their journey to the ocean. Federal representatives are optimistic about improved conditions for winter-run Chinook salmon under the new plan.
Nevertheless, when comparing the new operational strategy to the baseline of the 2019 Trump rules, projections indicate a potential decline of up to 23% in juvenile winter-run salmon populations during critically dry years. Environmentalists argue that this could be due to insufficient protections for fish during their critical downstream migration in the Delta.
The Department of Water Resources evaluated the potential impacts of Delta operations under the State Water Project, noting a careful selection of actions intended to minimize harm to endangered species while also maintaining water supply reliability. They acknowledged the Delta’s past degradation but claimed the proposed plan’s isolated impacts would be minimal.
The analysis also suggested that the new plan could inadvertently increase the number of fish entrained or caught in pumping stations, a long-recognized hazard. The challenge remains in determining what level of fish loss is sustainable without endangering populations further.
Federal fish and wildlife officials are anticipated to assess whether this proposed option has the potential to drive any fish species towards extinction as they complete two forthcoming biological opinions.
Former general manager of a major Southern California water agency expressed confidence in the Bureau of Reclamation’s proposed plan, stating it properly addresses potential impacts while recognizing other significant environmental challenges like climate change, which also threaten fish populations.
One of the five options being considered, termed “Alternative 2,” has garnered widespread support from various state and federal entities, agricultural water districts, and agencies. Alternatively, “No Action Alternative” would revert to the previous rules instated during the Trump administration. Environmentalists put forward another alternative that would drastically reduce water exports while significantly improving ecological conditions for fish, advocating for greater reservoir storage and water flows. However, such drastic cuts in water allocation are highly contested by urban and agricultural users, who generally favor the consensus option backed by the Bureau.
As California faces an ongoing ecological crisis in the Bay-Delta, where notable fish species populations have plummeted, including the salmon populations, environmental advocates call for urgent and transformative changes in the management of water resources to avert further declines in fish species. They emphasize that continued reliance on outdated agreements may exacerbate an already fragile ecosystem. Their concerns include the record decline of species such as the Delta smelt and the longfin smelt, which reflects a worrying trend that threatens the future of the Delta ecosystem.
Experts warn that without addressing the fundamental issues surrounding water management and ecosystem revitalization, more fish species are likely to face extinction. They urge a new approach towards flowing river systems and habitat restoration, as stopping the current trajectory requires substantial shifts in policy and perception of water resource allocation.