The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that the San Francisco Bay’s population of longfin smelt is endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
One major Central Valley water contractor, however, is calling on the federal government to take a different approach to restore the Delta ecosystem in a manageable way that will provide water for farmers.
What they’re saying: Federico Barajas, the Executive Director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, said the authority disagrees with the conclusions supporting the endangered listing.
- While disagreeing, Barajas recognized that the longfin smelt and other species that live in the Delta are under significant duress and are in need of active management.
- The listing continues to point to a degraded ecosystem resulting from a number of stressors that will likely lead to further species being listed without significant changes, Barajas said.
- “However, the last 30 years has demonstrated that a species-by-species approach that is primarily reliant on managing water project operations is unlikely to restore hte Delta ecosystem to one that provides the necessary biological functions to support species recovery,” Barajas said.
- He continued, “We must move towards an ecosystem-based approach to improve the underlying conditions that enable food production, restores habitat function – including functional flows, and reduce the impacts of predators and invasive species. Any other pathway simply doubles down on failed policies that have not resulted in significant species recovery but have caused tremendous harm to communities, farms, and other species in the San Joaquin Valley.”
Driving the news: The San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority presents 27 member agencies and operates Central Valley Project facilities, including the Jones Pumping Plant, the Delta-Mendota Canal and the O’Neill Pumping Plant.
- The Authority’s member agencies contract with the federal government for water that irrigates around 1.2 million acres of farmland in the Central Valley. It also covers over two million people and around 135,000 acres of managed wetlands of critical importance to the Pacific Flyway.
