South Delta Improvement Program
In August of 2000, after years of deliberations, hundreds of public meetings and development of a full-blown environmental impact statement, the state-federal partnership known as CalFed issued an 846-page Programmatic Record of Decision.  This document, a detailed long-term plan for managing California’s water resources and restoring its environment, included a series of proposed actions called the South Delta Improvement Program, or SDIP.

The key elements of the SDIP are:

• Increase pumping  capacity of the State Water Project to 8,500 cubic feet per second;
• Install improved fish screens at the Clifton Court Forebay and Tracy pumping facilities to provide increased protection for fish;
• Install operable barriers to improve water quality and ensure reliable water supplies for San Joaquin Valley farms;
• Construct floodway improvements on the lower San Joaquin River to provide conveyance, flood control and ecosystem benefits;
• Reduce agricultural drainage in the Delta.

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is scheduled to release a draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the SDIP this fall, a step that will begin a new public review of this program. 

The objectives of the SDIP program are: 1) minimize the straying of San Joaquin salmon into the south delta; 2) maintain adequate water levels and quality for local farmers; and 3) provide flexibility in meeting fish, wildlife and water supply needs.

Increasing the capacity of export pumps  (from a current 6,500 cfs flow) will provide significantly more flexibility for water project and fishery managers.  Export pumping is frequently curtailed when endangered fish are in the vicinity of the pumps.  These curtailments sharply reduce water supplies for farmers and cities that depend on the exported water.  Currently, the limited pumping capacity means it is often difficult, if not impossible, to recover the lost water once the fish move out of the vicinity of the pumps. 

By increasing the capacity of the pumps, water now lost when pumping is curtailed can be recovered when the fish move on and pumping poses no threat to endangered species.  Fully operating to the higher pumping limit would not begin until 2009, after new permanent operable gates are constructed and operating. 

Because of hydrologic and environmental constraints, the increased pumping capacity is expected to increase annual water exports between one percent and three percent over current levels. 

Recent indications of population declines by some fish species that live in the delta year round have prompted formation of a task force of state and federal fishery managers to identify what is causing the declines.  A careful review of decades of data indicates water exports do not play a role in the relative abundance of these impacted fish species.  More likely causes of the drop in the number of delta smelt are sharp declines in a species of zooplankton that are an essential food source for delta smelt. 

While this important investigation continues, DWR plans to release the draft EIR/S for the SDIP this fall for a 90-day public review period of statewide workshops.  In this way, the draft EIR/S can serve as a focus for very public discussions of the best ways to protect and restore fish populations in conjunction with operating the State Water Project to maintain reliable water supplies.  This public participation is vital to the decision-making process and the eventual implementation of any plan.