From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Trouble brewing in the marriage of science and policy in the Bay-Delta

Coalition response…The author’s reference that Delta smelt are “being sucked out of their habitat” by export pumps with no other mention of factors identified by scientists for the cause of the smelt’s population decline is disingenuous. The prestigious National Academy of Science, a collection of scientists from around the United States, spent months looking at the cause of species decline in the Delta. Their conclusion was many causes exist that influence the decline and taking action directed at only one factor is doomed to failure. The scientists clearly stated that it would take a multiple-prong approach to resolving population issues of species in the Delta. Those other factors, as they relate to smelt, include predation, water quality, loss of habitat, and more. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan’s current proposal to construct twin tunnels through the Delta will relocate the intakes to an area where Delta smelt do not exist.

Recommended Posts