Delta smelt
Posted on 10/19/2005 6:37:51 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Saving the endangered delta smelt, a tiny fish considered a key indicator of the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a report to be released Thursday.
The price tag includes projects that also could aid other troubled species and the overall ecology of the delta, which provides drinking water to more than 70 percent of Californians.
This summer, scientists said the delta smelt population had fallen to its lowest level since scientific measurements began in 1959. Three other bellwether fish populations also are at record or near-record lows and would likely benefit from the delta smelt plan.
The delta smelt is considered particularly vulnerable, however, because its one-year life cycle means a catastrophic collapse could eliminate the species.
Options to restore the population and their costs vary, according to the 14-point recovery plan obtained by The Associated Press. The report, developed by the state Department of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Game, also said further research could affect decisions on what actions to take.
"This gives us a range of things we could do," said Chuck Armor, a California Department of Fish and Game biologist. "Some of that is pretty big dollar amounts. The next step will be ... how do we choose among those options and how do we pay for it?"
Armor manages the Interagency Ecological Program, which is composed of six federal and three state agencies that track the delta's ecology.
U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, objected that the plan includes myriad water projects under the umbrella of rescuing the delta smelt. He calls it a possible tactic to curry favor with lawmakers who would have to approve funding.
Pombo also was surprised that none of the proposed actions focuses on foreign species that have invaded the delta and are suspected of causing problems for native fish.
"I do have a lot of concerns about the underlying science," said Pombo, a Republican whose Tracy home borders the delta.
He said a survey just a few years ago showed the delta smelt were so prolific that they might qualify for removal from endangered species protection.
One proposal would spend $75 million to install permanent gates that would be used each spring to dam water in some parts of the delta. That would raise the water level and make it easier to pump irrigation water. The report says the barriers and increased volume of water would keep smelt and other fish species from being sucked into the pumps.
The report also suggests studying whether it makes sense to divert some fresh water entirely around the delta to the giant pumps that send it to Southern California. A proposed "peripheral canal" was rejected by California voters in 1982. But over the next two years, the California Bay-Delta Authority is to reconsider diversion projects, which the draft report says would cost billions of dollars.
"It has projects in there that, frankly, we've been working on for many years," said Ryan Broddrick, director of the California Department of Fish and Game. "We're trying to use projects that will serve multiple benefits."
He explained that to mean aiding the smelt along with the delta's overall ecology. Among other possible steps suggested in the report:
- Encouraging the growth of plankton, the organism that forms the initial building blocks of the delta's food chain, could cost $5 million to $30 million, depending on what projects are undertaken.
- Restoration projects in the Suisun Marsh, downstream of the most troubled delta areas, would cost as much as $11.5 million over the next three years.
- Keeping fish from being sucked into power plants could cost millions, depending on what steps are taken. One screening device costs $7 million each to purchase and $600,000 annually to maintain.
- Tens of millions of dollars more could be spent on various monitoring and research activities over the next several years as scientists continue trying to pin down reasons behind the fish species' decline.
Delta smelt
Whoever smelt it, delta it?
The delta smelt is a small, slender-bodied fish, with a typical adult size of 2-3 inches (55- 70mm standard length) although some may reach lengths up to 5 inches (130mm).
Live delta smelt have a steel blue sheen on the lateral sides and appear somewhat translucent. Like other members of the family Osmeridae, the delta smelt has an adipose fin (a small fleshy fin on the back between the dorsal fin and tail).
Delta smelt are found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary (the area where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flow into San Francisco Bay.
They have been found as far upstream as the mouth of the American River on the Sacramento River and Mossdale on the San Joaquin River. They extend downstream as far as San Pablo Bay. Delta smelt are found in brackish water.
They usually inhabit salinity ranges of less than 2 parts per thousand (ppt) and are rarely found at salinities greater than 14ppt.
During the late winter to early summer, delta smelt migrate to freshwater to spawn. Females only produce between 1000 and 2600 eggs which sink to the bottom and attach to the substrate.
Larvae hatch between 10-14 days, are planktonic (float with the water currents), and are washed downstream until they reach areas near the entrapment zone where salt and fresh water mix.
Delta smelt are fast growing and shortlived with the majority of growth within the first 7 to 9 months of life.
Most smelt die after spawning in the early spring although a few survive to a second year. Delta smelt feed entirely on small crustaceans called zooplankton.
The delta smelt historically was one of the most common fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary.
Delta smelt abundance fluctuates greatly from year to year, however, information from seven independent data sets demonstrated a dramatic decline of the delta smelt population and low population levels from 1983 to 1992.
In 1993 abundance increased in an apparent response to an increase in available habitat brought about by a wet winter and spring.
Fall abundance of delta smelt is usually higher when low salinities of 2ppt or less occur in Suisun Bay in the preceding spring.
The total number of delta smelt is not known, however, delta smelt are considered environmentally sensitive because they have a one year life cycle, unusually low fecundity for a fish with planktonic larvae, a limited diet, and reside primarily within the interface between salt and freshwater.
Reminds me of the Delhi Sands Fly that is here in southern California that is on the endangered species list. It is a damn fly, bye, bye fly. You wouldn't believe the red tape that developers have to go through to try to build or expand businesses in the area and all for one little fly.
I smell a kangaroo rat.
LOL, I guess there are only a pew, I mean a few left.
2 lbs dressed smelt
3 eggs
1/2 can cold beer
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 dash Basil
1 dash Oregano
2 dashes Garlic Powder
Beat eggs until fluffy. Add beer and 1 tsp salt.
In separate bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, seasonings and remaining salt.
Dip fillets first into liquid batter then into dry mixture, and back into liquid batter.
Fry in butter until light brown and fish flakes with a fork.
Serves 4.
As the article says, the push to protect the fish has less to do with the fish than with protecting its habitat. The goal is to protect the delta from degrading...the marshes that the smelt uses for habitat also filter sewage dumped from upstream cities before it reaches the taps in southern California. If the delta degrades, LA loses half its drinking water.
I fish the delta regularly, and it is degrading fast in some areas. Areas that were once marshland are now open water. Seasonal flood areas have now been leveed and developed. The delta, if not protected adequately, will become a stagnant salty mess and will no longer be capable of providing drinking water to most Californians. So far, it hasn't been protected adequately.
The Delta Smelt is identical to the Lake Erie Smelt.
There are millions of those things.
Perhaps a transplant could be engineered.
Sierra Club "environmentalists" could take them out to California in buckets in the trunks of their cars.
I'm sure they'd be willing to do it for free.
Is that the same stoo-pid insect that caused the halt to a $200 million dollar (or was it $300) construction project a few years back and which have created a few hundred NEW permanent jobs?
Its original intent was to save animals like the Bald Eagle, Cougar, Brown Bear(?), and Wolf. The dam thing has been totally perverted by the "I Hate Humanity Crowd".
Probably. I know in the city of Fontana they have been trying to develop the area.
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