Posted on 05/31/2007 4:02:17 PM PDT by SmithL
SACRAMENTO -- The state has shut down the large pumps that send water to 25 million Californians in order to protect a tiny fish teetering on the brink of extinction.
State officials said the shutdown could affect water supplies available to users in the Bay Area, the Central Valley and Southern California. Local areas that receive water from the State Water Project include the Tri-Valley, Santa Clara County, Yuba City and Solano County. Some of those areas can obtain water from other sources, including groundwater.
The shutdown is expected to last seven to 10 days, officials said.
Numbers of Delta smelt -- once a common fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta -- have plunged in recent years, in part due to exports of water to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, scientists believe. Recent trawls for juvenile smelt have turned up few or none.
The Tracy-area water pumps, a key part of the State Water Project, redirect delta water down the aqueduct in such large quantities that rivers sometimes flow backward. The smelt get sucked into the pumps but also lose their way in the delta, getting stranded in areas where they are susceptible to predators.
The shutdown comes at a bad time for the state,
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I guess really big fish tanks are out of the question.
He who smelt it, dealt it.
Yep - when they turn on the faucet, and nothing comes out.
fish or libs? Boy, that is a hard choice to make.
>>>>(Smelt over people)<<<<
Well actually it’s smelt over Californians so I’m good with that.
California people get the government they want.
Hey! I used to have that tagline. I was wondering where it had wandered off to.
Save the smelt, liberals taste awful...
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