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Response to declining fish numbers examined

Published in the Stockton Record on 08/19/05

Article published Aug 19, 2005
Response to declining fish numbers examined

SACRAMENTO -- The Delta's ecological crisis continues to deepen, with recently completed summer surveys finding new record low numbers of Delta smelt and young striped bass, California Bay-Delta Authority officials testified during an Assembly committee hearing Thursday.

The Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife hearing delved into whether state agencies are responding appropriately to the catastrophic crash in fish populations.

Fishing groups and environmentalists say water -- or rather the lack of it -- is likely a big factor. They point out dams hold back the flow of the San Joaquin and most other rivers that once flushed the Delta, and that more than half of the water remaining most years is pumped south to farms and Southern California cities.

State scientists, however, say many factors -- including toxic substances in Delta water, disruptions caused by introduced exotic plants and animals, and a collapse in the Delta's food chain -- likely play a role, as well. They said they are working as fast as they can to get a clear answer.

"We want to be assured that all involved are cooperating to get that answer," said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, chairwoman of the committee.

Joe Grindstaff is director of the Bay-Delta Authority, the state agency that administers CALFED, the joint state and federal program that is supposed to keep the Delta in good shape for both fish and for the 24 million humans who depend on it for drinking water.

Grindstaff told the committee that all the state and federal agencies are cooperating. Since the fish crash became obvious late last year, the groups have formed a special team to study the problem and meet weekly to coordinate research.

Chuck Armor, a California Department of Fish and Game biologist, heads up the interagency effort. He said the group has been able to stretch limited dollars thanks in part to the San Luis and Delta Mendota Water Authority, which helped pay for a statistics expert to analyze mountains of scientific data on the Delta.

That assistance, however, prompted Wolk to ask Armor if it could bias the research to have a scientist paid by a faction seeking a particular outcome -- in this case, water users who want to avoid seeing water released into the Delta for fish.

Armor said he has seen no sign of bias. "That data will take us where the data takes us," he said.

So far, that data does not suggest any actions that might make the situation better, Armor said. "We're reluctant to say we want to do anything," he said. "If we recommend doing something, we want to be confident about it."

But Tina Swanson, a fisheries biologist with the Bay Institute, said the agencies should consider doing things that already seem prudent and might help, such as reducing exports at key times.

Water interests insist there is no evidence that increases in pumping out of the Delta the last three years have harmed the smelt populations. Environmentalists, however, say decades of documentation show the fish get killed at the pumps and that many get eaten by bass even before they get there.

Scientists still are studying whether pumping and the lack of flow from rivers might be a factor in the collapse in the food chain.

Wolk said this crisis is CALFED's opportunity to show that it can resolve severe problems. She urged officials to take action that might be helpful in the short term and not to wait until long-term research is completed.

"It is something that we ought to look at," she said.

Contact reporter Dana Nichols at 209 546-8295 or dnichols@recordnet.com

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