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New rules allow increased killing of Delta smelt as species nears extinction
The decision by the Obama administration to more than double the permissable "take" limit of Delta smelt at the state and federal water export facilities is simply mind-boggling, especially just two days after a California Department of Fish and Wildlife fall survey revealed that the Delta smelt has declined to a record low population level.
“As goes the Delta smelt, so goes the Delta,” said Bill Jennings, the executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “The crisis isn’t limited to the smelt. All the (Bay/Delta’s) pelagic species are in trouble."
The question now is: when is the tipping point for the continued survival of Delta smelt as a species? Has the point of no return already been passed?
When the Delta smelt becomes extinct, Sacramento River winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon, longfin smelt and many other fish species will be sure to follow.
The problem is that neither the Obama and Brown administrations can seem to allow themselves, even in the midst of a record drought, to shut off the pumps even though the state and federal Endangered Species Acts and Clean Water Acts are being openly violated by water exports to corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joauiqn Valley and Southern California water agencies.
Will President Barak Obama become known in history as the Extinction President” - and will Governor Jerry Brown likewise become known as the “Extinction Governor?”
Photo of Delta smelt by Peter Johnsen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“As goes the Delta smelt, so goes the Delta,” said Bill Jennings, the executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “The crisis isn’t limited to the smelt. All the (Bay/Delta’s) pelagic species are in trouble."
The question now is: when is the tipping point for the continued survival of Delta smelt as a species? Has the point of no return already been passed?
When the Delta smelt becomes extinct, Sacramento River winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon, longfin smelt and many other fish species will be sure to follow.
The problem is that neither the Obama and Brown administrations can seem to allow themselves, even in the midst of a record drought, to shut off the pumps even though the state and federal Endangered Species Acts and Clean Water Acts are being openly violated by water exports to corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joauiqn Valley and Southern California water agencies.
Will President Barak Obama become known in history as the Extinction President” - and will Governor Jerry Brown likewise become known as the “Extinction Governor?”
Photo of Delta smelt by Peter Johnsen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
![800px-delta_smelt_fish_in_hand.jpg](/uploads/2015/01/26/800px-delta_smelt_fish_in_hand.jpg)
A recent Obama administration decision allows more than twice as many endangered Delta smelt to be killed by giant government pumps than was previously allowed, according to a joint news release from the California Water Impact Network and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
The groups said the policy was adopted days after the annual California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) population abundance survey confirmed that populations of the tiny, once-abundant fish have crashed to new lows.
Fishery and water policy reform advocates emphasized that the development is about more than the Delta smelt, a small and innocuous fish endemic to the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. The smelt is considered a prime indicator species for the health of northern California’s Bay/Delta system, the largest estuary on the west coast of the continental United States.
“As goes the Delta smelt, so goes the Delta,” said Bill Jennings, the executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “The crisis isn’t limited to the smelt. All the (Bay/Delta’s) pelagic species are in trouble. This decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to unilaterally approve the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s request to more than double the permissible killing of Delta smelt two days after the Service learned that population abundance of Delta smelt had collapsed to an historical new low is simply reprehensible.”
The Delta smelt “take” limit in the present Biological Opinion for the state and federal export pumping facilities, pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act, is 78 adult fish, according to Jennings.
As of 7 January 2015, the state and federal export pumps had already “taken” 56 Delta smelt and were approaching the limit, which would limit export pumping. On 9 January 2015, the Bureau of Reclamation requested a “Reinitiation of Consultation” of the Biological Opinion with the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service increased the interim incidental take limit of Delta smelt to 196 adult smelt the same day.
Since 1967, the CDFW has conducted an annual abundance survey of Delta fish populations, which consists of monthly (Sept-Dec) trawls at more than 100 sites throughout the estuary.
On 7 January 2015, CDFW revealed that the population abundance of Delta smelt had had fallen to a new record low that was almost half of the previous record low in 2009. Only 8 Delta smelt were collected in more than 400 individual trawls spanning the four months.
Jennings called the decision a “back-room deal” that will allow pumps linked to massive state and federal water projects to kill 25 times the total number of adult smelt than were identified in CDFW surveys between September and December of 2014.
“It’s morally indefensible and legally questionable,” he said. “It raises the question of whether the Obama Administration is the protector or executioner of an endangered species that was once the most numerous fish in the Delta.”
Tom Stokely, a senior water policy analyst for the California Water Impact Network, lambasted the decision.
“This secret accord comes at a time when California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are calling for ‘science’ to guide all negotiations on California’s contentious water issues,” Stokely said. “This action cannot be justified by available science. It has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with political pressure from powerful interests who want to maintain a stranglehold on our state’s public water.”
Carolee Krieger, the executive director of the California Water Impact Network, observed that the move evokes the age-old adage of cui bono – literally, “to whose benefit?”
“In this case, there is only one beneficiary,” Krieger said, “and that’s San Joaquin Valley agribusiness. An increased Delta smelt kill translates directly as ongoing, excessive and subsidized water transfers to toxic San Joaquin Valley croplands owned by a handful of politically powerful corporate farmers. I’m outraged by the hypocrisy of the federal agencies responsible for this action. They are not simply ignoring their responsibility of protecting an endangered species and public trust resources. They are actively working against their primary mandate. We expected better from the Obama administration.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Memorandum to the Bureau of Reclamation reinitiating consultation for the Central Valley Project Operations Criteria and Plan and Reclamation’s request can be found at http://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/cvp-swp/cvp-swp.cfm
The California Water Impact Network (C-WIN, online at http://www.c-win.org) promotes the just and environmentally sustainable use of California's water, including instream flows and groundwater reserves, through research, planning, media outreach, and litigation.
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance is a non-profit conservation and research organization established in 1983 for the purpose of conserving, restoring, and enhancing the state's water quality and fishery resources and their aquatic and riparian ecosystems. http://www.calsport.org
The groups said the policy was adopted days after the annual California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) population abundance survey confirmed that populations of the tiny, once-abundant fish have crashed to new lows.
Fishery and water policy reform advocates emphasized that the development is about more than the Delta smelt, a small and innocuous fish endemic to the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. The smelt is considered a prime indicator species for the health of northern California’s Bay/Delta system, the largest estuary on the west coast of the continental United States.
“As goes the Delta smelt, so goes the Delta,” said Bill Jennings, the executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “The crisis isn’t limited to the smelt. All the (Bay/Delta’s) pelagic species are in trouble. This decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to unilaterally approve the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s request to more than double the permissible killing of Delta smelt two days after the Service learned that population abundance of Delta smelt had collapsed to an historical new low is simply reprehensible.”
The Delta smelt “take” limit in the present Biological Opinion for the state and federal export pumping facilities, pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act, is 78 adult fish, according to Jennings.
As of 7 January 2015, the state and federal export pumps had already “taken” 56 Delta smelt and were approaching the limit, which would limit export pumping. On 9 January 2015, the Bureau of Reclamation requested a “Reinitiation of Consultation” of the Biological Opinion with the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service increased the interim incidental take limit of Delta smelt to 196 adult smelt the same day.
Since 1967, the CDFW has conducted an annual abundance survey of Delta fish populations, which consists of monthly (Sept-Dec) trawls at more than 100 sites throughout the estuary.
On 7 January 2015, CDFW revealed that the population abundance of Delta smelt had had fallen to a new record low that was almost half of the previous record low in 2009. Only 8 Delta smelt were collected in more than 400 individual trawls spanning the four months.
Jennings called the decision a “back-room deal” that will allow pumps linked to massive state and federal water projects to kill 25 times the total number of adult smelt than were identified in CDFW surveys between September and December of 2014.
“It’s morally indefensible and legally questionable,” he said. “It raises the question of whether the Obama Administration is the protector or executioner of an endangered species that was once the most numerous fish in the Delta.”
Tom Stokely, a senior water policy analyst for the California Water Impact Network, lambasted the decision.
“This secret accord comes at a time when California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are calling for ‘science’ to guide all negotiations on California’s contentious water issues,” Stokely said. “This action cannot be justified by available science. It has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with political pressure from powerful interests who want to maintain a stranglehold on our state’s public water.”
Carolee Krieger, the executive director of the California Water Impact Network, observed that the move evokes the age-old adage of cui bono – literally, “to whose benefit?”
“In this case, there is only one beneficiary,” Krieger said, “and that’s San Joaquin Valley agribusiness. An increased Delta smelt kill translates directly as ongoing, excessive and subsidized water transfers to toxic San Joaquin Valley croplands owned by a handful of politically powerful corporate farmers. I’m outraged by the hypocrisy of the federal agencies responsible for this action. They are not simply ignoring their responsibility of protecting an endangered species and public trust resources. They are actively working against their primary mandate. We expected better from the Obama administration.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Memorandum to the Bureau of Reclamation reinitiating consultation for the Central Valley Project Operations Criteria and Plan and Reclamation’s request can be found at http://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/cvp-swp/cvp-swp.cfm
The California Water Impact Network (C-WIN, online at http://www.c-win.org) promotes the just and environmentally sustainable use of California's water, including instream flows and groundwater reserves, through research, planning, media outreach, and litigation.
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance is a non-profit conservation and research organization established in 1983 for the purpose of conserving, restoring, and enhancing the state's water quality and fishery resources and their aquatic and riparian ecosystems. http://www.calsport.org
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Our Energy Policies are killing the Fragile Eco-Systems of this Planet. The Smelt is being sacrificed for Fracking ? Huge Farming Export ?
If we plan to leave a Sustainable Planet to our children we have to start protecting all life Now.
Our Global Warming Polluting Energy Policies, of burning Fossil Fuels, Toxic Coal, Poisoning Fracked Natural Gas, an Deadly Radiated Fuel Rods, are a Nightmare, that our children wake up to everyday, what are you going to do about it ?
We Need Sustainable Energy Policies, with all hands on Deck, removing Home Owners and Business Persons from investing and keeping their own profits goes against our daily childhood pledge of, With Liberty and Justice for All.
A California Residential Feed in Tariff would allow homeowners to sell their Renewable Energy to the utility, protecting our communities from Poison Water, Grid Failures, Natural Disasters, Toxic Natural Gas and Oil Fracking. It would also create a new revenue stream for the Hard Working Taxpaying, Voting, Homeowner.
Sign and Share this petition for a California Residential Feed in Tariff.
http://signon.org/sign/let-california-home-owners
We need a National Feed in Tariff, this petition starts in California.
California currently has a Feed in Tariff that does not allow home owners to participate in the State mandated goal of 33% renewable energy by 2020.
California also does not allow the homeowner to oversize their R.E systems, as of now, your local utility has allowed only 80% homeowner generation from your R.E system.
California has 2 different Energy policies Net-metering and a Feed in Tariff.
Net metering the energy policy for homeowners, allow you to bank excess electricity from R.E systems for future credits. The credits you accumulate are at the retail rate, and are reviewed at the end of the year. It will be written off with a thank you from the utility and no payment to the homeowner for producing more than what you use.
Net metering has allowed third party leasing companies to replace one utility with another.
"Examples of Net-metering slow down Renewable Energies:
1. Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) which create de facto caps on the deployment of renewable energies (the Germans do not have any RPSs, their Feed in Tariff has no caps.
2. Net-metering caps, most states only allow a small percentage of one to two percent of peak load to be net metered.
3. Third party leasing companies like Solar City, Sun Run, Verango and others fight tooth and nail to protect scarce capacity carve outs (from the States RPSs) so as to bolster their chosen business model." Bob Tregilus
No one is fighting for the Hard Working, Taxpaying, Voting, Homeowner, we can change that with a Ca. Residential Feed in Tariff Energy policy that allows everyone to participate. Homeowner’s, Small and Large Businesses, Small and Large farmers, and Industries, have the right to sell Renewable Energy electricity to the utility.
Vote Solar Initiative is a Sierra Club and Solar Leasing Companies platform to ensure that One Utility will take the place of Another through the continued use of Net Metering.
We need a Policy that will enable Hard Working, Voting, Tax Paying Citizens, get a chance to participate in the States goal of 33% Renewable Energy by 2020 through a California Residential Feed in Tariff.
California, there is enough Residential Solar to power 2.25 San Onofres, couple that with a Commercial Feed in Tariff and we can solve some of these environmental and electrical generating problems.
This petition will ask the California Regulators and Law makers to allocate Renewable Portfolio Standards to Ca. Home Owners for a Residential Feed in Tariff, the RPS is the allocation method that is used to set aside a certain percentage of electrical generation for Renewable Energy in the the State.
If we plan to leave a Sustainable Planet to our children we have to start protecting all life Now.
Our Global Warming Polluting Energy Policies, of burning Fossil Fuels, Toxic Coal, Poisoning Fracked Natural Gas, an Deadly Radiated Fuel Rods, are a Nightmare, that our children wake up to everyday, what are you going to do about it ?
We Need Sustainable Energy Policies, with all hands on Deck, removing Home Owners and Business Persons from investing and keeping their own profits goes against our daily childhood pledge of, With Liberty and Justice for All.
A California Residential Feed in Tariff would allow homeowners to sell their Renewable Energy to the utility, protecting our communities from Poison Water, Grid Failures, Natural Disasters, Toxic Natural Gas and Oil Fracking. It would also create a new revenue stream for the Hard Working Taxpaying, Voting, Homeowner.
Sign and Share this petition for a California Residential Feed in Tariff.
http://signon.org/sign/let-california-home-owners
We need a National Feed in Tariff, this petition starts in California.
California currently has a Feed in Tariff that does not allow home owners to participate in the State mandated goal of 33% renewable energy by 2020.
California also does not allow the homeowner to oversize their R.E systems, as of now, your local utility has allowed only 80% homeowner generation from your R.E system.
California has 2 different Energy policies Net-metering and a Feed in Tariff.
Net metering the energy policy for homeowners, allow you to bank excess electricity from R.E systems for future credits. The credits you accumulate are at the retail rate, and are reviewed at the end of the year. It will be written off with a thank you from the utility and no payment to the homeowner for producing more than what you use.
Net metering has allowed third party leasing companies to replace one utility with another.
"Examples of Net-metering slow down Renewable Energies:
1. Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) which create de facto caps on the deployment of renewable energies (the Germans do not have any RPSs, their Feed in Tariff has no caps.
2. Net-metering caps, most states only allow a small percentage of one to two percent of peak load to be net metered.
3. Third party leasing companies like Solar City, Sun Run, Verango and others fight tooth and nail to protect scarce capacity carve outs (from the States RPSs) so as to bolster their chosen business model." Bob Tregilus
No one is fighting for the Hard Working, Taxpaying, Voting, Homeowner, we can change that with a Ca. Residential Feed in Tariff Energy policy that allows everyone to participate. Homeowner’s, Small and Large Businesses, Small and Large farmers, and Industries, have the right to sell Renewable Energy electricity to the utility.
Vote Solar Initiative is a Sierra Club and Solar Leasing Companies platform to ensure that One Utility will take the place of Another through the continued use of Net Metering.
We need a Policy that will enable Hard Working, Voting, Tax Paying Citizens, get a chance to participate in the States goal of 33% Renewable Energy by 2020 through a California Residential Feed in Tariff.
California, there is enough Residential Solar to power 2.25 San Onofres, couple that with a Commercial Feed in Tariff and we can solve some of these environmental and electrical generating problems.
This petition will ask the California Regulators and Law makers to allocate Renewable Portfolio Standards to Ca. Home Owners for a Residential Feed in Tariff, the RPS is the allocation method that is used to set aside a certain percentage of electrical generation for Renewable Energy in the the State.
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