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<H1>CALIFORNIA<BR>Delta smelt numbers plunge</H1>
<H2>Debate over state's pumping of water after only 25 found</H2></DIV>
<P class=byline><A href="mailto:phoge@sfchronicle.com">Patrick Hoge, Chronicle
Staff Writer</A></P>
<P class=date>Tuesday, May 22, 2007</P>
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<P>A rare delta fish that recently almost triggered a shutdown of the state's
major water system has plummeted in number, bringing it perilously close to
extinction, state and federal experts warn.
<P>Spring trawls aimed at measuring the size of the delta smelt's juvenile
population found just 25 fish, the smallest number ever recorded and 93 percent
fewer than the previous year. In most trawls, biologists caught no smelt at all.
<P>That has alarmed state and federal fish experts, who say the state should
significantly cut the use of giant pumps that export water out of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for use by 24 million people and farmers.
Some environmental groups have likened the Tracy-area pumps to huge vacuum
cleaners that cause water to flow upstream, sucking the fish into the pumps or
stranding them in areas where they are vulnerable to predators.
<P>In March, an activist group won a decision from an Alameda County judge who
told the state to shut down the pumps or obtain permits to legally kill the
threatened fish. State officials, who say the state would suffer economically if
the water pumps are stopped, have appealed that ruling.
<P>Top officials with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration agreed Monday
that the survey data from the Delta Smelt Working Group were extremely serious,
and said pumping had been slowed.
<P>But they blamed use of pesticides for killing many smelt this spring in the
Sacramento River, and said they might not be able to reach the Delta Smelt
Working Group's goal of reducing pumping in the south delta so that fresh water
actually flows toward San Francisco Bay.
<P>The Delta Smelt Working Group, which includes scientists from three federal
and two state agencies, said water should not run backward in the south delta
until later in the summer when water temperatures rise. Smelt typically migrate
to Suisun Bay when water temperatures get hot.
<P>Department of Water Resources Deputy Director Jerry Johns said that stopping
the pumps is not necessarily the answer and that the pumps have not been killing
many fish recently.
<P>"We need to take a more holistic approach rather than just focusing on the
pumps,'' he said.
<P>Chuck Armor, acting regional manager for the Department of Fish and Game's
bay-delta region, agreed. He said water tests on the Sacramento River, where
state officials tried to send baby smelt using pulses of fresh water from the
south delta, showed that pesticides may have killed many of the fish this year.
<P>Johns said Schwarzenegger is seeking a comprehensive solution through the
Delta Vision task force established in October. That group is supposed to come
up with a plan for helping the delta by the end of 2008.
<P>In the meantime, Johns said, various actions have been taken to help fish,
including cutting current pumping levels as much as possible without, for
example, affecting supplies to users in the East Bay.
<P>Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection
Alliance, called Johns' assertions a smoke screen. His group sued the state over
pumping operations and the effect on the smelt.
<P>"They're still in a state of denial,'' Jennings said. "Year after year, Jerry
and company have been saying the same thing: 'We're addressing it.' And the
numbers of fish have spiraled down, and the amount of water pumped has
increased.''
<P>Michael Lozeau, an attorney working with Jennings, said the smelt "are
absolutely on the brink of extinction'' and state bureaucrats want "to sit
around for a year basically pushing paper.''
<P>Jennings said the Fish and Game Department could keep the pumps running by
declaring that state rules comply with federal laws, or by issuing permits
allowing the protected fish to be killed.
<P>But such findings would have to be based on scientific data showing no
significant harm would be done to the species, and according to a memo from the
Delta Smelt Working Group, there is virtually no likelihood that could happen,
he said.
<P>"The delta smelt are an indicator species. They show the health of the
delta,'' said Dan Bacher, editor of the Fish Sniffer, a publication for fishing
enthusiasts, who is calling upon readers to put pressure on state officials. "If
the smelt go extinct, other species are going to follow.''
<P>According to the working group, five surveys caught only 25 juvenile smelt,
about 7.7 percent of the 326 taken during the same time in 2006, and only 7.1
percent of the 2000-2006 average of 353.
<P>Kevin Fleming, a senior Fish and Game biologist who is with the smelt working
group, said Monday that he was satisfied that state officials were responding
appropriately to the latest information, even if they might not be able to
achieve the group's recommendation.
<P>"I've attended all those meetings, and they are taking this very seriously,''
Fleming said.
<P>As to whether those efforts will be enough to save the smelt, Fleming was
unsure.
<P>"I haven't a clue. Things don't look good, but at this point, what we have is
a major concern,'' he said.
<P><I>E-mail Patrick Hoge at <A
href="mailto:phoge@sfchronicle.com">phoge@sfchronicle.com</A>.</I>
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<P id=pageno>This article appeared on page <STRONG>B - 1</STRONG> of the
San Francisco Chronicle</P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>