Protection of smelt - impact on SoCal

Image courtesy of http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov

Until the droughts in Georgia last summer, I was not aware that water reservoirs and supplies were affected by protections for aquatic animals.

In Georgia’s case, Congressman John Linder was upset that water was being diverted from Lake Lanier that supplies over 3 million residents with water to support a federally protected species of mussel in Florida, according to an article in USA Today.

“We’ve learned from this what a blunt weapon the Endangered Species Act has become,” said state Rep. John Linder. “We need to understand this lake was created not for mussels but for people.”

The first step towards declaring the longfin smelt an endangered or threatened species was taken last week, according to an article in the LA Times.

The California Fish and Game Commission voted 3 to 0 to adopt protection for longfin smelt. The tiny fish makes its home in the delta, which serves as headwaters for the state and federal canals that send water to Southern California.

Those aqueducts, which deliver water to 25 million people and 2 million acres of farmland, have seen exports decline more than 40% in recent weeks because of court-ordered restrictions intended to save another diminutive fish, the delta smelt.

The addition of the longfin smelt to the protected list could affect water exports even more because its life cycle and breeding season are different from delta smelt, prompting restrictions that might begin earlier each year and end later.

Like its aquatic cousin, the longfin smelt has seen its population plummet in recent years. In 2007, it hit a record low along with several other types of delta fish, in what is considered a broad decline in the environmental health of the state’s biggest estuary.

It is unclear exactly how global warming and climate change will affect drought conditions in different parts of the United States, but there is little doubt that it will have an impact.

Examples like these illuminate the broader struggle to protect threatened species while maintaining sufficient resources to support human populations. Clearly these issues will warrant more attention and research.

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