So. Angry.
Jun. 1st, 2007 11:35![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillState cuts off Delta pumps
This whole situation pisses me off to no end.
Back in December, the fish populations in the Delta were dropping to crisis levels and no one knew for sure why. Delta smelt were of particular concern, as they're an indicator species that had previously been very common and their population was declining unbelievably fast.
Then, in March, a court ruling brought to light that the Department of Water Resources has been running the huge water pumps illegally, insisting they didn't need permits. The biggest question was why the state government had known about this for a year and had taken no action.
In April, another judge concurred that the federal permits were too lax, and didn't take the steep decline in fish population into account.
In early May, it came to light that Water Resources knew that they were probably in violation of the Cal Endangered Species Act as early as 2003, and never bothered to follow through on getting an endorsement of the federal permit from the Department of Fish and Game. They just kept their heads down and went ahead.
At about the same time, Water Resources admitted they were in an impossible situation and announced that they wouldn't comply with the 60-day deadline to get permits, because they didn't have time to get state ones and the federal ones weren't enough. They're hoping to have permits of some kind by April.
I would have bet money that the state wasn't actually going to shut off the pumps. I would have lost that bet.
They're only doing it for seven to ten days, and there won't be any shortage... the only reason I can think of to shut off the pumps for so brief a time is as a "look, we mean it" measure. It isn't long enough to let the fish recover (there was an assay this spring that found only 25 smelt). It won't let fresh water infiltrate significantly into the lower delta for long enough to make a difference there. It may spur water-conservation efforts, but it's too soon to expect cities to have viable plans for that in place, let alone agriculture.
The pumps aren't the only thing impacting fish in the Delta; there's pesticide runoff and some nasty invasives taking over as well. But water quality, quantity, and the mechanical action of the pumps are all very large factors in that environment, and some of this could have been averted if Water Resources had actually gotten their asses in gear and done what was necessary to comply with state law four years ago. Four years could have made all the difference.
Now we've gotten backed into a corner, and there are damned few solutions, none of them simple. The opponents' rallying call of "Shut off the pumps" is inane. Reducing the amount pumped, particularly at sensitive times of year, is a more reasonable solution that may help... but those sensitive times of year are in the dead of summer, when the call for irrigation water for landscapes and fields is very high. Nobody knows how much it'll help the fish, and water usage is going up all the time as we build houses and grapevines in previously untouched wildland. (Agricultural land and houses have about the same water demand.) We may have water shortages in the long-term future, from a need to rebuild the Delta rather than from droughts.
Lots of people are looking askance again at the fact that we send a lot of water to the San Fernando Valley. I've never been a fan of that, but then again, water sources down there are limited. We can't just cut them off, but I haven't seen a lot of movement on finding innovative alternatives.
And that's what all this comes down to now. Ecological crisis, or economic crisis, or residential water shortages? Those are the three pitfalls based on who gets the short end of the stick... and there isn't enough stick to go around anymore. Ignore the alarm bells, and there are consequences. Now we have to deal with them, one way or another.
Thank you, Water Resources. I hope you rot in the hole you've dug for yourself.
This whole situation pisses me off to no end.
Back in December, the fish populations in the Delta were dropping to crisis levels and no one knew for sure why. Delta smelt were of particular concern, as they're an indicator species that had previously been very common and their population was declining unbelievably fast.
Then, in March, a court ruling brought to light that the Department of Water Resources has been running the huge water pumps illegally, insisting they didn't need permits. The biggest question was why the state government had known about this for a year and had taken no action.
In April, another judge concurred that the federal permits were too lax, and didn't take the steep decline in fish population into account.
In early May, it came to light that Water Resources knew that they were probably in violation of the Cal Endangered Species Act as early as 2003, and never bothered to follow through on getting an endorsement of the federal permit from the Department of Fish and Game. They just kept their heads down and went ahead.
At about the same time, Water Resources admitted they were in an impossible situation and announced that they wouldn't comply with the 60-day deadline to get permits, because they didn't have time to get state ones and the federal ones weren't enough. They're hoping to have permits of some kind by April.
I would have bet money that the state wasn't actually going to shut off the pumps. I would have lost that bet.
They're only doing it for seven to ten days, and there won't be any shortage... the only reason I can think of to shut off the pumps for so brief a time is as a "look, we mean it" measure. It isn't long enough to let the fish recover (there was an assay this spring that found only 25 smelt). It won't let fresh water infiltrate significantly into the lower delta for long enough to make a difference there. It may spur water-conservation efforts, but it's too soon to expect cities to have viable plans for that in place, let alone agriculture.
The pumps aren't the only thing impacting fish in the Delta; there's pesticide runoff and some nasty invasives taking over as well. But water quality, quantity, and the mechanical action of the pumps are all very large factors in that environment, and some of this could have been averted if Water Resources had actually gotten their asses in gear and done what was necessary to comply with state law four years ago. Four years could have made all the difference.
Now we've gotten backed into a corner, and there are damned few solutions, none of them simple. The opponents' rallying call of "Shut off the pumps" is inane. Reducing the amount pumped, particularly at sensitive times of year, is a more reasonable solution that may help... but those sensitive times of year are in the dead of summer, when the call for irrigation water for landscapes and fields is very high. Nobody knows how much it'll help the fish, and water usage is going up all the time as we build houses and grapevines in previously untouched wildland. (Agricultural land and houses have about the same water demand.) We may have water shortages in the long-term future, from a need to rebuild the Delta rather than from droughts.
Lots of people are looking askance again at the fact that we send a lot of water to the San Fernando Valley. I've never been a fan of that, but then again, water sources down there are limited. We can't just cut them off, but I haven't seen a lot of movement on finding innovative alternatives.
And that's what all this comes down to now. Ecological crisis, or economic crisis, or residential water shortages? Those are the three pitfalls based on who gets the short end of the stick... and there isn't enough stick to go around anymore. Ignore the alarm bells, and there are consequences. Now we have to deal with them, one way or another.
Thank you, Water Resources. I hope you rot in the hole you've dug for yourself.
