Breaking News: State Water Project Pumps That Export Delta Water to 25 Million Californians Shut Down Because of Failure to Comply With Endangered Species Act

The requirement of full mitigation in the judge's order meant that DWR was required to submit a specific plan minimizing the fish kill and separately adding back in to the Delta as many of these species as it destroys in its operations.

The ruling two months ago and today's shutdown of these pumps has coincided with increasing focus on the Delta with the release of two major reports and the attention of the California legislature on water policy in light of global warming's possible effects on snowfall and rain.

A 324 page report, "Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta", by The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) was released in February. Another major report was issued last week, "Re-envisioning the Delta: Alternative Futures for the Heart of California" by The Delta Initiative of the University of California at Berkeley.

When the lawsuit was filed, Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, noted that the California Delta is experiencing its greatest challenge and that it is the most important estuary on the West Coast of the United States. He said:

"At a time when state and federal agencies are spending millions of dollars on emergency studies to identify the cause of the crash of Delta fisheries, DFG and DWR have conspired, with a wink and a nod, to exempt the State Water Project pumps--the largest killer of endangered species in the estuary--from having to comply with the fundamental requires of CESA."

The 36 page decision by Alameda County Judge Frank Roesch upon which his order is based can be seen on the Alameda County Courts' website. The case number is RG06292124.

The California Progress Report has published articles on the particular problems with the Delta Smelt, including "Judge to CWR on Delta Pumps: Hey Reckless Driver--Hand Over the Keys" by Gary Patton of the Planning and Conservation League. We also published an open letter from Senator Darrell Steinberg, Chair of the Senate Resources Committee, to the California Department of Resources in which he makes the case that the dire results of the smelt survey is an indication that the Delta is literally dying. In that letter, Steinberg took the Department to task for not following through on prior commitments.

A week ago, we reported that Governor Schwarzenegger had cancelled a meeting with conservationists and would not discuss the extinction of the Delta Smelt and a plan to solve the problem prepared by the Planning and Conservation League.

Water is going to be a big issue in California this year and probably for years to come. Mark Twain, a big fan of the West noted many years ago: "Whiskey is for drinking. Water is for fighting over." You'll be reading a lot more about this in the days to come starting with tomorrow's papers.