Fighting to Save the Delta Smelt

A New Lease on Life for Delta Smelt

In December 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a new opinion recognizing that water operations in California must be altered to prevent the extinction of the Delta smelt. The order comes one year after a federal judge ordered water agencies to ensure that more water be made available in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in order to reverse the rapid decline of the Delta smelt fishery, which was headed for extinction.

The new opinion is a drastic improvement over the opinion struck down by a U.S. District Court in December 2007 and may help prevent the extinction of the Delta smelt and other local fisheries that are verging on collapse, such as the striped bass and California's Chinook salmon.

The Long Fight to Save the Smelt

The fight to protect the Delta smelt began in 2005 when Baykeeper and a coalition of environmental groups opposed Fish and Wildlife’s initial Biological Opinion that justified increases in water pumping from the Delta by stating that no harm would result to Delta smelt from increased pumping. The coalition -- Baykeeper, Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the River and the Bay Institute, with Earthjustice serving as legal counsel -- sued the agency, arguing that the opinion was not based on science and was at odds with all indications that California’s Bay-Delta ecosystem and species were already on the verge of collapse.

In May 2007, U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled strongly in favor of environmental groups, stating that the Delta smelt was “undisputedly in jeopardy as to its survival and recovery” and that Fish and Wildlife’s original opinion was invalid under the Endangered Species Act. In the meantime, the judge ordered the pumps shut down to prevent the total annihilation of the Delta smelt species. The pumps were stopped for nine days in June 2007 to protect the smelt.

In December 2007, the Judge ordered the Agency to write a new opinion based on scientific facts about the Delta smelt and Delta ecosystem. Fish and Wildlife Service’s December 2008 Biological Opinion was written in response to the Judge’s order and marks a significant improvement in the chances of survival for the Delta smelt.

Why Delta Smelt Are Important

The smelt are important for two reasons. First, they are a designated threatened species, meaning they face possible extinction. Smelt were once one of the most abundant fish in the Delta, but the population declined sharply in the 1980s when their habitat was polluted by agricultural pesticides, invaded by non-native species and wrecked by massive water pumps delivering water to farms and cities south of the Delta. In the last several years, the population has shrunk drastically, with an estimated 90% reduction from 2006 to 2007. The population remains at critically low levels.

Second, the Delta smelt are an indicator species – the health of the smelt population is directly tied to a clean and healthy aquatic environment, so their health reflects the health of the overall Delta. In short, when the smelt aren’t doing well, it’s a sign that the Delta isn’t doing well.