Activists To File Another Lawsuit Over Delta Smelt

Despite federal water restrictions that already threaten to put 40,000 Californians out of work and significantly raise fruit and vegetable prices for the entire United States, two activist groups said Tuesday that they intend to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to tighten restrictions governing the longfin and delta smelt.

The Bay Institute and Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice March 24 that they intend to sue the FWS to change the status of the delta smelt from threatened to endangered.

FEDS SHOULD FOLLOW MORE RESTRICTIVE STATE EXAMPLE

The lawsuit will demand that the FWS follow the lead of the California Fish and Game Commission which, earlier this month, voted to protect longfin smelt as a threatened species and changed the state protected status of delta smelt from threatened to endangered.

“Due to inaction by the Bush administration, which blocked processing of the listing petitions, a final determination on the petition to list the Bay-Delta population of longfin smelt is seven months overdue, and a final determination on changing the status of the delta smelt from threatened to endangered is two years overdue.”

“The longfin smelt was once among the most abundant fish in the open waters of the San Francisco estuary, and they were an integral part of this ecosystem’s food-web,” said Dr. Jonathan Rosenfield, conservation biologist at The Bay Institute. “The precipitous decline of longfin smelt, its distant cousin delta smelt, green sturgeon, steelhead, and two populations of Chinook salmon reveals an ecosystem collapse brought about by mismanagement of our freshwater resources and lax enforcement of our environmental laws,” said a joint statement from the two groups.

MORE WATER NEEDED FOR FISH IN ORDER TO TO PRESERVE ECOSYSTEM

According to the joint statement, “The strong legal protections of the Endangered Species Act are needed to force state and federal regulators to take actions to save our native fish,” said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Unsustainable record water diversions from the Delta are driving formerly abundant species at the base of the food chain to extinction and crippling Central Valley salmon runs.”

“With present trends, the delta smelt will go extinct soon if we do not ratchet up protections and protect its habitat,” said Miller. “Federal and state agencies are not only failing to address the problem, but are moving forward with plans for diversions and storage projects that will increase the threats and further degrade Delta habitat.”