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California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
“Conserving California’s Fisheries"

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May 31: The Day The Pumps Stood Still!

 

Bill Jennings, speaking out for fish and the delta.

June 2, 2009 -- The US Fish and Wildlife Service has required significant reductions in water exports in order to prevent Delta smelt from being killed at the pumps this spring. On May 31, the Delta pumps were silent because the salvage of Delta smelt at the state and federal project pumps had reached 423 the previous day, close to the monthly quota. The legal limit for take in May was 449, while the concern level is 299, according to Bill Jennings, Executive Director, CSPA.
 
"DWR and the Bureau would have been in violation of the take provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act had they salvaged 27 more Delta smelt the next day," explained Jennings. "Had that occurred, I'm sure some imprudent, radical, recklessly unreasonable and irresponsible group of environmental stone throwers like us would have surely sued. So, perhaps for the first time, both the Banks and Tracy pumping plants were shut down (Banks actually shut down the day before)."
 
"I suggest that we set aside May 31 as an annual CSPA holiday in celebration of the Day the Pumps Shut Down," Jennings quipped. "Perhaps, May 31 should be our annual fundraiser, as it symbolizes our holy grail."
 
Miraculously, reverse flows in Old and Middle Rivers suddenly went positive (+925 cfs) and no smelt were taken at the pumps. "Imagine that: no exports = no dead smelt or splittail," Jennings.
 
Unfortunately, June 1 started a new calendar and the pumps were quickly restarted. "But, for one shining moment, the export pumps (which the contractors keep telling us are not the problem) were quiet and the killing stopped," Jennings concluded.

 

Smelt take chart