"The two-inch fish has long been a stumbling block to delivering water to the Central Valley and Southern California. The Trump administration just defunded a program to breed more."
https://sjvsun.com/ag/trump-dumps-funding-for-delta-smelt-breeding-program/
As #DJT rants about rerouting #H20 flow to farmers & suburban fire hydrants in #California #WaterWars, a recent annual survey of several sites found none of the threatened #DeltaSmelt #fish conservationists use as indicator of health of species.
All is not lost though, as US Fish and Wildlife Service targeting Delta smelt however say they caught one in August of 2024.
It is significant that zero Delta smelt were caught in the survey despite the release of tens of thousands of hatchery-raised Delta smelt into the Delta over the past few years by the state and federal governments.
A new plan for California's water would increase the chances that salmon, smelt & steelhead would go #extinct: "Not only do the proposed operations make things no better (for fish in the San Francisco Bay-Delta), they actually make things worse," as our science director @jarosenfield told @CALMatters
https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/10/california-delta-plan-trump-newsom-salmon/
#cawater #californiawater #cadelta #endangeredspecies #salmon #chinooksalmon #deltasmelt #steelhead
Officials have decided to curtail additional water flows for endangered fish in the #Delta this fall--a recipe for #extinction of the formerly abundant Delta smelt.
As Baykeeper science director @jarosenfield & Friends of the River's Gary Bobker wrote:
"California habitually fails to enforce environmental laws designed to protect our aquatic ecosystems. Following the state’s lead, federal agencies skimp on environmental safeguards and waive the meager protections they do offer any time protecting the public’s fish, wildlife, waterways, and water quality, gets in the way of diverting more water to meet California’s seemingly unquenchable demand." https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-10-02/california-water-flow-requirement-debate
#cawater #extinctionisforever #deltasmelt #fish #fishes #californiafish #endangeredspecies #wildlife @ianjames @RestoreTheDelta
The decline of multiple fish species across the Bay-Delta estuary suggest a common threat: "White sturgeon are the largest North American freshwater fish, Delta smelt are among the smallest North American freshwater fish," as our science director @jarosenfield said to Maven's Notebook.
"One lives one year, the other lives 100 years. They don’t have much in common, but the fact that they're both in decline tells us we're damaging the entire ecosystem. … They need high river flows."
https://mavensnotebook.com/2024/07/11/feature-a-bigger-older-fish-gasping-for-more-water-white-sturgeon-slipping-away/
#fish #fishing #whitesturgeon #deltasmelt #baydelta @RestoreTheDelta
I wanted to post this for just good news. But life is only giving me lemons this year.
The good is we've seen the highest count of Devil's Hole Pupfish in a quarter of a century! And I have a pin! And you can also have this pin. I love fish and everyone should love them too.
I also am now buried in vet bills after - a place- took advantage of me. So shopping appreciated.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605651676/moonrise-enamel-pin-endangerd-fish-delta
#enamelpins #endangeredanimals #fish #deltasmelt #DevilsHolePupfish #goldenskiffia #humanart
Levka
Michael ☕️
LilMikeSF
San Francisco Baykeeper
Bri
Restore the Delta