Roman Polanski’s classic film Chinatown (1974) depicts some of the seedier consequences of the “water wars” that have accompanied much of California’s development. More recently, the thirst for water by California’s Central Valley for the agricultural industry has pitted water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta (the Delta) for industrial use against that needed to sustain the critically endangered Delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), which is endemic to the Delta (i.e., it occurs nowhere else on Earth). Basically, the more fresh water that is drawn (annually) from the Delta to inland agricultural areas, the worse the Delta smelt fares. Given the severe drought throughout much of the southwest US this year (and this is before the dry season), there has been pressure for increasing extraction of fresh water from the Delta. A recent federal (US) Appeals Court decision, however, has upheld a 2008 US Fish and Wildlife Biological Opinion that minimum flows into the Delta must be maintained to protect critical Delta smelt habitat. The battle over water is, however, far from over; apparently the proponents of increased water withdrawals can still ask the court to re-hear the case or apply directly to the Supreme Court. The case of the Delta smelt is a classic example of conflicting demands for resources (water) critical to biodiversity, and the number of such conflicts will surely only increase in the future.
See San Francisco appeals court upholds plan to protect delta smelt and Court Upholds Protections of California Bay Delta Fish Species on the Brink of Extinction.
An adult Delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus.
Written by Rick Taylor, Director of the BBM.