More water

Propelled by strong doubts by U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wenger about the current water regime, the interested parties have reached an agreement. The agreement signed by the Westlands Water District and environmental groups will increase water pumping from the Delta.

The deal only runs through June 30 and allows pumping so long as smelt are not caught in the pumps.

The deal is backed by Gov. Brown's appointee running the state Department of Water Resources. Also on board is the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and what the Sacramento Bee story Feb. 25 interestingly called "its (USFS's) environmental allies."

After a legal challenge from Westlands, Judge Wenger invalidated parts of the plan to protect the smelt. Westlands noted that there were other potential challenges to the smelt besides pumping. Among those are ammonia pollution from the inadequately treated sewage from the Sacramento Regional Sewage Plant, pesticide runoff and predatory fish, such as striped bass.

In fact, a recent legal settlement awaiting approval by a federal judge would require the California Department of Fish and Game to change the size and number of striped bass that fishermen can keep. The lawsuit was filed in 2008 by the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta and alleges that catch limits imposed by state officials have allowed the striped bass to flourish, contributing to steep population declines in several native fish species in the Delta, such as smelt and salmon smolts.

Striped bass are not native to California streams, having been imported in the 19th century. It's time to get this species under control. Westlands asserts, with some credibility, that the striped bass population has grown too large.

The loosening of pumping restrictions is welcome. Let's hope it makes a dent in the 40 percent unemployment rate in the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley that the pumping halt had caused.

Instead of killing off California agriculture and stealing water from foothill counties, the state and federal government should create more storage, such as the Sites reservoir near Maxwell in the Sacramento Valley and  the Auburn Dam on the North Fork of he American River. These can release water in the summer to satisfy Delta water flows to keep back salt water intrusion. The Auburn Dam can provide hydroelectric energy also.

In the meantime more pure science needs to be done by fishery scientists who don't have preconceived viewpoints to prove. Remember, it was University of Washington fisheries scientists studying salmon in the ocean who discoverd the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

All species of interest in the Delta need more study — sturgeon, salmon, smelt, striped bass, crayfish and any other aquatic species. Scientists have already noted the positive effect on salmon when the Yolo Bypass is flooded. It is a vast feeding zone for the salmon. A study program should be made for the Angelo Tsakopoulos property in Yolo County that is going to serve as an additional bypass.

We also look forward to complete restoration of the San Joaquin River and call on Congressman McClintock to back off from attacking a hard won compromise. The river had been completely sucked up by the Friant Dam near Visalia and just petered out into a sink in the valley floor. Its restoration should go a long way toward improving the salmon run.