Federal study recommends more CA Delta restrictions

SAN DIEGO — “Bad news for California’s water supply” is contained in an 800-page federal study released June 4 that recommends more water supply restrictions for this and other California cities, one San Diego County water official told KPBS in a June 5 report.

In the National Marine Fisheries Service biological opinion for Chinook salmon, steelhead and green sturgeon, the agency recommends changes to the way the state moves water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with a goal of protecting several endangered fish species.

The fisheries service says those changes would reduce the Delta water supply by up to 7 percent annually. However, California Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said the recommended actions could reduce the supply by an additional 10 percent (300,000 acre feet to 500,000 acre feet) — that’s in addition to pumping restrictions already in place.

San Diego County Water Authority Assistant General Manager Dennis Cushman told KPBS: “This is bad news for California’s water supply reliability and is another chink in the armor and another challenge that will be formidable for water agencies to overcome.”

A June 4 State Water Contractors news release announces the additional restrictions, which are expected to begin in 2010. In it, Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the association that represents California water agencies, said, “Every time we get hit with new cutbacks, it’s like closing another lane on the ‘water-supply freeway.’ … Public water agencies have faced cutback after cutback in failed attempts to boost fish populations. Project operations are only one potential reason for the fish decline.”