Water Rationing due to Fish--Farmers Concerned
Delta Smelt cause of water rationing.
So Cal farmers are being effected.
Date: 10/11/2007 3:59:15 PM ( 17 y ) ... viewed 856 times
1:58 PM
October 11, 07
Moyle believes the delta smelt is on the verge of extinction. The fish is particularly vulnerable now, he said, because it is concentrated mostly in one area where a toxic spill or disaster of some sort could wipe them all out.
Lawyers for the state and federal governments and water contractors argued that the pumps are only a minor part of the problem and that other factors - like nonnative predatory species, toxic runoff, wastewater dumping and unregulated pumping from farmers - are the major culprits. They wanted the other issues studied and addressed before limits on pumping were put in place.
Environmentalists contend a limited water supply might impress upon the farmers the realities of global warming, thereby forcing them to grow more sustainable crops and install more efficient irrigation systems.
E-mail Peter Fimrite at pfimrite@sfchronicle.com.
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