Judge orders delta pump to be shut down to protect endangered smelt

Farmers last week were celebrating a reprieve from water pumping restrictions in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Five days later, it's over. A federal judge Wednesday rejected an emergency request by water districts representing cities and San Joaquin Valley farmers to delay a new set of pumping restrictions in the delta. U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger's ruling means one of five delta pumps operated by the federal government will be shut down Thursday morning. The action is being taken to protect the delta smelt, a fish listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Farmers and ranchers who rely on the delta for water - including those in the Westlands Water District - were disappointed by the decision, especially because it came just five days after Wanger put a two-week hold on pumping restrictions that are part of a controversial management plan for endangered winter-run salmon. The delta pumps have been running at full capacity since Wanger's decision. Now only four pumps will be running, which means a loss of 1,700 acre feet of water each day for those who receive federal water, said Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolf. If more smelt are found around the pumps, as expected, the water loss for agriculture will increase, she said...read more