The Bay Institute Gives Thumbs Up to State Water Board's Recognition of Scientific Case for Major New Delta Flow Improvements

NOVATO, Calif., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the State Water Resources Control Board released its long awaited draft report, identifying new flow criteria for the endangered Delta ecosystem. The report recognizes that the Delta ecosystem is getting far less water than is needed to protect public trust resources, and recommends new flow criteria that would significantly improve conditions in the estuary, based in large part on analyses and recommendations developed by The Bay Institute.

"The Board's flow report confirms what scientists have been telling us for years," said Gary Bobker, program director for The Bay Institute, which oversaw the effort to shape the Board's findings. "The lack of freshwater flow is one of the root causes of the collapse of the Delta and San Francisco Bay ecosystems, and large-scale flow improvements are one of the most critical elements needed to solve those problems."

Among its most important findings, the Board report recommends dedicating 75% of natural runoff in the watershed to Delta outflow from January through June; 75% of runoff for Sacramento River inflow and 60% for San Joaquin inflow in the winter and spring; fall outflows to maintain brackish water habitat in the Delta in wetter years; and positive flows or low reverse flows in Delta channels in most years.

In contrast, in recent years, spring flows to the Bay have been reduced on average by more than 50%; San Joaquin inflows by 90%; and reverse flows have averaged as high as – 8,000 cfs, killing up to 40% of the delta smelt population. The Board report cites The Bay Institute's work on the significant, persistent and well-documented biological effects of outflows, San Joaquin inflows, and reverse flows, repeatedly and extensively in explaining and justifying its proposed criteria.

The Bay Institute submitted important new analyses and comprehensive testimony for the Board's Delta flow criteria proceedings, identifying the Delta outflows, river inflows, and controls on reverse flows needed for public trust protection, on behalf of American Rivers, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Heritage Institute, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The report also acknowledges that improving flows should be linked to other restoration activities, including habitat restoration, but does not support in any way the view of those parties who argue for the primacy of any and every other factor except flows in protecting the Delta.

"By and large, the Board appears to have gotten it right in determining the magnitude and pattern of the flows needed for the ecosystem," said Bobker, noting that The Bay Institute's scientists will be reviewing the report to ensure that there are no significant omissions in protection for public trust protections. "The simple fact is that no amount of habitat restoration or pollution control is going to restore an aquatic ecosystem like the Delta if you don't provide the flows on a scale that make it a healthy aquatic ecosystem."

SB1, the Delta Reform Act of November 2009, required the Board to, within nine months of enactment, use the best available scientific information to develop new flow criteria to protect public trust resources in the Delta, in order to inform planning decisions affecting the Delta. The Bay Institute, which helped draft and supported passage of SB1, believes this new information will be extremely useful to the new Delta Stewardship Council and to the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan process in helping develop and adopt a comprehensive solution to the Delta's problems that balances among competing needs for water.

"In order to balance between competing needs, you have to know what those needs are," said Bobker. "The problem has been that the needs of the Delta ecosystem have been left undefined or even suppressed, while the needs of those interests who divert water from the system have been forcefully stated and unceasingly promoted. The Board's new flow criteria give decision-makers the information to begin to balance water needs honestly and fairly."

The Board is expected to adopt a final report on August 3.

About The Bay Institute

The Bay Institute is the leader in protecting, restoring and inspiring conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed — from the Sierra to the sea. For nearly 30 years, The Bay Institute has been developing and leading model scientific research, habitat restoration, education and advocacy programs to preserve California's most important natural resource. Learn more at www.bay.org.

SOURCE The Bay Institute

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