National Academy of Sciences studying Delta
The Record
Recordnet
12/18/2009
The National Academy of Sciences - a kind of "Supreme Court" for scientists - said Thursday it has started a two-year review on the declining Delta.
A committee of 15 experts from across the country will hold its first meeting Jan. 24-28 at the University of California, Davis.
The team will produce two reports. The first, due about March 15, will address whether there are ways to protect Delta smelt and salmon without reducing water exports to most of California.
This review was prompted by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-San Francisco, who on behalf of Southern California corporate farmer Stewart Resnick asked for an investigation earlier this year.
In a subsequent letter to the San Francisco Chronicle, Feinstein said the academy's review could uphold the pumping restrictions, or it might determine they are not based on solid science. At any rate, the review should "satisfy any lingering questions about whether there are other ways to meet the state's economic needs while sufficiently protecting endangered species," Feinstein wrote.
Water cutbacks to the south San Joaquin Valley this year were mostly because of the three-year drought, not protections for smelt. Nevertheless, some water users and south Valley politicians say the Endangered Species Act should be overridden to free up water.
