Peripheral
Tunnels will not Eliminate Massive Fish Kills at Export Facilities
More
than 130 million fish have been killed since 2000;
Fish
losses could even increase with added North Delta diversion
SACRAMENTO, CA - The California Sportfishing
Alliance (CSPA) and Restore the Delta (RTD) today released a CSPA white paper
concluding that millions of fish would continue to be killed were the
Peripheral Tunnels to be built. CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings, who
wrote the white paper, said, "Proponents of the Bay Delta Conservation
Plan (BDCP) and its peripheral tunnels suggest that only by diverting water
from the Sacramento River can the Delta be restored because of immense fishery
losses at the South Delta export pumps. This is simply incorrect! Fish losses
could even increase with the addition of a North Delta diversion point."
Water exports from the Delta are
lethal to fish.
CSPA reported, "Between 2000 and 2011, more than 130
million fish have been salvaged at the State and Federal Project water export
facilities in the South Delta. Actual losses are far higher. For example,
recent estimates indicate that 5-10 times more fish are lost than are salvaged,
largely due to the high predation losses in and around water project
facilities."
Diversion from the South Delta will
remain essential.
Exports from the South Delta pumps will remain a significant
percentage of total water exports. BDCP currently estimates that 50% of State
and Federal Project exports would come from the existing South Delta diversion
facilities in average water years and as much as 75-84% in dry and critical
water years. In fact, BDCP modeling suggests that exports and fish entrainment
from South Delta diversions could potentially increase in certain water year
types and for critical life stages of certain species. The BDCP itself
estimates the project could increase the killing of steelhead, Winter and Fall-run Chinook salmon, Longfin
smelt and Sacramento splittail.
South Delta export fish screens are
ineffective and obsolete.
The present South Delta fish screens are based upon 1950s
technology, and massive fish losses have been documented for more than 30
years. Only about 11-18% of salmon or steelhead entrained in Clifton Court Forebay survive.
Proposed fish screens on the Sacramento
River are problematic.
Contrary to assurances of BDCP proponents, it is uncertain
whether the fish screens for the proposed new North Delta diversion will
actually work. The proposed screens are experimental and have never been
employed anywhere else. Some 22 studies are required to determine if the
proposed screen design concept will work, will be protective, or if the screens
can be legally permitted. Half of these studies are proposed post-construction.
Waiting until after construction and the expenditure of billions of dollars to
see if these experimental new concept fish screens will work makes no
sense. Construction of North Delta diversions should not be
initiated until it can be established that the proposed experimental fish screens
are feasible, protective and legally permittable
pursuant to the Endangered Species Act.
"The Peripheral Tunnels would increase, not decrease,
the massive fish kills from water exports, "said Barbara
Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of RTD. "For decades, they have
failed to provide effective fish screens at the existing pumps. Why would
anyone believe that new, untested fish screens at a second diversion point will
be any better? The Peripheral Tunnels are the death knell for our salmon
fisheries, and deny San Francisco Bay of the freshwater flows to sustain
Pacific fisheries."
"The history of the Delta tells us that past agency
assurances that projects to divert water from the estuary would be beneficial
or benign were grievously wrong: virtually all of them exacerbated conditions
to the point where Delta fisheries are on life support. The harsh reality is
that no estuary in the world has survived the diversion of more than half
its water flow and the extreme modification of its hydrograph (i.e., peak
flows shifted from winter to summer). Speculative promises of mitigation and accountability
can no longer be sufficient to justify the construction of major water
projects," said Jennings.
The complete White Paper, "BDCP and Fish Population Losses at the Pumps,"is posted to
RTD's web site.
Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com;Twitter: @shopcraft
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 barbara@restorethedelta.org; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta