Rationing linked to dying fish

GLENDALE — Efforts to protect a tiny endangered fish in Northern California may lead to mandatory water rationing next year, especially if the Southland has another dry winter and allotments to water agencies are cut, officials said.

Local water agencies are anxiously awaiting the fallout of a federal judge’s ruling two weeks ago that shuts down a major water pump in the Sacramento River delta — a major source for the Metropolitan Water District, which in turn provides half the water for the Crescenta Valley and 70% for Glendale.

Even though the written decision has not been delivered to Metropolitan water officials, they are forecasting a cut of 12% to 30% from the State Water Project, and they said a reduction on the high end would make mandatory conservation likely.

As local water officials continue to push their public campaigns calling for a voluntary 10% reduction in water use during drought, the prospect of smaller allotments from Metropolitan next season does not bode well for the honor system.

“If we have another dry winter, then very clearly that will lead us to some form of mandatory conservation,” said Dan Waters, interim director of Glendale Water & Power.

The trickle-down reduction stems from efforts to protect dwindling numbers of the endangered delta smelt — 3-inch-long fish that are endemic to the Sacramento River estuary. A federal judge ruled Aug. 31 in favor of a consortium of environmental groups that argued pump stations in the delta were sucking up the tiny fish and decimating the population.

Pumps have had to be shut down in the estuary numerous times since the fish were declared endangered in 1993 because of the problem, but a biological opinion the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department issued in 2005 concluded that the delta operations did not jeopardize the smelt’s survival.

That opinion prompted the lawsuit that led to the most recent decision, which gives the federal agency one year to develop a more accurate biological assessment that will be used to govern the estuary and pump operations.

While the cut in water delivery won’t affect the Metropolitan Water District and its members this season because of their extensive reserve networks, its focus remains on the next few years. Officials will have to balance maintaining the status quo with depleting their reserves.