Conservation

TO: The Honorable Phil Isenberg and Members of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force
650 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Comments on the Delta Vision Final Report

DATE: February 25, 2008

Dear Chairman Isenberg and Task Force Members:

The California-Nevada Chapter (Chapter) of the American Fisheries Society represents over 500 professional scientists in California and Nevada involved in fisheries research, management, and policy. The mission of the Chapter and our parent society is to use and promote the use of science to improve conservation and sustainable management of fishery resources and the aquatic ecosystems upon which they depend. Since its establishment, the Chapter has provided technical analysis, interpretation, and policy recommendations on many regional fishery issues, including endangered species protection, invasive species control, and water resource management. In 1990, the Chapter filed the petition to list Delta smelt as a threatened species under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Many of our members are engaged in aquatic habitat restoration, working in almost all lake and river systems in California and Nevada to enhance, protect, and conserve fish populations for the benefit of the public.

This letter is the first in a series of comments from the Chapter regarding the Delta Vision Final Report "Our Vision for the California Delta," and the upcoming Task Force Strategic Plan for the Delta. Several visions of a future Delta ecosystem have been proposed and the Chapter intends to evaluate them. Regarding the Delta Vision Final Report, the Chapter generally agrees with its contents. The major challenge now is to come up with a workable Strategic Plan that meets the needs of Californians and also garners enough political support for implementation. We are interested in participating in this process.

The need for a strategic plan to protect the biological resources of the Delta is urgent and should include the following:

• Ways to reverse the decline of key Delta species, such as delta smelt, longfin smelt, and striped bass, as well as the foodwebs on which they depend.

• Recognition that the Delta is going to change dramatically in the next 25-50 years from the combined effects of land subsidence, sea level rise, increased frequency of flooding (climate change), weak levees, and earthquakes.
• Reductions in the impacts of invasive species, including preventing additional new invasions.
• Recognition that agriculture and urbanization are not sustainable on most subsided islands.
• Large-scale efforts to create tidal habitats in areas such as Suisun Marsh and Cache Slough.
• Improved management of floodplains in the Yolo Bypass and elsewhere and creation of additional floodplain habitat along the San Joaquin River.
• Reduction in pollutants flowing into the Delta , especially pesticides and salt from the San Joaquin River.
• Reduction in pumping from the CVP and SWP pumps in the southern Delta to protect threatened species.

We agree with the Task Force's finding that "the entire web of estuarine relationships must be rewoven and sustained." The development of an appropriate definition of ecosystem restoration and suitable performance measures is critical to the process of reaching this new sustainability. Given the recent pelagic organism decline as well as impacts to upstream species, it appears that human uses have failed to provide sufficient environmental protections. Likely stressors on the Delta ecosystem include habitat loss and degradation, water diversions, contaminant inputs, and the introduction of non-native species that prey upon or compete with native species. There is a pressing need to re-examine priorities, develop restoration strategies, support native species, and implement conservation actions that recognize fundamental changes in the Delta. These tasks will require the identification and application of the best available science and the Chapter can be instrumental in assisting the Blue Ribbon Task Force in this pursuit. For example, our members could help explore the idea that large-scale flooding of islands in the western and central Delta may actually be beneficial to desirable fishes and fisheries by creating productive open water habitat that is unfriendly to problem invaders (e.g., overbite clam and Brazilian waterweed).

Thank you for your efforts to improve Delta management. I hope you welcome our participation in this critical planning process. Should you have additional questions please contact me at (707) 547-1988 or dmanning@scwa.ca.gov.

Sincerely,
David J. Manning
President, Cal-Neva Chapter
American Fisheries Society