Also from Restore the Delta:
"The special panel of scientists assembled by the National Research Council at the request of Senator Feinstein has announced that-surprise!-proposals to reduced Delta water diversions to protect fish are "scientifically justified." So yes, fish do prefer more water to less water. This confirms the conclusions reached last year by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in their biological opinions (BiOps) that led to shutting down the pumps for several weeks last summer.
The panel didn't quibble with "whether," but it did quibble with "when," as in "what environmental triggers indicate when diversions should be reduced?" It will take careful juggling to figure out how to get fish the water they need, when they need it, while still providing water to all the human beings who expect to get their own reliable supply of water from the Delta. What they need is "reasonable and prudent alternatives" (RPAs).
For example, when is it OK to reverse the flows in Old and Middle rivers? (Why would it ever be OK to reverse the flows of a river? Ah, but that isn't a reasonable or prudent question.)
The next task of the panel is to consider other stressors on listed fish and other RPAs. The report is due next year. Interestingly, the committee found that it was difficult to do a thorough evaluation partly because there is no good data on how much water is needed to implement solutions."
"The special panel of scientists assembled by the National Research Council at the request of Senator Feinstein has announced that-surprise!-proposals to reduced Delta water diversions to protect fish are "scientifically justified." So yes, fish do prefer more water to less water. This confirms the conclusions reached last year by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in their biological opinions (BiOps) that led to shutting down the pumps for several weeks last summer.
The panel didn't quibble with "whether," but it did quibble with "when," as in "what environmental triggers indicate when diversions should be reduced?" It will take careful juggling to figure out how to get fish the water they need, when they need it, while still providing water to all the human beings who expect to get their own reliable supply of water from the Delta. What they need is "reasonable and prudent alternatives" (RPAs).
For example, when is it OK to reverse the flows in Old and Middle rivers? (Why would it ever be OK to reverse the flows of a river? Ah, but that isn't a reasonable or prudent question.)
The next task of the panel is to consider other stressors on listed fish and other RPAs. The report is due next year. Interestingly, the committee found that it was difficult to do a thorough evaluation partly because there is no good data on how much water is needed to implement solutions."