Feds' delay of delta plan questioned
By: Robert Rodriguez

Farmers and water district officials are disappointed that the federal government has put on hold a plan to protect threatened fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The "Two Gates" experimental project was designed to divert the delta smelt away from the massive pumps, allowing water to continue flowing south to Valley farms.

As proposed, two movable gates placed on a barge would sit in two large channels of the delta. The gates would prevent silted water from flowing south toward the pumps. The smelt tend to follow the turbid water.

Farmers had hoped the project would be operational by this year. But U.S. Interior Department officials say the scientific reviews of the project have raised serious questions about whether it would work.

"It was determined that we need to step back and look at those questions and see if we can get the answers before we invest $80 million over the next five years," said Pete Lucero, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency within the Department of Interior.

One of the issues raised is whether the fish would behave the way bureau officials expect. "And there are no conclusions that they will do that," Lucero said.

Some water district officials say they don't understand the government's reasoning.

"They are saying that they want to take time and study the underlying hypothesis, but that was the purpose of the project," said Ara Azhderian, water policy administrator for the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority. "It was an experiment that was intended to test the hypothesis."

West Fresno County farmer Dan Errotebere said some farmers can't wait for more studies. Many in the region are struggling financially as a result of three consecutive dry years. Along with less rainfall, environmental restrictions at the delta have reduced water to farmers in the Valley.

"It is very disheartening," Errotebere said. "And it doesn't bode well for the future when the government talks about trying to help us."

Farmers wanted the project to provide some short-term relief to their water shortages. But even some farmers had grown increasingly frustrated at the plan's timetable and cost.

Lucero said that while there is no timetable for when the project may be built, it also is not dead. "We will continue to work on this," he said.

To help plug some of the scientific gaps, Department of Interior officials are working with the U.S. Geological Survey to study the interaction between the smelt and the delta's turbid waters.