Decision moves away from outdated “Fall X2” provision that isn’t helping Delta smelt populations recover but has significant water costs
Press release from the State Water Contractors
Today, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) adapted State Water Project operations in the Bay-Delta to protect both fish and water quality while preserving essential water storage in reservoirs as we begin a new water year. The change was made following a decade of scientific investigations and recent peer-reviewed life-cycle model results which clearly demonstrated that what’s known as “Fall X2” water releases following wet and above normal water year types are not providing the benefits to Delta smelt that were originally hypothesized in 2008.
Considering Delta monitoring data from earlier this year and the recent scientific findings, DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) have adjusted the Fall X2 flow requirement in the 2020 Incidental Take Permit (ITP) for the State Water Project, as well as the 2019 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion (2019 BiOp) for the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, while remaining in compliance with environmental rules. In addition to operating Fall X2 requirements in September, DWR and Reclamation operated the Suisun Marsh Salinity Control Gate in September and will continue to meet Bay-Delta water quality objectives in October.
Statement from Jennifer Pierre, General Manager of the State Water Contractors:
“We are extremely pleased with the decision to rely on the full body of scientific evidence to assess the value of Fall X2 releases and adjust October operations accordingly. This adjustment ensures the same protections for fish and water quality as those contemplated in the ITP and 2019 BiOp while smartly protecting water supplies. We applaud state leaders for their continued commitment to science-based decision-making and ensuring adaptive management in the Delta is more than just a catchphrase.
The cost of releasing additional water in the few years Fall X2 has been implemented has had varying—but significant—costs to our water supply by releasing stored water and cutting exports to test the Fall X2 adaptive management action’s potential benefits to Delta smelt. In 2023 alone, the State Water Project sent 600,000 acre-feet to the ocean to implement the Fall X2 requirement.
Due to its high water cost and uncertainty around its efficacy for fish, the State Water Contractors (SWC) have been investing in science to understand the effects of Fall X2. Since 2017, the SWC has led or contributed to several studies totaling over $1.6 million, in addition to funds provided to DWR through the SWP contracts. We remain committed to science-based decision-making, monitoring and research efforts that directly inform key management decisions, and will continue partnering with research organizations, resource agencies, water agencies, and other Delta stakeholders and communities. There is no doubt that if we continue to work together and follow the science, we can find ways to meet the co-equal goals of water supply reliability and protecting the Delta ecosystem.”
The State Water Contractors is a statewide, non-profit association of 27 public agencies from Northern, Central and Southern California that purchase water under contract from the California State Water Project. Collectively the State Water Contractors deliver water to more than 27 million residents throughout the state and more than 750,000 acres of agricultural land. For more information on the State Water Contractors, please visit www.swc.org.
More coverage …
State and federal agencies cancel action to protect Delta smelt
In California, today marks the start of the new “water year,” the date water managers use to mark the end of the dry season and the beginning of the wet. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) are kicking off this new water year by cancelling the fall flow protection for Delta Smelt — once one of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s most common fish — and now its rarest. According to the current state and federal Endangered Species Act permits, DWR and Reclamation are required to release a pulse of water through the Delta to the San Francisco Bay in September and October to improve habitat conditions for the listed Delta Smelt. This fall outflow requirement is only triggered in years when it is wetter than normal and is often referred to as “Fall X2.” Some of the state’s largest Delta water exporters wrote to the agencies in August, requesting the suspension of Fall X2, despite Delta Smelt populations having sunk to record low levels in recent years. … ” Continue reading this press release from multiple conservation groups.
Westlands Water District supports use of adaptive management
“Westlands Water District is encouraged by the recent decision to employ adaptive management as part of implementing a regulation affecting our federal and state water projects. The decision was related to the implementation of the Fall X2 measure, one piece of a set of operational measures set to enforce the Endangered Species Act. This example of relying on recent scientific information and real-time monitoring is an encouraging example of how flexible management can contribute to achieving the co-equal goals of ecosystem protection and a reliable water supply for the farms that feed that nation. … ” Continue reading from Westlands Water District.
State and federal agencies cancel fall flow protections for endangered Delta Smelt
“The Delta Smelt, once the most abundant fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, is functionally extinct in the wild, due to massive water exports to agribusiness and other factors over the past several decades. Zero smelt have been caught over the past six years in the California Department of Fish and Game’s Fall Midwater Trawl Survey. But representatives of fishing and environmental groups accuse the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) of starting the new water year by cancelling the fall flow protection for Delta Smelt. … ” Read more from the Daily Kos.
