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Aquatic Resources
Problem
Background
Partners
- Bay Conservation and Development Commission
- CA Dept of Fish & Game
- California Department of Boating and Waterways
- CA Dept of Water Resources
- California Ocean Protection Council
- Central Valley Regional Water Board
- CALFED Bay-Delta Program
- National Marine Fisheries Service
- State Water Resources Control Board
- San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board
- San Francisco Estuary Institute
- South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
- State Coastal Conservancy
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 9
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
For more than a century, humans have modified the habitats of the Bay-Delta Estuary and its watershed, and extracted its resources. Federal and state water projects were constructed in and upstream of the Delta for the primary purposes of water conveyance and distribution, but their effects on ecological systems were not adequately understood, addressed, or mitigated. Today, ecosystem functions are dimished and estuarine habitats and biodiversity are threatened. Most troubling is the decline of four important species of estuarine fish—the Delta smelt, striped bass, longfin smelt, and threadfin shad. Resource managers have termed this phenomenon “pelagic organism decline,” or POD. 2008 has witnessed preciptious decline of estuarine salmon.
The following are some of the complex issues threatening aquatic resources:
- Pumping plants for the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, which divert millions of gallons of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system to farms and urban centers
- Agricultural diversions of water (in the Delta alone, there are approximately 1,800)
- Habitat alteration by flood control and navigation projects
- The loss of shaded habitat next to and over rivers
- The spread of non-native species that out-compete native species of plants and animals
- Water pollution, such as pesticide pollution
- Poaching of certain species of fish, such as striped bass and sturgeon
Major accomplishments:
- Anadromous fish habitat upstream of the Delta has improved with restoration activities on Butte, battle and Clear Creeks.
- The acquisition of thousands of acres of Bay habitats including tidal marshes and flats, lagoons, beaches, salt ponds, seasonal wetlands and creeks.
Current focus:
- Stem and reverse the decline in the health and abundance of estuarine biota, restoring healthy natural reproduction
- Restore healthy estuarine habitat to the Bay-Delta, taking into consideration all beneficial uses of Bay-Delta resources
- Ensure the survival and recovery of listed (and candidate) threatened and endangered species, as well as other species in decline
- Manage the fish and wildlife resources of the Estuary to achieve the goals stated above
For a list of planned actions, click here
For more information:
Aquatic Resources Chapter, Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan