The Delta Smelt Blues – LA’s water is still in the Forbay

January 24, 2025 -Fishing on the Forebay today turned out surprisingly well, despite there being no current flowing through from Check 12, the dam, or the powerhouse. I would have thought that by now water would be rushing south to Los Angeles, but there wasn’t enough current anywhere to swing my Clousers for stripers.

Instead of sticking to the powerhouse or the flats near Check 12, I decided to start my day revisiting some of the old haunts. I fished the islands and the flats from Medeiros to the 152 bridge, but I didn’t scope a single school of fish. From 9:00 AM to noon, it was a complete blank. Frustrated but determined, I switched tactics and headed over to the rock wall next to the powerhouse. Fishing in 20 feet of water, I finally picked up a few stripers.

From there, I slowly trolled a fly toward the water tower flats, searching for fish. I scanned every corner, but none of the schools were big enough to warrant stopping the boat to cast. When I got to the tire piles in front of the water tower, I decided to livescope those big fish that are almost always lurking there. Sure enough, I finally hooked one—but not what I expected. Dragging a fly along the bottom, I snagged what had to be a 30+ pound carp, hooked in the back. At first, I thought I had a sturgeon—it barely moved when I hooked it. For 20 minutes, I fought the fish with my 9-weight rod and a 15-pound test leader, fully bent the entire time. Just as I got it close enough to see, it surged and broke me off. It was easily the biggest fish I’ve ever hooked or snagged in the Forebay. Absolutely massive.

After that wild encounter, I picked up a couple more stripers and decided to try deeper water, figuring the fish might be holding at the bottom somewhere. Around 3:00 PM, I finally found them—big schools of stripers out from the rock wall, halfway down from the powerhouse. By 4:30 PM, I’d caught six more, ending the day with a total of 10 stripers. It was a slow start, but persistence paid off in the end.

Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California,

I spent the day listening to the news, reflecting in awe on the transformational changes happening in our country—changes I’m fortunate to have lived long enough to witness. In particular, I followed a press conference taking place in Los Angeles. As I tied one of Lee Haskins’ Delta Smelt patterns, it struck me: never before have I heard the Delta Smelt mentioned so frequently on national television. This month, it’s become a focal point in the media, largely due to the fires in LA and claims from both the media and Trump. They suggest that the primary reason water isn’t flowing to Central Valley farms and Southern California is due to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulations aimed at preserving the endangered Delta Smelt.

Trump has called on the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior to devise a new plan within 90 days to “route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for the people who desperately need a reliable water supply.” At the heart of the debate are the rules governing the federal Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, two systems critical for delivering water from Northern California rivers to San Joaquin Valley farmers, Southern California residents, and other users across the southern half of the state.

The challenge, however, lies in balancing this water management with protecting salmon and other endangered fish species. These regulations have long been a source of contention, sparking decades of debate among federal and state officials, environmentalists, farm groups, tribes, and scientists.

Background of the Delta Smelt. 

The delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is considered an endangered species under California law and a threatened species under federal law in the United States. Here’s the breakdown:

  1. Federal Status:  The delta smelt is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). There have been discussions about upgrading its status to endangered due to its declining population.
  2. California State Status: The delta smelt is listed as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), overseen by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, Delta Smelt have virtually disappeared due to numerous factors beyond water diversion, including habitat loss, invasive species, water quality issues, and droughts. As of today, the Delta Smelt is on the brink of extinction, despite water diversions that remain critical for supporting human life in California.

Historically, the primary concern over losing the Delta Smelt centered on its role in the food chain within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem. Its main ecological function was serving as forage for Striped Bass (a non-native species) and Chinook Salmon. Additionally, as filter feeders, Delta Smelt contributed to regulating water quality.

That said, I believe it is time to accept the loss of the Delta Smelt. California’s water ecosystem is largely beyond repair, particularly given the introduction of the Delta Smelt’s primary predator, the Striped Bass, which was introduced into the water system in the late 1800s.

For the Fisherman,  its all about the Salmon.

The Delta ecosystem is in a state of crisis, as evidenced by annual surveys that reveal plummeting populations of several native fish species. Winter-run Chinook salmon, which historically returned to the Sacramento River in spawning runs numbering hundreds of thousands, now see only a few thousand making the journey each year.

Many scientists agree that, among other measures, more water must remain in the Delta and flow to San Francisco Bay to restore the health of the estuary. One significant challenge for salmon is the impact of water pumps, which not only draw in endangered salmon smolts but also disrupt natural flow patterns, potentially confusing migrating salmon.

To address this, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have implemented restrictions on pumping during critical salmon migration periods.

Who is in charge?

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (CVP) and the California Department of Water Resources (SWP) are the two primary agencies controlling water flows from Northern to Southern California.  Water flows are heavily regulated to balance human needs with environmental protections. Agencies like the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) set guidelines for water quality and species protection in the Delta.

My thoughts

Im just a fisherman who has spent the last 50 years sitting in a boat on San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay, watching the water flow in and out. Over the decades, it’s become clear to me that water regulation in California is a mess, largely because too many agencies are involved in controlling water flows. Whether in years of drought or years of floods, the flows in and out of the reservoir and forebay have never made much sense. It’s a perfect example of how a bloated bureaucracy can cripple what should be a highly effective system.

Take these past few weeks during the LA fires as an example. I noticed that there was virtually no water flowing into the Mendota Canal for two weeks. Meanwhile, San Luis Reservoir has been filling quickly and is now nearly 80% full, even as the Sierra Nevada snowpack sits at 120% of average. San Luis could have easily supplied the water needed to fill the empty Santa Ynez Reservoir, yet I didn’t see any water moving through the canals to make that happen.

For perspective, the 117 million gallons needed to fill Santa Ynez Reservoir represent a mere 0.018% of San Luis Reservoir’s capacity, which holds about 652,000 acre-feet of water. It’s hard to watch these inefficiencies unfold when the solutions seem so obvious.

Deep down,  I feel like the current system is managable.  Plus we need to start thinking out of the box about importing water from other states (like oil).   Consider Desalination.  Desalination technology has advanced significantly in recent years, making it an increasingly viable solution for addressing water scarcity in many parts of the world.   If I had a multimillion dollar house in Malibou right on the beach,  I can assure you that I would have a pump and hose in the ocean soaking my house with sea water.  I have sympathy for Los Angeles and its water needs, but the same bureaucracy that brought us the disaster of the California High-Speed Rail Project is now tasked with balancing the water demands of fish, farmers, and cities. The result? Total chaos—FUBAR.

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Blues for the Delta Smelt.   by Meng Syn

(Verse 1)
Oh, the Delta Smelt, you’re slippin’ away,
Endangered little fish, you’re fightin’ every day.
LA’s got its faucets, the fields need their share,
But your home’s runnin’ dry, don’t nobody care.

(Chorus)
Delta Smelt, we’re cryin’ the blues for you,
The river’s runnin’ low, and there’s nothin’ we can do.
The water keeps flowin’, and the salmon need you too,
Oh, Delta Smelt, the Delta’s dead without you.

(Verse 2)
Politicians talkin’, they say, “Let it flow,”
But your little world’s shrunk, with nowhere left to go.
Trump said the water’s gotta feed the land,
But who’ll stand for the Delta when it’s all turned to sand?

(Chorus)
Delta Smelt, we’re cryin’ the blues for you,
The pumps keep hummin’, and your days are so few.
Without you, the salmon won’t make it through,
Oh, Delta Smelt, the Delta’s dead without you.

(Bridge)
They call you the canary of the waterways,
An echo of the balance we threw away.
Friend to the salmon, lifeline of the stream,
Now you’re just a shadow of what used to be the dream.

(Verse 3)
The Forebay’s gone quiet, the rivers run thin,
While farmers and cities, they all just dig in.
But who’ll save the Delta, who’ll make things right?
Without the Smelt, it’s just a long, lonely fight.

(Chorus)
Delta Smelt, we’re cryin’ the blues for you,
Your home is fading, and there’s nothing left to do.
The salmon are callin’, they’re countin’ on you,
Oh, Delta Smelt, the Delta’s dead without you.

(Outro)
So here’s to the Delta, and the life it once gave,
To the fish and the rivers we still need to save.
Singin’ the blues for the Smelt, as the waters recede,
May we remember, before it’s too late to succeed.

(Slow fade)
Oh, Delta Smelt… the blues belong to you…

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