Monday April 14, 2025
Sacramento Bee —
California water managers this week cut in half the amount of water being pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at the state’s plant near Tracy, saying the main reservoir it serves is nearly full and the water is needed for fish.
The reduction is required under the state’s environmental permits for pumping from the fragile Delta, because despite nearly full reservoirs and a robust snowpack, the San Joaquin River watershed had less-than-normal precipitation during the water year which began Oct. 1, said Ryan Endean, a spokesperson for the California Department of Water Resources.
The state’s Banks Pumping Plant lifts water from the Delta to canals and reservoirs that serve San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities. But environmental regulations require pumping to be reduced in the spring months of March, April and May to protect fish, including spring-run Chinook salmon, Delta smelt and longfin smelt, DWR officials said in a news release.