Friday November 12, 2021
Red Green and Blue —
The smelt is now near extinction in the wild, although U.C. Davis continues to raise the fish in a captive breeding program.
The Delta smelt population has plummeted over the decades since the State Water Project began exporting Delta water to San Joaquin Valley growers in 1967.
There are several factors that scientists pinpoint for the ecosystem collapse, including toxic chemicals, decreasing water quality and invasive species, but no factor figures greater in the collapse than the export of massive quantities of state and federal project water from the Delta to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests like the Resnick family and the Westlands Water District.
The last year when Delta smelt were recorded in October was in 2017, when 2 were reported by state Fish and Wildlife biologists.