State regulators have reduced water discharge from Lake Shasta in Northern California in hopes of boosting the survival rate of juvenile fish threatened with extinction, says the Sacramento Bee. “The move means less water, at least for the time being, for farmers and urban Californians downstream.” Environmentalists are already in court, accusing state and federal regulators of skimping on water guaranteed for salmon, delta smelt and other species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. With drought in its fourth year, California is unable to satisfy all the demands for water.
Felicia Marcus, head of the state Water Resources Control Board, says the state confronts “a host of choices between terrible outcomes,” says the Bee. Cities are ordered to cut consumption by 25 percent, farmers have lost one-third of their allocations from rivers and water projects, and “environmentalists argue that California’s fish are suffering worst of all.” The fishing industry faces limits on its catch of Chinook salmon this year because of declining numbers of the fish. A farm group says the problem for salmon and smelt is loss to predators, not too little water.