**TESTIMONY OF STEVE THOMPSON, MANAGER, CALIFORNIA-NEVADA OPERATIONS
OFFICE, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE,**

**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,**

**BEFORE THE HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER
REGARDING THE UPPER SAN FRANCISCO BAY-DELTA ECOSYSTEM**

**VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA**

**JULY 2, 2007**

Good Morning Madam Chair and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is
Steve Thompson, and I am the Manager of the California-Nevada Operations
Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I am pleased to be here
today on behalf of the Department of the Interior to discuss the current
health of the Upper San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem and its native
fishes, and how the Service is responding to declines in the Delta
smelt, a pelagic, or open water, fish that is a key indicator of the
health of the Delta ecosystem.

I will focus my testimony on three areas -- first, an overview of the
status of the Delta and its species; second, a description of how the
Service and its partner agencies are working together to meet the
estuary's scientific, resource, and managerial needs; and finally, the
extent of challenges the Service faces in restoring the health of this
ecosystem.

**Status of the Delta and Delta Species**

The Delta is California's major collection point for water, serving
two-thirds of our State's population and providing irrigation water for
millions of acres of farm land. The region supports wetland and riparian
habitats, as well as numerous fish and wildlife species. However, these
wetland habitats, as well as the hydrology of the Delta itself, have
been greatly altered by over 150 years of settlement and development. In
recent years, dramatic and unexpected population declines have occurred
in the delta smelt and several other pelagic fish, including juvenile
striped bass and longfin smelt. Compounding the problem is a decline in
the minute aquatic organisms, such as zooplankton and copepods, which
make up much of the food supply for these small fish.

The delta smelt is one of several pelagic fish species in decline in the
Delta. The species was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species
Act (ESA) in 1993. The delta smelt is a key indicator of the Delta
ecosystem's health, and the Service believes its current decline is an
indicator that the Delta's health is in crisis. The environmental and
physical conditions of the Delta are extremely complex and not fully
understood.

The Service is actively involved in efforts to identify environmental
risks and possible corrective actions to recover the delta smelt.
Although the effects of water project operations may result in adverse
impacts to delta smelt, it is apparent that other factors may play a
role in limiting the potential for recovery, including competition and
predation from exotic aquatic invasive species, contaminants, changes in
habitat quality and availability, and changes in food supply. We are
also working to better understand the changing climate and to predict
and adapt to its effects on the natural environment. The only thing we
know with certainty is that there are no simple solutions to the
problems facing the Delta.

Indices from surveys conducted since 2000 demonstrate a downward trend
for delta smelt. The indices are the products of four different sampling
surveys conducted in the Delta in different seasons of the water year.
Each of these surveys indicates a pattern of decline in delta smelt over
the past several decades. However, it is important to remember that the
surveys provide only snapshots from similar vantage points over time.
Although they provide a good trend analysis, the surveys generate an
entirely different type of data from that developed from the continuous
monitoring done at the major pumping plants.

The most recent data from the spring survey of juvenile delta smelt that
ended on June 9, 2007, found only 37 juvenile delta smelt (20 mm or
greater in length). This recent population figure is far below the 884
found in the 2006 survey conducted during the same season, and much
fewer than the next worst year of 2002 when 455 juvenile smelt had been
identified through the same period. The Service is very concerned about
the data and, although we do not completely understand the reasons for
the decline, we are working closely with our partners to understand what
the data means for the delta smelt and we are working to reverse these
declines.

**How the Regulatory Process is Working**

In response to these declines, the Pelagic Organism Decline (POD) work
team was formed in 2005 to conduct focused and in-depth research to
investigate causes of the unexpected decline in pelagic organisms. This
team brought the best scientific expertise together to work on this
problem, and it is generating a tremendous amount of new and potentially
useful information. However, it is also essential to recognize that the
POD work team does not make either decisions or recommendations.
Instead, it provides scientific information that informs a special
working group, discussed in detail below, which makes the decisions.

An adaptive management approach is used to rapidly assess new
information and apply measures intended to address the decline. Created
pursuant to the Service's 1995 biological opinion on operations of the
federal and state water projects, the Delta Smelt Working Group analyzes
the most current data available on delta smelt and physical conditions
in the Delta and provides real-time recommendations to the Service
regarding modifications of project operations. The working group was
specifically set up to review all available information and advise the
Service on implementation of actions that can be taken to minimize
effects on the species of pumping water out of the Delta. The working
group uses information from many sources, including the California
Resources Agency's 2006 Pelagic Fish Action Plan, which describes a
suite of possible actions intended to improve habitat and minimize
entrainment, or the drawing of fish into the pump flow. This suite of
possible actions includes project modifications to better protect adult
delta smelt in winter before spawning as well as spring modifications to
better protect juveniles.

The Service, and others, assisted the California Departments of Water
Resources and Fish and Game in preparing the 2005 Delta Smelt Action
Plan which specifically addresses actions that have been or could be
taken by resource agencies to further research needs and reduce
population declines, including restoration projects for the Delta,
Suisun Marsh, and San Pablo Bay that are intended to improve habitat
conditions for the delta smelt and other State, federally-listed, and
candidate species.

Information from the working group is reviewed by the Water Operations
Management Team (WOMT), which is comprised of management level
representatives from the Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the
National Marine Fisheries Service, the California Department of Water
Resources, and the California Department of Fish and Game. This team has
several adaptive water management tools that can be used to help protect
delta smelt including, but not limited to, water available through
sections (b)(2) and (b)(3) of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act
and the Environmental Water Account. WOMT's responsibility also involves
balancing habitat needs for multiple species, including other listed
species. WOMT is careful to consider the effect of water management
operations on these species so that actions taken to benefit delta smelt
in the spring/summer do not result in unintended adverse effects later
in the year.

Under the current adaptive management process for water project
operations, decisions regarding operation of the pumps in the Delta must
consider many factors, including public safety, water supply
reliability, and cost, as well as fish health and status requirements.
The first step is data collection, including the continued collection of
hydrologic data by the California Department of Water Resources, the
Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The POD work team
also provides input to the water operations decision-making process
through regular updates. Using this data, the working group can
recommend a change in Project operations, which is then forwarded to the
WOMT.

The agencies also inform and advise stakeholders who may be affected
when the agencies make a particularly challenging decision about project
operations. The WOMT considers recommendations and seeks consensus on
potential actions, and may adopt or modify a recommendation and direct
that the Environmental Water Account and water available under the
Central Valley Project Improvement Act be used to implement a reduction
in the export of water. For particularly controversial recommendations,
State and federal agency leaders also may engage in the decision-making
process. Decisions regarding changes to Project operations often must be
made quickly if they are to be effective.

The Bureau of Reclamation and California Department of Water Resources
then implement the reduction in water through the pumps. Implementation
can occur within three hours of a decision, if necessary. If the WOMT
does not fully implement the working group recommendations, the WOMT
must document the rationale for its decision; it must also notify the
Service if it is not fully implementing the working group's
recommendations.

This process, developed over time, is an effective method of collecting
information, analyzing that information, and making rapid decisions
about how to help the delta smelt under different conditions. The recent
management of flows and export facilities to minimize impacts on delta
smelt has been collaborative and effective. The collaborative process
among the federal and State agencies is working as intended. However,
there are still questions and concerns about the long-term impacts to
the delta smelt.

**Addressing the Long-Term Challenges Facing the Ecosystem**

The Pelagic Organism Decline work team, discussed above, is generating a
significant amount of new information, and the policy and regulatory
entities ultimately will use that information to make decisions about
what actions should be taken to protect the species.

Recently, the Service formed a Recovery Team to update the 1996 Delta
Native Fishes Recovery Plan to include new scientific information that
is the result of the extensive studies now underway and other new
information developed since the approval of the current recovery plan in
1996. The team is updating both the recovery criteria and implementation
strategies for the covered species. This plan will help guide future
recovery actions that will hopefully ameliorate the downward trend for
delta smelt. The current schedule calls for completion of the revised
Recovery Plan in summer of 2008.

In addition, the Service is participating in the development of the
Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, an effort by the major Delta water users
that began in 2006. Completion of the plan is scheduled for late 2009.
The plan is based on the concept of an ESA Habitat Conservation Plan and
is intended to meet the requirements of the ESA, the California
Endangered Species Act, and, potentially, the California Natural
Community Conservation Planning Act. The plan should provide certainty
for water users, who will, in exchange, commit to a specific set of
mitigation activities for the benefit of the delta smelt and other
species.

Further, the Service is revising the existing biological opinion for
Delta operations. In May 2007 the Federal District Court for the Eastern
District of California found the biological opinion's "no jeopardy"
finding arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law for several reasons,
among them a failure to adequately consider impacts to critical habitat
and a failure, when setting take limits, to consider take in the context
of most recent

overall species abundance and jeopardy. However, the 2005 biological
opinion will remain in effect until a solution can be reached in the
remedies phase of the trial. A hearing on this phase is scheduled for
Aug. 21, 2007. In the meantime, the Service reinitiated consultation on
federal and state water projects under the 2005 biological opinion last
year and is proceeding with that effort, even while it awaits further
direction from the court.

The Service is also continuing to develop habitat that will help the
Delta species, and we are in the early stages of investigating other
possible helpful activities. Finally, we continue to actively
participate in the processes begun under the CALFED Bay-Delta Program.

**Conclusion**

Recovery of the delta smelt continues to be a high priority for the
Service. Our knowledge of this species and its needs continues to
increase. The Service is working closely with partner agencies to make
real-time management decisions consistent with our adaptive management
approach to water operations, and we are updating and implementing
recovery strategies as quickly as the science becomes available.

Madam Chair, this concludes my remarks. Thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you today, and I will be happy to answer any questions
that you or the Members of the Subcommittee may have on this important
subject.