U.S. Will List the Delta Smelt as ‘Threatened,’ Not ‘Endangered’ : Ecology: The decision puts the tiny fish in a less serious category. It could have vast repercussions on the movement of fresh water.

Joining a volatile issue with potentially vast repercussions for California, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose today that the delta smelt, a three-inch-long denizen of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

The listing, which is less severe than the “endangered” status that some Fish and Wildlife biologists sought, could have the effect of curtailing exports of water through the ecologically sensitive delta east of San Francisco.

Bush Administration sources said the announcement will be made at the service’s regional headquarters in Portland, Ore., at the same time that briefings on the long-anticipated decision are given in Sacramento and Washington.

The decision, more than five months overdue, comes after a spirited debate between Fish and Wildlife biologists and state and federal officials concerned that measures necessary to save the smelt from extinction would have a devastating economic effect by disrupting the movement of drinking and irrigation water.

Fish and Wildlife Service biologists recommended weeks ago that the tiny fish be officially listed as “endangered,” but officials in Washington headquarters held out for the less drastic listing of threatened, providing more latitude in devising a plan to save the creature.

The U.S. Department of the Interior now has 12 months--with the possibility of an additional six-month extension--to decide whether to accept the recommendation.

In Sacramento, Resources Secretary Douglas Wheeler acknowledged that the delta smelt has undergone a “dramatic decline,” but said the decision to recommend the less drastic listing as a threatened species gives the state time to come up with a plan to restore it.

“We’re encouraged that they’re willing to explore the sufficiency of the data and the potential solutions to the problem,” Wheeler said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service recommendation comes as the state pursues a major study of the delta smelt’s population. A preliminary finding suggests that the fish may number 600,000, three times the original low estimate of 200,000 that prompted the call by biologists that the fish needed legal protection. But the study also suggests that the fish numbered 6 million 20 years ago, rather than the original estimate of 2 million.

Department of Water Resources Director David Kennedy, who is responsible for operating the State Water Project, responded to word of the proposed listing by saying that the “thrust of what the Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to do is curtail pumping at certain times.”

But he also said no change in the operation of the state or federal water projects will take place immediately. However, if the fish gains federal protection, Kennedy suggested, employees who operate the water project could face federal criminal charges for any delta smelt that are killed.

“We take this very seriously,” Kennedy said, vowing to meet shortly with U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials. “When you have threatened criminal charges hanging over your head you take it very seriously.”

Fisheries biologist Peter Moyle, the scientist who first discovered that the fish was in decline, said the failure to list the fish as endangered rather than threatened was “based more on politics than on biology--but it’s better than not having it listed at all.”

Moyle, of UC Davis, said the listing underscores again that “major changes have to take place” in the delta’s care and operation. He believes that the mighty pumps that suck water from the delta and push it south through most of California are a likely culprit for the death of delta smelt.

In Los Angeles, Dick Clemmer, associate director of the Metropolitan Water District, agreed that the proposed listing points up the need to alter the way in which water is moved within the state by building a project such as the Peripheral Canal.

“Probably the bottom line is that the way things operate in the system now is just not a very good situation,” Clemmer said.

Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), chairman of the House Interior Committee and longtime champion of irrigation policy reform, hailed the Fish and Wildlife recommendation as “a positive event for water policy in California.”

“It is an indication of the sorry state of the delta,” he said, “but we are getting a warning that if we don’t change our water policy we are going to wind up with the courts running the policy.”

Abramson reported from Washington, Morain from Sacramento