WATER WATCH : Smelt Belt

Barely past a six-year drought, California’s water barons now fear that our supply of fresh water is threatened by a tiny fish known as the delta smelt.

The smelt lives only in the Sacramento River Delta, which also happens to be the source of about two-thirds of this state’s fresh water. Like other marine species that move through the delta, including salmon and striped bass, the three-to-five-inch smelt must struggle against powerful pumps that push fresh river water from Northern California to cities and farms in the south.

By listing the smelt as an endangered species last week, the federal government has, in effect, put more pressure on California’s stretched-to-the-limit water supplies. Some water must now be set aside to save the smelt, and doomsayers are warning that using fresh water to save the fish could cost the state $12 billion and thousands of jobs.

But the delta smelt does not have to be the aquatic equivalent of the spotted owl. California is already under lots of pressure, from the aftermath of the drought as well as many new federal and state water rules, to use its water more carefully. The smelt is just the latest reminder that we must find better ways to protect the delta, one of California’s most precious and fragile resources.

Gov. Pete Wilson has wisely made preserving the delta a key part of his long-term water plan for the state. He and other officials must now move forward with specific efforts for doing that. Because if we can save the delta, the plucky little smelt will most likely take care of itself.