Suit Claims U.S. Fails to Protect Delta Smelt

A coalition of nine environmental and commercial fishing organizations sued the U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday, charging that the federal government has failed to adequately protect a tiny threatened fish that inhabits the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The delta smelt, a translucent, finger-size fish, live only in the bay-delta estuary, which provides much of the water consumed in Southern California cities and Central Valley farms.

The coalition, which includes the Sierra Club, United Anglers and the Bay Institute, is trying to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate and protect critical habitat--the areas considered crucial for survival of the smelt. If critical habitat is named, it is likely the state would have to reduce the volume of water pumped from the bay and delta to cities and farms.

Federal wildlife officials said Tuesday that they were surprised by the lawsuit, which came on the eve of the first public hearing on the Clinton Administration’s controversial proposal to set standards for restoring water to the bay-delta.

In addition to the meeting in Fresno today, the federal government will seek comments in Sacramento and San Francisco this week and in Irvine on Monday.