Letters to the Editor: A win for endangered fish and California farmers who need water

To the editor: I would like to highlight the most important information in your recent article about new rules that will govern California water deliveries and environmental protections: “Under the new rules, [U.S Fish and Wildlife Service official Paul Souza] said [Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta] pumping restrictions would be based on real-time monitoring of where smelt and migrating salmon are swimming in the delta, rather than the seasonal prescriptions contained in the current regulations.”

The new rules are based on the latest science and real-time monitoring rather than a particular calendar date to determine the needs of fish. This is good news for all Californians.

These rules will also play a critical role in helping implement Gov. Gavin Newsom’s voluntary agreements that will provide more water for environmental purposes, funds to pay for habitat improvement projects and flexibility for water users who depend on reliable water supplies to grow our food.

Mike Wade, Sacramento

The writer is executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition.

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To the editor: Two recent articles in the L.A. Times bring up an existential question: In this new geological era known as the Anthropocene, are we able to allow the existence of wild animals and their natural habitats?

If the Trump administration has its way, water will flow to Central Valley farmers at the expense of the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the life that depends on it. Already-endangered delta smelt and salmon runs face peril along with the food chain that depends on a healthy ecosystem.

This has been pushed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who was a lobbyist for a major beneficiary of the new rules, the Westlands Water District.

Another article reports on the endangered gray wolf population of Washington state. Entire wolf packs are being killed for attacking cattle and sheep in our national forests. These are our public lands. We, the taxpayers, are subsidizing the grazing of livestock and the killing of wolves and other predators.

Tony Baker, Rancho Palos Verdes