Wolk calls for Delta protection agency

After hearing testimony Thursday about events that led up to last month's massive fish kill on Prospect Island, Assemblywoman Lois Wolk said she is convinced of the need for a single oversight body looking after the Delta.

"Everybody is pointing fingers," said Wolk, the Davis Democrat who chairs the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. "No one is taking responsibility for what went wrong."

Wolk, who convened the public hearing Thursday, said she would like to work in the next legislative session to establish a Delta oversight and stewardship body.

Before Thanksgiving, Bureau of Reclamation contractors repaired a breached levee, leaving a body of standing water on the island. They then began pumping water off the island, killing tens of thousands of stranded fish.

A local fisherman reported the dead fish, and eventually the pumping was halted.

John Davis, Bureau of Reclamation regional director, said Thursday that he "deeply regrets" the high loss of fish and that "fish mortality exceeded expectations."

The levee repair project, which cost $2.5 million, was modeled after previous efforts, Davis said.

A bureau evaluation found that salvaging the fish would have cost $100,000, he said.

The agency consulted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service about potential harm to endangered species and was told that Delta smelt would not be on Prospect Island during that time of year.

The bureau concluded that fish salvage was "impractical" and eliminated it from the plan, Davis said.

The agency notified the California Department of Fish and Game that no fish would be salvaged, and no one objected, he testified.

Chuck Armor, Fish and Game regional manager, did not dispute or explain Davis' testimony.

Armor said the bureau first consulted Fish and Game in May to get a permit required to repair the levee. Fish and Game officials did not return the Bee's phone calls seeking comment about their response to the decision not to salvage fish.

Armor said Fish and Game agreed with the federal wildlife agencies that the impact on Delta smelt could be lowered, depending on the season and time of day. No Delta smelt or other listed species have showed up dead, he said.

Armor said a formal investigation is under way, and a report is expected at the end of the month. He declined to give details.

"I was surprised by the number of striped bass," he said.

Wolk expressed disbelief that Fish and Game officials would underestimate the number of fish on the island.

"Fish were there because Prospect Island was the habitat it was supposed to be," the assemblywoman said. "There was a healthy fishery there, a sport fishery."

"It was a magnet habitat for all the fish," agreed fisherman Dan Bacher, editor of the Fish Sniffer. The island was home to many small fish that attracted big fish, he said.

The federal agency is working with state Fish and Game officials to remove dead fish and oxygenate the waters to improve conditions for the remaining fish. Meanwhile, about a hundred volunteers have rescued about 6,000 fish, according to state and federal officials, who said the remaining fish are in deeper waters and harder to reach.

Doug Lovell, director of Allied Fishing Groups, said he believes there may be great numbers of fish in those waters.

"The decision to not conduct a fish salvage was disappointing in light of the fact that the Delta is in such dire straits," Lovell said.

Future levee breaches may cause similar wildlife loss, Wolk said, expressing concern about how similar situations would be handled in the future.

"We have to have somebody, whose sole purpose it is to protect the Delta, make decisions about the Delta and to keep the health of the Delta as the primary goal. We don't have that," she said.

Without a steward that could address broader questions, Wolk said Delta stakeholders end up working at "cross purposes."

"No one asked the questions, 'Do we need to repair the levee? Is this a levee that can remain breached?' " she said.

Davis said the bureau "would handle the situation differently."

"We didn't go far enough," Davis acknowledged. "We should have gone the extra mile and reached out to the community.

"We need to get out of the island business."

The bureau plans to offer the island to other federal agencies, then to state, local and county agencies, and finally, to the public.

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