This month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will release a draft plan to protect the endangered Delta smelt, which lives only in the Sacramento-San Joaqin River Delta. Last year, a court order to protect the smelt drew protests from water users south of the Delta who are concerned about their water supply. We sympathize, because we also understand the importance of water.

We represent, respectively, farmers in the Delta and California's commercial salmon fishermen. Our communities depend on water. Healthy rivers produce healthy salmon runs, sustaining fishermen, their families and fishing communities. Delta farmers also depend on healthy rivers.

When others divert too much water from the ecosystem, Delta farmers find their crops damaged by salty water intruding from the bay and the salty San Joaquin River drainage discharges that collect in the South Delta, as a result of the operation of the export pumps.

For the past five decades, we have seen steady increases in the amount of water pumped from the Delta – to record levels in recent years. Today, as a direct result, the entire Delta ecosystem is collapsing. In addition to the smelt, some salmon runs, steelhead, sturgeon and other fish are threatened by extinction.

This damage is no surprise. The massive pumps in the Delta divert more water than is pumped at any single location in the nation.

State and federal agencies ignored the Delta's collapse and failed to act when science showed its cause. That's when a federal court stepped in and ordered the federal government to prepare a new plan to protect the smelt under the Endangered Species Act.

Limitations on Delta pumping can protect more than just this vulnerable fish. The plan can also help fishermen and farmers.

The futures of our communities are at stake. This year, California's salmon fishery was closed for the first time in state history, putting thousands out of work and costing California's economy a quarter of a billion dollars. The fall run of chinook salmon in the Bay-Delta system is the most important in the state and is the backbone of our commercial and recreational fishery. Unfortunately, the fall run has suffered the same collapse as the Delta smelt. If agencies fail to protect the smelt, we could lose the salmon fishing industry forever, damaging communities throughout the Central Valley, the Delta and along much of the California coast.

Delta farmers are also deeply concerned. The State Water Project has indicated that it intends to divert even more water in the future – violating water quality standards and putting the future of Delta farmers at risk. Extensive scientific investigation in the past several years has reached a clear conclusion. We have exceeded the amount of water we can safely pump from the Delta.

Recently, the governor's Delta Vision Task Force recommended significantly stronger standards to guarantee more fresh water for the bay and Delta, especially during dry and average years. These conclusions raise an obvious question. How can we restore our salmon fishery, protect the bay, save farmers in the Delta, and meet our water needs?

Fortunately, we know the answer. By dramatically increasing efforts to maximize water conservation, to recycle wastewater, and to integrate groundwater replenishment and stormwater management, we can provide water for California's future. By working together, we can protect the futures of the smelt, salmon fishermen, Delta farmers and the millions of Californians who receive water from the Delta.

The catalyst for this new direction is the Delta smelt, but the stakes are far higher. The future of the largest estuary on the West Coast is at stake. We urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to require adequate protections for the smelt, reflecting the latest scientific results – thereby also providing a safety net for fishing and Delta farming communities.

Tom Zuckerman is the special projects manager of the Central Delta Water Agency. Zeke Grader is the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.