A finger-sized fish that smells like a cucumber is threatening California鈥檚
water supplies just as the state emerges from a devastating drought that
has lasted seven years. The delta smelt lives only in Northern California鈥檚
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which supplies two-thirds of the state鈥檚
drinking water. But this month, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared
the fish 鈥榯hreatened鈥�. This means the state must take steps to save the
fish 鈥� which could mean drastically reducing the amount of water pumped
from the delta.
The smelt, considered an indicator species for the delta鈥檚 ecological
well being, has declined by 90 per cent in the past two decades, largely
because of insufficient fresh water in the delta. But the Governor of California,
Peter Wilson, has written to President Clinton protesting about the smelt鈥檚
new status and requesting a meeting to discuss its future.
