Understanding The Driving Forces Of Bay/Delta Administrative Agency Officials Towards The Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy: Outflow Augmentation

The Delta Smelt (Smelt) is an endangered fish native to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. The Smelt is vital to its ecosystem as it is considered as an indicator species, meaning that it represents the overall health of the Bay/Delta. Its recent decline resulted in a significant shift in the Bay/Delta ecosystem, causing poor conditions for inhabiting species. After the Delta Smelt was listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Act, scientists identified water diversion by pumping plants away from the Bay/Delta as one of the primary causes of their population decline. Following multiple failed Smelt conservation strategies, the CNRA devised a plan to "reduce the mortality of Smelt and boost the rate at which they grow, reproduce, and survive" by counteracting the pumping plant water diversions: The Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy. The strategy proposed an additional 250,000 acre-feet of water to be purchased for outflow augmentation or water diversion towards the Bay/Delta. Though this strategy was never passed, there is clear future potential for similar or identical policies. Understanding the controversy surrounding such a policy, this paper strives to examine the driving forces that influence stakeholders impacted by water diversions to support or oppose outflow augmentation.