The federal government opened up two of its Delta export pumps this morning, tripling the amount of water exported since the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation cut its operation down to one pump to protect the threatened Delta smelt on June 1.

The agency increased its water exports from 850 cubic feet per second to 2700 cubic feet per second to provide deliveries to downstream agricultural water contractors.

The increased pumping is causing alarm by fishing and environmental groups that the smelt, now on the verge of extinction, will be imperiled by reverse flows that cause them to stray into the South Delta rather than going on their annual migration into Suisun Bay.

"No smelt have been killed in the federal pumps since May 30," said Jeff McCracken, spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation. "However, federal and state biologists will closely monitor the status of the fish. We were waiting for the water in the Delta to rise to 77 degrees, triggering the fish to move into the cooler water in Suisun Bay."

McCracken noted that the federal government purchased 25,000 acre-feet of water from water districts on the Merced and Stanislaus rivers for releases downriver to stop reverse flows towards the federal pumps. "Apparently it worked, since the federal pumps are no longer taking any smelt," he said.

The State Department of Water Resources (DWR) on Sunday started operating its pumps, shut down since May 31 after Department of Fish and Game began seeing increasing numbers of Delta smelt killed in the pumps. An average of 400 cfs of water is being exported this week.

Unfortunately, 66 smelt have been killed in the state pumps over the 3-day period starting Sunday. This contrasts with the total of 35 smelt found by the DFG throughout the Delta this year to date.

"The number of smelt killed by the state pumps over the past three days is more than those the DFG has found throughout the entire Delta this year," pointed out Bill Jennings, chairman of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. "This species is approaching the point of no return - and we don't know where that point is."

He said that the Delta smelt is still very much in harm's way, since the majority of remaining smelt are on the east side of Sherman Island now, within the influence of the federal and state pumps.

"The federal government, by creating a net reverse in flows, is contributing to keeping the smelt in the Delta rather than migrating downstream to Suisun Bay," he explained. "What we need is pulse flows into Suisun Bay to get the fish out of harm's way, as recommended in the recent letter to the state and federal governments by fishery scientists Peter Moyle and Tina Swanson."

Jennings and Mike Lozeau, the lawyer for the alliance, will go back to court on Monday regarding the order by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch requiring the DFG to issue DWR a "take permit" for killing threatened Delta smelt, spring run chinook and winter run chinook in the state pumps. DWR has appealed the decision - rather than complying with the law - and the judge issued a stay.

In a different but related lawsuit by Earthjustice, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger is scheduled to rule Aug. 21 on whether the giant pumps in the Delta can be operated and at what capacity.