Delta Stewardship Council Keys to Success – Science and Adaptive Management

The CALFED Bay-Delta Program has taken a great deal of abuse in some quarters.  I’ve dished out a little myself, for the program’s failure to wrestle with issues like finance.  But most knowledgeable people acknowledge that CALFED played a major role in increasing our scientific understanding of the Bay-Delta ecosystem.  The legislation that created the Delta Stewardship Council moved the CALFED Science Program to the Council.  Continuing and building that science program is another key to the Council’s success.

During the past 15 years, as a result of major investments in science, we’ve made great strides in our understanding of this complex ecosystem.  Scientific investigations have increased our understanding of the flood risks from sea level rise and earthquakes.  They’ve helped us understand the causes of the decline of Delta fisheries.  An enormous amount of scientific work went into drafting the new Delta biological opinions and into the recent NRC review.  Improved scientific understanding and monitoring are allowing better real-time water management decisions.  Continuing these investments is essential to the Council’s efforts to plan the future of the estuary. 

Anyone who wonders how fundamental science has become to the management of the estuary should plan to attend the Bay-Delta Science Conference in September.  This is no sleepy academic event.   At a conference a couple of years ago, I attended an interesting presentation about the decline of Bay-Delta fish species.  It was held in a room with a capacity of several hundred people.  By the time I arrived, 10 minutes before it began, the room was already packed.  I couldn’t even get inside.  That attendance reflected a consensus in the water world that science is the key to improving our management of the estuary.

The Council should strive to maintain a world class science program that is respected by agencies and stakeholders alike.  Such a program doesn’t change the existing authority of other agencies.  Instead, it creates a resource and a common knowledge base that is useful to all.  CALFED was building such a science program.  The Council should continue this effort.

A solid, well-respected science program is essential to answering challenging questions like:

• What are the most critical areas in which water quality must be improved?
• How is sea level rise affecting Delta flood management and ecosystem health?
• Are flow standards and habitat restoration making adequate progress in achieving our biological objectives?
• Are flood management and habitat restoration efforts adequately coordinated?
• Are individual agency efforts including the best available science and adequate adaptive management programs?
• Have we clearly defined our objectives, to allow us to measure progress? 
• Where do agencies need to make major strategic changes in Delta management?

This last question is particularly important.  Many of us water wonks tend to talk about adaptive management in the short term -- focusing on questions like “Is it safe to increase diversions this week, or are listed fish too close to the pumps?”  But adaptive management will also be critical for challenging long-term decisions about strategic changes in direction.  As the ecosystem continues to change and as we learn more about the effectiveness of major management decisions, we will need to decide how to adapt management efforts to incorporate this new information.  For example, the Council’s adaptive management program should be designed to address such long-term questions as these:  

• Are existing investments in habitat restoration adequate? 
• Are these efforts planning habitat restoration in the right places? 
• Are we building the right kind of habitat?   
• Should we be decreasing investment in this activity and increasing it in other areas?  
• Are existing science and monitoring programs adequate? 

There are similar strategic adaptive management questions for every component of a Delta Plan.

It would be difficult to find an ecosystem that will be more challenging to manage over the coming half-century.  Science is key to drafting an effective Delta Plan and adapting that plan over time.