Fish and Wildlife Protection

The Project is operated to
protect the environment. Restricted pumping schedules, fish hatcheries, fish
screens and passages, mitigation agreements, fish surveys and monitoring, a
fish salvage facility, and habitat restoration, are some of the mechanisms for
fish and wildlife protection. The projects are also operated to meet instream
flow requirements in the Feather River, the Sacramento
River, and Delta channels.

The State Water Project, in cooperation with the federal Central Valley
Project, is operated to limit salinity intrusion into the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. This is accomplished by supplementing
freshwater outflows to the ocean and limiting water exports from the Delta
during specific times of the year.

DWR spends about $20 million annually for various studies, habitat restoration
projects, and fish monitoring programs. These costs also include water
deliveries lost to pumping reductions (during fish migrations through the
Delta) and other operational restrictions.

Source:  California Department of Water Resources