Trump Administration pulls funding for endangered CA fish

DISCOVERY BAY, Calif. - The Trump Administration is planning to cut funding for a captive breeding program in California meant to conserve the endangered delta smelt.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday that the UC Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Laboratory in Contra Costa County learned in January that funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation would not be renewed and will expire on Feb. 28.

The funds – totaling about $3 million annually via a five-year grant – were used to maintain a population of delta smelt for research and reintroduction, according to the Chronicle. A reason for the cut to the lab's funding was not provided.

What's next:

UC Davis officials said the laboratory has only enough funding to continue its work through to the end of the year. 

Additionally, 11 of the lab’s 17 employees were told that they will most likely be laid off once federal funding stops.

The backstory:

The delta smelt is a small fish found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay. The fish was classified as being "threatened" in 1993, which was later escalated to "endangered" in 2009.

Due to its classification, the fish is afforded special protection. For instance, under the Endangered Species Act, delta pumping must be reduced when conditions do not support the livelihood of the delta smelt.

Even during his first term, President Donald Trump criticized conservation efforts concerning the delta smelt and other wildlife as hampering California firefighting and farming capabilities.

In January, Trump also issued a memorandum titled "Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California," which directed the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of California "for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply."