The Obama administration will ask the National Academy of Sciences to review two "biological opinions" that have restricted the flow of agricultural water to the San Joaquin Valley.

The news emerged as state officials, water district officials and others gathered Wednesday in Washington, D.C. for a hearing to consider ways to protect endangered species that would allow more irrigation supplies from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to flow to water-starved growers in the San Joaquin Valley.

Federal officials have cut pumping by up to 30 percent because of the biological opinions, adding to drought woes that have already reduced deliveries to Valley farmers by 1.6 million acre-feet.

An acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre of land a foot deep, or enough to meet the needs of an average household for a year.

The biological opinions, one in 2008 and another this year, order pumping cutbacks to protect the endangered delta smelt, chinook salmon, steelhead and other threatened fish species.

At the hearing, which an Associated Press report described as "often acrimonious," competing interests discussed ways to meet the environmental needs of the delta while also addressing the crisis facing farmers and Southern California cities that depend on delta water.

Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands Water District, attended the meeting. The district has 80,000 acres in western Kings County.

Westlands, which stretches north into Fresno County, has been among the hardest hit areas. Its 600 growers lean heavily on delta water. Westlands received a small fraction of its normal allocation this year.

Birmingham praised Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to have the biological opinions reconsidered.

"I think that's a very significant development, provided that the National Academy of Sciences can review those opinions in a timely manner," he said.

"I walked out ... with a hope that (Salazar) gleaned from the meeting the pressing need to take short-term and long-term actions to address the water crisis in the San Joaquin Valley," Birmingham added.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, who spoke at the hearing, has requested a "fast-track" process for the review, which has taken more than a year to complete in past instances.

"I will press the (Obama) administration to ensure that the study take no more than six months and that the agencies promptly respond with any scientifically appropriate adjustments to the pumping restrictions so that farmers can plan for the planting season," Feinstein said in a press release.

"I said the time for discussion is over. They've had eight months to get their act together," said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, by telephone from Washington, D.C. after speaking at the hearing.

Costa said the biological opinions didn't consider other "stress factors." He listed treated wastewater dumped into the delta from plants in Sacramento and Stockton and delta farmers using pumps without fish screens.

Costa called on the California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass a water package before the end of the year.

His comments came as Feinstein and the Obama administration urged Schwarzenegger to call state lawmakers into a special session to deal with the state's water crisis.

"California's water situation is desperate. We've got to act fast, we've got to act smart and we've got to put aside the rhetoric and work together if we have any chance of solving this crisis," Feinstein said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. The reporter can be reached at 583-2432.

(Oct. 1, 2009)