Part of a flurry of recent events that could affect Folsom Dam water releases is the opening Dec. 9 of a public-comment period on the threatened Delta smelt.

Inflow of fresh American River water to the Sacramento River Delta is necessary to the survival of the smelt. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are considering changing its listing category from “threatened” to “endangered.”

"The additional comment period, which closes Feb. 9, 2009, is due to an unintentional error by the federal website that receives comments," Fish and Wildlife officials announced.

A computer glitch ruined the electronic-comment method for a previously announced comment period, they said.

"The service opened a public comment period on July 10 asking for information to be submitted on the www.regulations.gov Web site," officials announced. "But, the Web site was unable to receive electronic information during that comment period."

The smelt has almost disappeared, and other species as well are not far from extinction in the Delta.

"We are seeing a cascading series of crashing Delta fish populations – Delta smelt, longfin smelt, chinook salmon, steelhead trout, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail, striped bass – the warning bells are ringing loud and clear,” said Jeff Miller, spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity non-profit.

With drought-struck Folsom Lake levels nearing a point where city pumping would be impossible without modifying the current system, Folsom City Councilman Jeff Starsky has said he believes it's necessary to "worry more about people and less about fish."

In 2007, an Alameda County court ruled that the California Department of Water Resources had been illegally pumping water out of the Delta without a permit to kill delta smelt and other fish species listed under the California Endangered Species Act. A federal court also threw out a federal “biological opinion” allowing high water exports and ordered reduced Delta pumping.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing a new biological opinion for the operation of the Delta pumps, expected to be issued this week.

Smelt numbers this summer are the fourth lowest on record since surveys began in 1959. Federal and state agencies have allowed record levels of pumping from the Delta in recent years, leaving not enough fresh water to sustain native fish and the Delta ecosystem, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

Persons who submitted comments previously can visit the www.regulations.gov Web site to see whether their comments were received.

A change in listing category for the delta smelt would not by itself trigger any immediate actions on behalf of the species. While both categories protect species from unauthorized destruction, or "take," endangered status also prohibits issuing permits for incidental take that can be allowed for threatened species in some situations.

Comments can go by U.S. mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R8-2008-0067; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Ste. 222; Arlington, Va. 22203.

The Telegraph’s Roger Phelps can be reached at rogerp@goldcountrymedia.com, or post a comment at folsomtelegraph.com.