Throughout September, the operators of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project have been implementing actions to decrease salinity and increase food availability to support the critically endangered Delta smelt in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.  These actions include increasing delta outflow to decrease salinity in the delta, also referred to as “Fall X2”, and  operating gates in the Suisun Marsh to maximize suitable habitat for the endangered fish.  DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, working with federal and state wildlife protection agencies, recently agreed to modify fall flows for endangered Delta smelt fish species.  Starting in October, the SWP and CVP will work with these fish agencies to implement gate operation in September and off-ramping in October to allow scientists to test hypotheses about the efficacy of the Fall X2 action.  A coalition of environmental and fishing groups said the decision by state and federal officials to suspend the Delta Fall X2 measure this year poses an added threat for the fish thought to be nearing extinction in the wild.