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The endangered Delta smelt is a 3-inch fish found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It is considered especially sensitive because it lives just one year, has a limited diet and exists primarily in brackish waters (a mix of river-fed fresh and salty ocean waters that is typically found in coastal estuaries).

Along with other fish, smelt populations declined because of a combination of entrainment in pumping facilities, poor water quality, limited food supply, lack of habitat and nonnative species that compete for food.