The Delta smelt is a 3-inch fish, now at the center of a political power struggle between environmentalists and farmers.
"It's about the biggest water grab in history and running people out of water to protect this little fish," said U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican from Visalia.
It's a fight over fish versus farms from the halls of Congress to the California Delta.
"We have put fish, we have put the environment, above people, and we need to reevaluate that," said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau.
Scientists are trying to figure out how to protect the Delta smelt, an endangered fish, without harming California agriculture.
For the next week, fish and wildlife experts will be doing their special survey of the Delta smelt population, to see if those tiny little fish are being drawn into giant water pumps near Tracy.
At full throttle, those pumps are like magnets for the Delta smelt, grinding them into fish bait.
"They could move very quickly towards the pumps," said Steve Martarano, a spokesman with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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A decision to turn off the pumps can save the fish but cut off water deliveries to central and southern California farmers.
That hasn't happen yet this year because of the drought, but California's economy and environment are waiting on big findings involving a tiny, little fish.