It’s tiny, it’s silver and it’s at the center of a decades-long controversy over California’s water system. It’s the delta smelt. This threatened fish lives exclusively in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in northern California,

Following President Trump’s recent criticism of the delta smelt — a fish he has tied to the lack of water for fighting the Los Angeles fires  — his administration is planning to cut funding for a captive breeding program intended to ensure survival of the endangered fish.