[env-trinity] Fresno Bee 10 21 08 Wanger Delta Ruling

[Byron Leydecker]

Judge: Delta salmon 'unquestionably in jeopardy'

By TRACIE CONE

10/21/08 18:55:36


 


 

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that California's canal water systems are
placing wild salmon "unquestionably in jeopardy," but stopped short of
issuing court-order limits on pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. 

Environmental groups had sought the temporary pumping limits to guard three
species of migrating salmon in the delta until a new fish protection is due
in March. 

But U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger declined to do so, after the state
Department of Water Resources said last month it would voluntarily reduce
pumping to protect the juvenile fish. 

"Upon initial glance, the department believes that the judge handed down a
responsible ruling," said spokesman Ted Thomas. 

If environmental groups want to make new arguments for court-ordered pumping
limits, Wanger wrote, any motion filed would be "heard on an expedited
basis," an offer attorneys are considering. 

"We need to decide whether it's worth doing for this short amount of time or
not," said Michael Sherwood, an attorney for Earthjustice. 

Chinook salmon and steelhead freely migrated on the Sacramento and San
Joaquin Rivers until the federal and state system of dams built to deliver
water via canals to the state's arid areas blocked their paths. Now up to 42
percent of the endangered juvenile fish die as they are sucked into Delta
pumps that send water into canals. 

Wanger's opinion eased the fears of farmers worried about impacts of
mandatory water cutbacks on an agricultural industry already suffering from
drought, while validating concerns by environmentalists as well as fishing
groups affecting by the collapse of the state's salmon population. 

"In the meantime, we've got boats tied up this year and probably next," said
a frustrated Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Association, referring to the resulting ban on commercial and recreational
fishing. 

The ruling stems from Wanger's earlier decision that pitted the endangered
fish against Central Valley farmers. In that ruling, he said the National
Marine Fisheries Service's biological opinion on water projects tied to the
delta does not adequately protect salmon and must be rewritten. 

In the meantime, environmentalists, fishing groups and water users filed
briefs over how the delta and its water should be managed until then.
Earthjustice had wanted the judge to order a cutback in pumping that would
be legally enforceable. 

Last month, the Department of Water Resources, intervening on behalf of the
water districts who depend on canal water for their constituents, said they
would operate the water systems to minimize impacts on salmon, especially
during the December-January migration of juvenile fish to the ocean, until
the new report comes out. Wanger said that testimony under oath made a court
order unnecessary. 

 

 

Byron Leydecker, JCT, Chair

Friends of Trinity River

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 

415 519 4810 cell

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org

www.fotr.org 

 

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