Farmers coalition sues over striped bass – more information from the Sacramento Bee

From the Sacramento Bee, finally more on this story about the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta’s lawsuit over the non-native striped bass:

After months of losing fights over how much water can be pumped to farms from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a coalition of farm groups is striking back with a federal lawsuit blaming state agencies for endangering native fish in the Delta.

In a suit filed in Sacramento federal court, the groups ask for a halt to California’s practice of maintaining predatory, nonnative striped bass in the Delta for the benefit of fishermen, claiming the policy violates the Endangered Species Act.

The bass feed on spring- and winter-run chinook salmon, steelhead and Delta smelt – all protected by the Endangered Species Act – and their dwindling populations harm the overall health of the estuary, ultimately resulting in reduced water deliveries to farmers, the lawsuit charges.

“Allowing this destruction to continue when the populations of several of these species – including the Delta smelt – are crashing is outrageous,” said Michael Boccadoro, spokesman for the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, the lead plaintiff in the suit filed late Tuesday.

Just who makes up this coalition?

Members of the coalition include four large agricultural water districts in Kern County, at the southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley. The districts supply State Water Project deliveries to land within their respective boundaries through contracts with the Kern County Water Agency.

The agency has grown over the past 10 years into one of the most powerful and wealthy water players in California.

The coalition’s tactics suggest it aims to draw attention from the effects of water exports on the Delta’s habitat and fish. Its Web site, for example, offers information about virtually every other problem affecting the Delta except the major pumping systems.

The Delta ecosystem is deteriorating due to a number of factors, including degradation of water quality from urban and agricultural runoff and water withdrawals to support the needs of the state’s growing human population.

To read the rest of this article from the Sacramento Bee, click here.

To visit the website for the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, click here.

Dan Bacher at the Fish Sniffer weighs in on this issue here.

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