This is just one post in the Judge Wanger salmon ruling Category

Wanger court turns it’s attention to salmon; fight over fish could further reduce water availability

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 7, 2008 at 11:07 am

From Stockton’s Record:

The same federal judge who ordered historic water cutbacks to protect Delta smelt last year began trial-like proceedings Friday for an equally beleaguered, yet more beloved, fish: salmon. And while it could be weeks before he rules, Judge Oliver Wanger indicated he will consider the economic impact of withholding water from farms and cities already parched from California’s first drought since the early 1990s.

Endangered species are considered the first priority in conflicts such as these, under federal law. “It’s the law,” Wanger said. “We can’t just ignore the law because it’s convenient or expedient.” But, he added, economic hardships “need to be on the table.”

Wanger ruled in April that the federal government’s guidelines protecting two species of salmon and steelhead were faulty and must be rewritten. The new guidelines won’t be finished until March. Wanger wants to know how imperiled the fish are and what if anything should be done this year to protect them. That could mean even more changes in how much water is available for millions of Californians.

Read the full text of this article from Stockton’s Record by clicking here.

From the Fresno Bee:

U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger — who in April invalidated a key part of the federal water plan because he said it violated the Endangered Species Act by not adequately protecting winter-run Chinook salmon, spring-run Chinook salmon and the Central Valley steelhead — will first decide if any steps need to be taken to protect the fish. That will likely be decided late next week. If Wanger finds something must be done to protect the three fish species, the trial will then turn to that matter.

Environmentalists are seeking four primary measures to address the issue:

Increase cold-water releases from Lake Shasta to make the Sacramento River’s temperature lower at a point farther downstream. That would assist in salmon spawning.

Maintain 1.9 million acre-feet of water in Shasta.

Keep a diversion dam on the Sacramento River near Red Bluff open longer.

Maintain higher water flows in Clear Creek, a salmon-spawning waterway that flows into the Sacramento River.

Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Kate Poole, who participated in Friday’s hearing, said the three fish species are being pushed to the edge of extinction. “It’s not clear they will be able to survive these critically dry years,” she said. “We need to make sure they get a fighting chance to weather this drought.”

The government and its water agency allies think Wanger should do nothing. Currently, they say, the National Marine Fisheries Service is rewriting a biological report on the Central Valley Project’s effects on the steelhead and two salmon species that Wanger invalidated. That should be done by next spring and should address the environmentalists’ concerns.

They’re also baffled by the environmentalists request to release more water from Shasta, but also maintain 1.9 million acre-feet, said attorney Daniel O’Hanlon, who represents the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, which represents water districts — including Westlands — covering more than 2 million acres of farmland. “We can’t make sense of that,” he said.