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Judge orders interim plan for salmon drawn up

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 24, 2008 at 7:23 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

A federal judge in Fresno ordered state and federal water regulators Wednesday to come up with an interim plan by the end of August for protecting migrating salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger set a deadline of Aug. 29 for the agencies to spell out how they intend to protect winter- and spring-run chinook and steelhead trout until March, when a more comprehensive plan, known as a biological opinion, is scheduled to be released.

Wanger scheduled a court hearing Sept. 4 to discuss the interim plan.

The order followed Wanger’s ruling Friday that blamed pumping and diversion policies by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources for contributing to the demise of the three salmonid species.

Read the rest of this article from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

The Fresno Bee adds this:

Attorneys for the environmental groups who sued to protect the three species will review the reports and, if they are dissatisfied, could press Wanger to take action to protect the fish.

“It’s their job to figure out how to fix that,” Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Kate Poole said of the coming reports. “It makes sense the first go-around to propose what is sufficient.”

Among things they could request are restricting water exports out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta when juveniles of the three species are migrating, and lowering water temperatures in the American River below Folsom Dam to assist spawning. Cooler water from Folsom Lake could be released to change water temperature.

During the hearing Wednesday, the parties participated by telephone. Wanger ordered both sides back in his Fresno courtroom Sept. 4. That’s when the environmental groups are expected to say whether they are satisfied with the state and federal government reports that the species are being protected, or whether they believe further action is necessary.

“We’ll have to see what it looks like,” Poole said. “There are a bunch of different scenarios that could play out. It all depends on the adequacy of the plan.”

Read the full text of the Fresno Bee article by clicking here.

Coverage from the Associated Press is here.

July 24, 2008 · Filed Under Judge Wanger salmon ruling

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