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Fun, farms and fish; Reactions mixed to ruling on Red Bluff Diversion Dam

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 26, 2008 at 11:44 am

From Tehama County’s Daily News:

The city of Red Bluff may be the only interested party not content after a July 18 ruling in U.S. District Court that water diversions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, including the Red Bluff Diversion Dam, pose irreparable harm to three endangered species of salmon.

As the coalition of environmental groups, fisheries and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe that makes up the plaintiff in the case celebrated, something of a victory flag was also being waved by the operators of the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority (TCCA).

In his ruling Judge Oliver Wanger, of the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of California in Fresno, denied requests for emergency interim remedies, including raising the 11 gates that make up the Dam on Aug 1. The judgment should allow irrigation for the area’s multi-million dollar harvest season to continue undisturbed. “What was avoided was nothing less than an economic disaster,” TCCA General Manager Jeff Sutton said.

Although trumpeting the same economic positive, Red Bluff City Manager Martin Nichols said the court’s decisions are leaving the future of Lake Red Bluff less and less secure.

As a result the city’s game plan is expected to change from defensive to offensive as the city will shift focus toward finding an alternative to replace an estimated $4 million in lost revenue if the lake is drained for good.

Although the spin was positive, reactions from those dependent on TCCA for economic stability were guarded at best. While Wanger ruled there should be no immediate change to the status of the Dam’s gates, the finding of jeopardy in the Endangered Species Act lawsuit leaves a cloudy question over whether the gates will be lifted at all in 2009.

July 26, 2008 · Filed Under Salmon