Judge Sides With Farmers In Delta Water Lawsuit

[Scott V]

Taken from cbs13 website:

A federal judge has sided with California farmers and urban water agencies in a long-running legal fight over how much water can be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno ruled Tuesday that federal agencies did not properly develop their plan, known as a biological opinion, that restricted water diversions to protect endangered salmon and steelhead.

Wanger's decision could lead to increased water pumping from the delta, which is a major source of irrigation and drinking water for San Joaquin Valley farmers and Southern California cities.

The judge has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday to determine how much water can be pumped without harming the endangered fish that migrate through the delta to the Pacific Ocean.

[wjorg]

I am going to scream now.

[huntindog]

Yes this is not good. Also released today was a two-bit scientific document paid for by (guess who) claiming that sac waste water is causing the delta collapse. The ass-clowns at westlands are happy today.

[Darian]

If I understand the ruling (given the accuracy of TV reporting), it really hasn't changed anything except the need to re-write the federal Bio-Op/plan. The actual determination of the allowable amount of pumping is yet to be determined. Of course, that could go either way but there doesn't appear to be any reason to panic, yet. Remember, this judge is the one who originally restricted pumping last year. He's not likely to overrule his last ruling.... 8-)

As to the "two bit scientific document", is it any surprise to anyone that the Sacramento water utilities facility doesn't filter out ammonia which is dumped into the Sacramento river in massive amounts or that other municipal water suppliers along the river/delta do the same :?: The reason being the cost of improvements to enable removal.... This has been the subject of several articles in the SacBee and the SF Chron. Is it so hard to imagine that the massive amount of ammonia dumped into delta waterways each day would contribute to the decline of fish living there or that we're the cause of it :?:

We can't lay the blame for that on Westlands or any other water agency or user. Whether or not we like it, they're entitled to rely on science to justify their ends as much as we are.... :-|

Since this is not going to be resolved by private enterprise, it's time to look ourselves in the eye and pony up for the required improvements or back off. :nod:

[wjorg]

Darian is right(amongst other things) about the Judge...

http://aquafornia.com/archives/category/delta-issues/judge-wanger-delta-smelt-ruling

[Darian]

The SacBee reported that Judge Wenger ruled in favor of relaxing restrictions on pumping for a period of 3 weeks. :\\ See the link for the article:

www.sacbee.com/2010/05/20/2763550/federal-judge-might-revise-california.html

In the article, it appears that increased pumping may not take place after all. This is due to the status of the Delta Smelt as endangered. The current ruling applies to the status of the Chinook Salmon only. The outcome of this situation may be that if increased pumping endangers Delta Smelt, it probably won't occur (sorta, maybe :confused: ). At any rate, I'm still not ready to panic, yet. :neutral:

[Mr. Striper]

The SacBee reported that Judge Wenger ruled in favor of relaxing restrictions on pumping for a period of 3 weeks. :\\ See the link for the article:

www.sacbee.com/2010/05/20/2763550/federal-judge-might-revise-california.html

In the article, it appears that increased pumping may not take place after all. This is due to the status of the Delta Smelt as endangered. The current ruling applies to the status of the Chinook Salmon only. The outcome of this situation may be that if increased pumping endangers Delta Smelt, it probably won't occur (sorta, maybe :confused: ). At any rate, I'm still not ready to panic, yet. :neutral:

I hope this does not go through. It will just show once agian our vote doesent always count.

[Scott V]

Breaking news update:


Cities and farmers quickly started pulling more water from the Delta following a controversial court ruling, prompting concern that more young salmon would be killed in the pumps.

The ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger invalidated some of the rules imposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect endangered salmon. The victors are a host of farm and urban water agencies who say the resulting water shortages caused economic harm.

The rules limited diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to 1,500 cubic feet per second to protect juvenile salmon migrating to the sea.

On Wednesday, the California Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation wasted no time boosting water diversions. They planned to reach 2,800 cfs Wednesday, 4,200 today and 5,800 by Friday, said Carl Torgersen, chief of operations and maintenance at DWR.

Water agencies estimated the increased pumping will deliver about 200,000 acre-feet of additional water, enough to serve about 400,000 homes for a year. Recipients include both farms in the San Joaquin Valley and cities from San Jose to San Diego.

But the action raises risks that more salmon will be killed by the pumps, which have already claimed nearly 2,500 fish this month. It also poses new legal risks for the state.

The Department of Water Resources must obtain permission under both the state and federal Endangered Species Acts for its water diversions. State law requires full restoration of an affected species, not just mitigation of harmful effects.

DWR has operated for years without a state Endangered Species Act permit from the Department of Fish and Game. Rather, it has relied on a "consistency determination" from the department, which concludes that federal rules satisfy the state law.

Environmental groups and some state lawmakers have long questioned this strategy.

"If they had been fully mitigating, we wouldn't have had a crash of the Delta fishes," said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

Tuesday's court ruling essentially left nothing for state law to be consistent with.

Anticipating this, DWR on Monday asked Fish and Game for a new consistency determination, and it was issued Wednesday, said Jerry Johns, DWR deputy director. It concludes that what's left of the federal protections still "fully mitigate" harm to salmon, and finds that a separate state permit is not needed.

"This is just kind of temporary to cover the time period of the (court) injunction," Johns said.

Jennings was awed by the speed of the action, and noted that the former boss of DWR, Lester Snow, now oversees the state Natural Resources Agency, which also oversees Fish and Game.

"We'll be going over it with a magnifying glass," he said.

The National Marine Fisheries Service said it will monitor the increased pumping.

"We will take immediate action, including seeking emergency relief from the court order," if the fish kill increases, said Howard Brown, acting regional supervisor.



Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/27/2779611/extra-pumping-starts-in-delta.html#ixzz0p8tK0cOt

[Darian]

Mr. Striper,.... Respectfully, I'm not sure that this has anything to do with our vote not counting. It's more likely an indication that most eligible voters don't vote. I don't know who said it first but we get the quality of government we deserve. If all voters voted every single time they have an opportunity, things like mandatory redesign of districts would've already happened (as promised by the Guv for the last 3 years). Also, many protected incumbents would be a lot more receptive to in individual voters. OK, enough of that.... :neutral:

I'm wondering how much the recent adoption of a commercial/recreational Salmon season figured into this decision.... :confused: Seems to me that it's difficult to defend that Salmon numbers are dangerously low and pumping must be restricted if everyone is allowed to fish for them.... :confused:

[BillB]

Right, and though we may disagree with a judges decision in this court, the 9th Court of Appeals, or any other court they are bound to interpret the law. I heard Judge Wanger state, maybe a couple of months ago, if it were up to him he would turn on the pumps, but he could not bypass the law. That's a rough quote by the way.

I wonder how many outside of commercial and recreational fishing interest really understand the crux of the problem. Does the average person in Santa Monica really know about this issue? I suspect that most have only passing knowledge of the water issue from what they have heard briefly on the news and don't see how this could ultimately concern every person who lives in this state.

[Darian]

I was thinking more along the lines that since any court is a point of last resort, politicians might be more receptive to all of us and hear our voices before getting to the point where resource intensive litigation is needed.... :neutral: Litigation is always defensive. We need to get off defense and on to offense. :neutral:

The part about the opening of fishing for Salmon by NMFS/DFG just seems to contribute to enabling/reinforce this result. The rapid timing involved between the point the decision was published, the request for a decision from DFG by DWR and the 2 day turnaround by DFG has to make you wonder if there wasn't some advance knowledge of what the decision was to be.... :confused: Having said that, I'm not sure the judges decision would've been any different had there been no "leak" of the content of his decision given his recent ruling. Just made it easier to arrive at his conclusions. :neutral:

[wjorg]

Sue the damn state for violating the ESA.

Get Larry Flint to find some dirt on this Judge and leak it to the media, like he does to other politicians.

Theyre going to pump 5000cfs out.

That is the current volume of the American River, fyi.

It has to stop.

[wjorg]

Sue the damn state for violating the ESA.

Get Larry Flint to find some dirt on this Judge and leak it to the media, like he does to other politicians.

Theyre going to pump 5000cfs out.

That is the current volume of the American River, fyi.

It has to stop.

[OceanSunfish]

I was thinking more along the lines that since any court is a point of last resort, politicians might be more receptive to all of us and hear our voices before getting to the point where resource intensive litigation is needed.... :neutral: Litigation is always defensive. We need to get off defense and on to offense. :neutral:

The part about the opening of fishing for Salmon by NMFS/DFG just seems to contribute to enabling/reinforce this result. The rapid timing involved between the point the decision was published, the request for a decision from DFG by DWR and the 2 day turnaround by DFG has to make you wonder if there wasn't some advance knowledge of what the decision was to be.... :confused: Having said that, I'm not sure the judges decision would've been any different had there been no "leak" of the content of his decision given his recent ruling. Just made it easier to arrive at his conclusions. :neutral:

It could be due to advance warning, but also think that it helps that they (water grabbers) have vast resources, personnel, and most importantly, the "chess pieces" strategically sitting in the right places.... It's simply a full blown political machine vs. grass roots sportfishermen with a good attorney or two..... Do "2-day turnarounds" happen in favor of the fish?! Never!

It's very disgusting and I really don't know how folks like Lester Snow, et. al. live with themselves....