Lawsuit filed against the state Dept. of Water Resources

[Mike McKenzie]

for the illegal take of fish at the delta export pumps. Here's a couple of articles from today's papers...

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/34314.html

and another;

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/15683770.htm

Lets hope we prevail...

Mike

[JerryInLodi]

Mike, wasn't this whole issue delt with once with the matter of "screens" and hatcheries or was it all just proposals that never were put in place?

I remember a lot about this issue at about what seems seven years ago with the focus on Clifton Forebay.

Is it that the "fixes" don't work or that they were never incorporated into the system? The permit is kind of a seperate but connected issue. One is paper, the other is hardware and the actual pumping volumes themselves.

[Mike McKenzie]

Jerry,

Actually, the answer to your questions is "none of the above" While all the things you referenced are issues that we are dealing with as part of the battle against further exports ( fix it now, before any more water leaves the delta) This lawsuit was initiated because our own government thinks that it is above the law of the land. The bureaucrats that are responsible for safe guarding the public's resources under the public trust doctrine have totally abdicated their responsiblities for political purposes.

It goes back to the early 90's when several of the native fish species (Delta Smelt, winter run Chinook, Coho, etc.) were place on either the endangered species or threatened lists under the ESA.

The listing resulted in a permit being required to kill or "take" any of the listed species.

As an example, the stocking of striped bass from hatcheries was prohibited because stripers "prey" on some of the listed species and thus we have a "taking" with out a permit. DFG negotiated for 5 years to get the required permit (called a section 10 permit after the section in the ESA that allows it) The conditions of the permit specified certain conditions that had to be met in order to restart the hatchery stocking program. The same is required by the California ESA..

The lawsuit is a result of the fact that the delta export pumps have been killing ("taking") listed species ever since their listing, under the guise of bureaucratic double speak and mindless rhetoric that theorized that they had a "permit" through some devine bureaucratic intervention. It is argued by the sportfishing and environmental communities that no such permit exists. I guess it'll be settled in court now!

I hope this basically oversimplified info. explains the issues...

Mike

[JerryInLodi]

Thanks for the reply, now that you've shaken my brain, it's more like 14 years ago that I remember this issue.

14 years of litigation and hassling and not a damn thing done!

Incredible and inexcusable!

Why didn't I listen to my mommy when she wanted me to be a lawyer!