<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><o:SmartTagType
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PostalCode"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PersonName"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Verdana;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
h4
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold;}
p.MsoEnvelopeAddress, li.MsoEnvelopeAddress, div.MsoEnvelopeAddress
{margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:2.0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-element:frame;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:windowtext;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in .8in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1151748445;
mso-list-template-ids:1986137932;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:24.0pt;font-weight:bold'>U.S.</span></font></b></st1:country-region></st1:place><b><font
size=6><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-weight:bold'> Broke Law on Water
Deals, Judge Rules<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><font
size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-weight:bold'>A
federal jurist says environmental statutes were broken in the renewal of
irrigation pacts involving the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By Bettina Boxall<br>
Times Staff Writer<br>
<br>
July 30, 2005<br>
<br>
In the latest ruling in a long-running court case, a <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
judge has found that the federal government violated environmental laws when it
renewed long-term contracts for a group of irrigation districts that get water
from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<br>
<br>
The 78-page opinion, issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton in
Sacramento, found that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's 2001 contract renewal
was "arbitrary and capricious" and that two federal wildlife agencies
had failed to fully analyze the environmental effects of the water deliveries.<br>
<br>
The conservation groups that filed the suit say the irrigation diversions have
not only destroyed salmon runs on the <st1:place w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place>,
one of the state's largest rivers, but are also harming downstream fisheries in
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.<br>
<br>
Karlton did not order a remedy for the violations, leaving that to later
proceedings in a case now 17 years old.<br>
<br>
The same judge in 1997 struck down an earlier version of the contracts, which
govern long-term deliveries to more than two dozen irrigation and water
districts in the Friant division of the Central Valley Project, a massive
federal water project that supplies much of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> agriculture.<br>
<br>
In another ruling in the case last year, Karlton found that the Bureau of
Reclamation had violated fisheries protections by drying up much of the <st1:place
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place> to send water to farmers for the last six
decades. A trial is scheduled for next year to determine how much water should
be left in the river, which historically supported a bountiful salmon run.<br>
<br>
In this week's ruling, Karlton agreed with environmental groups that the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service had failed
to follow Endangered Species Act requirements when both agencies issued
biological opinions that the irrigation deliveries would not seriously harm
chinook salmon, <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> steelhead and
other species.<br>
<br>
"This new ruling rejects the government's attempt to ignore the true
impacts of these long-term water contracts, especially their wide-ranging
impact on downstream fisheries and endangered species," said Hamilton
Candee, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of a
number of environmental groups pressing the case.<br>
<br>
Spokesmen for all three federal agencies said their attorneys were reviewing
the decision and had no comment. Greg Wilkinson, an attorney for the Friant
Water Users Assn., which represents the irrigators, said, "There are some
real oddities in the ruling." He cited the judge's pronouncements on
critical habitat and water quantities.<br>
<br>
Karlton faulted the Fish and Wildlife Service for basing its environmental
assessment on the amount of water actually delivered to irrigators in recent
years, instead of the much larger quantities that the contracts allow for. <br>
<br>
But Wilkinson said those larger deliveries would only infrequently be possible,
in very wet years. "He wants it analyzed as if there's more water in the
river than the river actually holds" much of the time, he said.<br>
<br>
The Friant agreements were the first of more than 200 Central Valley Project
contracts that the Bureau of Reclamation is renewing in a process that has been
severely criticized by environmentalists. They say the government is promising <st1:place
w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> agribusiness more water than the
environment can bear, charging farmers too little for it and writing the
contracts for too long a period. The 25-year pacts contain an automatic renewal
clause, meaning they will probably be in effect for half a century.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>SACRAMENTO</span></b></st1:City></st1:place><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'> BEE:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>
<tr>
<td width=10 style='width:7.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
<td width=10 style='width:.1in;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
<td width=739 valign=top style='width:554.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><strong><b><font
size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Agencies ignored
impact of water deal, judge rules</span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<h4><b><font size=3 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
Verdana'>By Denny Walsh -- Bee Staff Writer<br>
<i><span style='font-style:italic'>Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, July 30,
2005 <br>
Story appeared on <a
href="http://sfmail.nrdc.org/content/print_edition/#MAIN NEWS"
title="http://sfmail.nrdc.org/content/print_edition/#MAIN NEWS">Page A1</a>
of The Bee</span></i></span></font><o:p></o:p></b></h4>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>
<tr>
<td width=10 valign=top style='width:.1in;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation violated the Endangered Species Act in pushing
through tens of millions of dollars in water delivery contracts for Central
Valley farmers in 2001 while paying scant attention to the impact on
protected species and their habitats, a federal judge in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> has ruled. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>U.S.
District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton found that biological opinions by two
federal agencies - the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine
Fisheries Service - written to support the contracts are fatally flawed. </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><img
border=0 width=1 height=1 id="_x0000_i1026"
src="http://ads.sacbee.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.sacbee.com/content/news/1136205603/Button20/Sacbee/richmond_336_nw_jul_5/richmondamerican_336x280_aug2003.html/34306163363063383432656230626330?_RM_EMPTY_">"This
ruling documents the government's utter failure to consider the wide-ranging
impacts of Friant diversions on downstream fisheries and the San Francisco
Bay Delta," said Kate Poole, an attorney with the National Resources
Defense Council, a plaintiff in the 17-year-old lawsuit. </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>"It
is time for the government to take the blinders off and acknowledge the
effects of Friant Dam on the downstream environment and our state's imperiled
fisheries," <st1:place w:st="on">Poole</st1:place> said. </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
ruling is the second time in less than a year that Karlton has found the
Bureau of Reclamation has botched its operation of the Friant Dam and its
sale of water captured by the dam and diverted from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
to Valley farmers. </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>As
part of the same suit, Karlton determined last August that the bureau's
operation of the dam had dried up miles of the river, destroying fish
populations. </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
two orders, and another upcoming on different questions of liability, set the
stage for a Feb. 14 trial on what can be done to repair the damage done to
the river, species and their habitat. </span></font><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Spokesmen
for the three government agencies said the Karlton order filed Thursday is
still under review and there will be no comment at this time. </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Gregory
Wilkinson, an attorney for the irrigation districts that buy water from the
Bureau of Reclamation, said, "I'm quite disappointed. But we'll continue
to prepare for trial on the remedies phase of the case." </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
bureau is paid approximately $117.7 million a year to deliver diverted waters
of the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType> to 28 irrigation districts, primarily for
Central Valley agriculture along the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Friant-Kern</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Canal</st1:PlaceType> that serves thousands of
farmers in <st1:City w:st="on">Fresno</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Tulare</st1:City>,
Kern and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Madera</st1:City></st1:place>
counties. </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>In
Thursday's 78-page order Karlton wrote: "While numerous examples may be
found, perhaps the clearest instance of arbitrary conduct was when the
bureau, knowing the Fish and Wildlife Service based its (biological) analysis
on less than the full contract amount (of water), nevertheless, adopted a 'no
jeopardy' finding," meaning the water sale would not put any endangered
or threatened species at risk. </span></font><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Even
though the new contracts called for deliveries of 2.14 million acre-feet a
year for 25 years, Fish and Wildlife used much lower delivery figures from
1988 through 1997 to calculate impact, explaining in its biological opinion
that "delivery of full contract quantities is unrealistic." </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>"Simply
put, FWS did not evaluate the effects of the entire authorized agency
action," Karlton pointed out. The Endangered Species Act "mandates
that biological opinions must be coextensive with the action
authorized." </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
judge also cited an e-mail from a Fish and Wildlife senior biologist to a
colleague on Jan. 19, 2001, the same day the agency's biological opinion was
issued. </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
message discussed " 'possible holes and weaknesses in our crash
(biological opinion),' including inadequate time to do a consultation,
inadequate biological assessments, a track record of lack of compliance by
the Bureau of Reclamation, concern that the contracts are inconsistent with
the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, and lack of coordination with the
National Marine Fisheries Service." </span></font><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
day before the message was written, Fish and Wildlife biologists met with
their field supervisor as the new contracts were about to be executed. A
biologist asked if they could even consider the issue of jeopardy, as
required by the Endangered Species Act. </span></font><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
field supervisor, Wayne White, said it was "too late" to consider
jeopardy, according to Karlton's order. "The opinion had to be rushed
out the following day, Mr. White explained, to avoid the opinion becoming
even weaker under the incoming Bush administration," the order says. </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>"Because
the bureau failed to carry out its duty to ensure against jeopardy (to
protected species) and adverse modification (of habitats), and because the
bureau knew of the deficiency, the court must conclude that its conduct was
arbitrary and capricious," Karlton wrote. </span></font><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
judge's order states that the National Marine Fisheries Service's biological
opinion has no meaningful discussion of impact on critical habitat for
winter-run chinook salmon. </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>As
to the California condor, the Fish and Wildlife opinion "appears to
contain no discussion whatever of the effect of the contract renewal on
'critical habitat,' much less mention of recovery or conservation," the
judge wrote. </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>For
the Delta smelt, the Fish and Wildlife opinion "is simply inadequate by
any measure," Karlton wrote. The same is true, he said, for five other species.
</span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
14 plaintiffs claim consultations on steelhead and spring-run chinook salmon
had not been completed before the biological opinion said the species would
not be at risk. </span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
record supports that contention, Karlton wrote. </span></font><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The Bee's Denny Walsh can
be reached at (916) 321-1189 or <a href="mailto:dwalsh@sacbee.com"
title="mailto:dwalsh@sacbee.com">dwalsh@sacbee.com</a>.</span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-align:center;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>
</span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:.5in'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sacramento</span></font></st1:City></st1:place><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> Bee/Nathaniel Levine<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><strong><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>STOCKTON</span></font></b></strong></st1:City></st1:place><strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman"> RECORD:</font></b></strong><span class=headline><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span class=headline><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Agencies lose <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">S.J.</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
ruling</span></font></b></span><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman"> </font></b></strong><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><br>
<span class=subheadline>Judge: Water-sale contracts in 2001 violated the law</span></span></b><span
class=headline><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:dnicholsj@recordnet.com"
title="mailto:dnicholsj@recordnet.com">DANA NICHOLS</a> <br>
Record Staff Writer <br>
Published Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A federal
judge ruled this week that three federal agencies violated the federal
Endangered Species Act when they ignored the fact that long-term sales of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> water would likely harm salmon,
Delta smelt and several other threatened or endangered species.<br>
<br>
Judge Lawrence Karlton of the U.S. District Court in Sacramento said in his
ruling issued Wednesday that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation broke the law in
2001 when it signed 25-year contracts to sell up to 2.1 million acre-feet per
year of water from behind Friant Dam near Fresno.<br>
<br>
Karlton did not say what the bureau, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the
National Marine Fisheries Service should do to fix the error.<br>
<br>
Karlton's latest ruling is the second major legal blow to the Bureau of
Reclamation's operation of Friant Dam.<br>
<br>
In August, Karlton ruled that dam operators violated <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> law by diverting so much water to
farms and cities that 60 miles of the river below Mendota is completely dry
most of the time.<br>
<br>
A remedy trial due to start in February will determine how much water must be
restored to the river to allow the salmon and steelhead fisheries to recover.<br>
<br>
Restoring water to the San Joaquin would also benefit Delta farmers and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Stockton</st1:City></st1:place> ratepayers.
Farmers would have an easier time irrigating, because renewed flows would
dilute salt pollution. <st1:City w:st="on">Stockton</st1:City> would be able to
get more water from the New Melones Reservoir on the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Stanislaus</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType>, much of which is now used to
dilute the salty <st1:place w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place>.<br>
<br>
Karlton in coming months is expected to also consider whether dam operators
have violated a second federal law, the National Environmental Policy Act,
which requires agencies to consider the environmental effects of the things
they do.<br>
<br>
Representatives of all three agencies said Friday that they had only just
received the ruling and did not have any comment on it.<br>
<br>
Jim Thompson is an attorney for the Friant Water Users Authority, a group that
represents farms and agencies that buy water from Friant.<br>
<br>
"We're not surprised," Thompson said of the ruling. "Of course,
we are not pleased. We do think there are some problems with the
decision."<br>
<br>
Thompson said he particularly disagreed with Karlton's findings because while
the judge ruled based on a theoretical sale of 2.1 million acre-feet, actual
sales are typically far below that. Thompson said Karlton should have ruled
based on average sales.<br>
<br>
Karlton said the law is clear that officials can't sign a deal for 2.1 million
acre-feet but do their analysis on a smaller quantity.<br>
<br>
"There is no question that ESA requires that all impacts of agency action
-- both present and future effects -- be addressed in the consultation's
jeopardy analysis," Karlton wrote.<br>
<br>
Karlton's 78-page ruling repeatedly described the agencies' disregard for the
various fish and other species as "arbitrary and capricious." The
ruling quotes from internal memos that describe how officials rushed in early
2001 to complete the biological reports needed to justify the water sales.<br>
<br>
For example, on Jan. 19, 2001, Fish and Wildlife Service senior biologist <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">David Wright</st1:PersonName> e-mailed another employee about
"possible holes and weaknesses in our crash" biological opinion.
Several higher-level supervisors also received that warning.<br>
<br>
Wright told his colleague later that day to "slam out the conclusion
section."<br>
<br>
The Fish and Wildlife Service completed its opinion that same day -- only two
days after it had received basic information from the Bureau of Reclamation
needed to evaluate what the water sales would do to various species.<br>
<br>
A coalition of 14 groups, including the Natural Resource Defense Council, filed
the suit to restore water to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<br>
<br>
<st1:PersonName w:st="on">Zeke Grader</st1:PersonName>, executive director of
the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, another party to the
suit, said Karlton's ruling sheds light on the frequent failure of federal
wildlife agencies to protect wildlife.<br>
"They are just like some spoiled children that refuse to follow the
rules," Grader said.<br>
<br>
Contact reporter Dana Nichols at 209 546-8295 or dnichols@recordnet.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Consultant, California Trout, Inc.</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></u></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a><u>
</u></span></font><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>(secondary)</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a href="http://caltrout.org">http://caltrout.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>