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<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=4 color=black
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<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=4 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold'>Judge: Delta salmon 'unquestionably in jeopardy'<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=1 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold'>By TRACIE CONE<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=1 color="#999999"
face=Arial><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:#999999'>10/21/08
18:55:36<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><!--END QUICKSEARCH CAREER BUILDER WIDGET--></ br></ br><!-- end /pubsys/assets/ad_components/textads_storylevel_ibox.comp -->A
federal judge ruled Tuesday that <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s
canal water systems are placing wild salmon "unquestionably in
jeopardy," but stopped short of issuing court-order limits on pumping in
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Environmental groups had
sought the temporary pumping limits to guard three species of migrating salmon
in the delta until a new fish protection is due in March. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>But U.S. District Judge
Oliver Wanger declined to do so, after the state Department of Water Resources
said last month it would voluntarily reduce pumping to protect the juvenile
fish. <o:p></o:p></span></font><!-- no related content to display --></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"Upon initial
glance, the department believes that the judge handed down a responsible
ruling," said spokesman Ted Thomas. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>If environmental groups
want to make new arguments for court-ordered pumping limits, Wanger wrote, any
motion filed would be "heard on an expedited basis," an offer
attorneys are considering. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"We need to decide
whether it's worth doing for this short amount of time or not," said
Michael Sherwood, an attorney for Earthjustice. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Chinook salmon and
steelhead freely migrated on the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City>
and San Joaquin Rivers until the federal and state system of dams built to
deliver water via canals to the state's arid areas blocked their paths. Now up
to 42 percent of the endangered juvenile fish die as they are sucked into Delta
pumps that send water into canals. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Wanger's opinion eased
the fears of farmers worried about impacts of mandatory water cutbacks on an
agricultural industry already suffering from drought, while validating concerns
by environmentalists as well as fishing groups affecting by the collapse of the
state's salmon population. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"In the meantime,
we've got boats tied up this year and probably next," said a frustrated
Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association,
referring to the resulting ban on commercial and recreational fishing. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The ruling stems from
Wanger's earlier decision that pitted the endangered fish against <st1:place
w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> farmers. In that ruling, he said the
National Marine Fisheries Service's biological opinion on water projects tied
to the delta does not adequately protect salmon and must be rewritten. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>In the meantime,
environmentalists, fishing groups and water users filed briefs over how the
delta and its water should be managed until then. Earthjustice had wanted the
judge to order a cutback in pumping that would be legally enforceable. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Last month, the
Department of Water Resources, intervening on behalf of the water districts who
depend on canal water for their constituents, said they would operate the water
systems to minimize impacts on salmon, especially during the December-January
migration of juvenile fish to the ocean, until the new report comes out. Wanger
said that testimony under oath made a court order unnecessary. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<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'>, JCT, Chair</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'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></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
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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>
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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 </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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