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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>Suit
seeks to block delta smelt rules<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white'
id="story_subheadline"><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";
color:windowtext'>Westlands, San Luis districts cite water needs.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h4 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>The
Fresno Bee – 3/3/09<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<h4 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>By
John Ellis<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<h4 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></h4>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The Westlands Water District on Tuesday joined forces with the San Luis
& Delta-Mendota Water Authority to stop the federal government from
enforcing a new set of rules governing the endangered delta smelt.</span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fresno says the new
rules, issued in December by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "will
result in significant harm to Californians who depend on [Central Valley
Project] water supply."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The suit seeks to have the new rules governing management of the delta
smelt rewritten. While that takes place, the suit asks for "relief from
the pumping restrictions" in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that were
implemented as a result of the new rules. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>"We understand the need to save the species," said Westlands
spokeswoman Sarah Woolf. "However, there is zero balance" between the
needs of water users and protection of the delta smelt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that west Valley
farmers would receive no federal water this season. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The state's persistent drought is partly to blame, Woolf said, but
without the new smelt rules, some water would have been delivered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Instead, she said, an enormous amount of water flows through the delta
and into the ocean to satisfy requirements for the smelt rules. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The California Department of Water Resources estimated in December that
in an average weather year, the water-delivery cuts could range from 20% to
30%.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Environmentalists said Tuesday that Westlands and the San Luis &
Delta-Mendota Water Authority were trying to capitalize on the state's current
drought conditions to turn back the new smelt rules.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Trent Orr, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, said
Tuesday that the rules are well written. "We expect the federal government
to defend this [lawsuit] rigorously," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The rules, called a biological opinion, govern water-pumping operations
by the state Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The
two agencies operate massive water pumps that send delta water to Bay Area
urban users, San Joaquin Valley farmers and south to Los Angeles and San Diego.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Environmentalists say the effects of delta pumping have forced the
delta smelt to the brink of extinction, and they sued the federal government
under the Endangered Species Act.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>In May 2007, U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger found that rules
governing the smelt were flawed and needed to be rewritten. Those are the new
rules that were issued in December.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>But Tuesday's lawsuit says the newly minted opinion "ignores
contrary scientific data, misstates and misapplies the data it cites" and
makes claims that Central Valley Project operations are hurting the smelt, when
it is actually other factors such as industrial pollution and invasive species
of clams that are interfering with the food supply for the smelt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The suit also says the new rules restrict delta pumping operations, but
offer no "meaningful benefit to delta smelt survival or recovery."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Tuesday's 36-page lawsuit is similar to one filed in December over the
longfin smelt, a cousin of the delta smelt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>That suit says California Department of Fish & Game regulations
protecting the longfin smelt are hurting the state's water supply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Taken together, Woolf said, rules governing the delta and longfin smelt
show the lack of a coherent strategy to manage the delta and protect the
species that dwell there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Named in the lawsuit were several federal agencies, including the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'>Spokeswoman Lynnette
Wirth said the bureau has not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.</span><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
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