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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Judge
eases curbs on delta pumping<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>L.A.
Times-2/6/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By
Bettina Boxall<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>A federal judge has
temporarily lifted pumping curbs designed to protect salmon migration in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an action that allows the diversion of more
winter storm flows to farms and cities in the south.</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Friday's ruling is the
latest in a tortuous legal fight over Endangered Species Act protections that
limit pumping from the troubled delta east of San Francisco, a source of water
for 23 million Californians and millions of acres of farmland.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The decision was a
victory, however brief, for San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts that have
tried in the courts and the halls of Congress to loosen pumping restraints that
have reduced their water deliveries.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Ironically, the ruling was
issued by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, whose earlier decisions forced the
federal government to strengthen protections for the delta's collapsing
fisheries.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Wanger issued a 14-day
restraining order, lifting curbs designed to keep migrating Chinook salmon away
from the giant pumps that suck water from the south delta.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>He concluded that the
additional pumping would not seriously harm the young winter-run salmon moving
through the delta to the sea, whereas reduced diversions were significantly
hurting agricultural and urban water supplies.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"It is undisputed
that every acre-foot of pumping that is foregone during this time of year is an
acre-foot that does not reach the San Luis Reservoir where it can be stored for
future delivery to users during times of peak demand later in the water
year," Wanger wrote.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>But his decision sent
mixed signals about the ultimate outcome of the case. He found that plaintiffs
"have not yet established a likelihood of success" on their claims
against the Endangered Species Act.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Instead, Wanger ruled that
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had not performed the necessary analysis of the
pumping permit and its restrictions under another federal law, the National
Environmental Policy Act.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"This is not a
decision on the soundness of the [permit], the analysis included in it or the
actions required by it," said Chris Yates, a NOAA Fisheries Service
assistant regional administrator. "We continue to stand by those
conclusions very strongly."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Maria Rea, director of the
NOAA Fisheries Central Valley office, said the increased pumping would probably
result in more salmon losses.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The San Luis &
Delta-Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District, the nation's
biggest irrigation district, sought the injunction, along with the Metropolitan
Water District of Southern California.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"I think it has much
broader implications," said Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis
authority, which represents Central Valley irrigators. "I would hope the
federal government would take a couple steps back and take another look"
at the salmon permit as well as another designed to protect the delta smelt,
which is nearing extinction.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Most of last year's cuts
in water deliveries were a result of the state drought, not the pumping curbs,
according to government water managers.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>But that has not stopped
agriculture and Central Valley politicians from attacking the Endangered
Species Act protections as the cause of economic hardship.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Commercial salmon
fishermen, who have endured two closed seasons because of collapsing stocks,
have shot back that without them, their entire way of life will disappear.<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><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/fax (call first to fax)</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
mobile</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
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