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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Judge
relaxes Delta salmon rules</span></b><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>
<br>
By Mike Taugher Contra Costa Times</span><br>
<br>
</b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>In
a win for central and Southern California farmers and cities, a federal judge on
Friday suspended salmon protection rules just weeks after they began affecting water
deliveries. <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"'>The
decision, which angered salmon fishermen, means that for at least the next two
weeks water agencies serving mostly the San Joaquin Valley and Southern
California can run Delta pumps to take full advantage of flows from recent
storms without regard to restrictions meant to protect salmon, steelhead and
other fish.<br>
<br>
"I thought we were on the path to getting those fish back," said San Francisco
fisher Larry Collins, who like other salmon fishers has not been able to fish
for <br>
two years. "I don't know what we're going to do."<br>
<br>
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger suspended a portion of the permit that limits
how hard Delta pumps can run, saying federal water managers did not
sufficiently analyze the impact of the new rules.<br>
<br>
"The principle the court applied is very clear," said Dan Nelson,
executive director of the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority, which
represents San Joaquin Valley farmers. "The judge found that the federal
agencies should have considered alternatives that would still adequately
protect the fish while causing less harm to people."<br>
<br>
In 2007, Wanger invalidated a pair of key endangered species permits because they
were too weak to protect two runs of salmon, steelhead, green sturgeon and Delta
smelt.<br>
<br>
New federal permits were written that environmentalists and fishers have
cheered, but farmers have <br>
blasted as onerous.<br>
<br>
The Delta smelt permit was responsible for about 25 percent of the water shortages
last year, according to water managers, and the salmon permit had negligible
impact on water supplies until two weeks ago.<br>
<br>
The temporary order is in force for two weeks but can be renewed. Wanger will consider
more permanent remedies later.<br>
<br>
But the decision brings two issues to a head.<br>
<br>
First, it is unclear whether operations at the state-owned pumps that serve parts
of the Bay Area, Kern County and Southern California will comply with the state's
endangered species law. The Department of Water Resources ran its water project
outside of that law until it got a certification last year, for the first time,
from state regulators that determined the new federal permit met the standards
of state law.<br>
<br>
It is unclear if the court order affects that determination.<br>
<br>
State water officials said they could not address that issue Friday.<br>
<br>
Second, some of the environmental groups cooperating with an initiative backed by
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to create a canal or other means to deliver water around
the Delta are now discussing the possibility of walking away, which could be a
serious blow to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, said one of the participants.<br>
<br>
"(Water agencies) that we're partnering with are out there taking swipes
(and) undermining the protections that are in place right now," said Ann
Hayden, a water policy analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund. "What's
the point in continuing in this long-term solution under the BDCP if actions
are taken that will directly harm the salmon in the short term?"<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>
<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>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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