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<h1 id="story_headline">Ex-judge who ruled for Westlands is now
its lawyer</h1>
<h3 id="story_creditline"><a href="mailto:mweiser@sacbee.com">mweiser@sacbee.com</a>
</h3>
<h4 class="date">Published Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011</h4>
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<p> A retired federal judge who recently ruled in favor of
California's largest agricultural water agency is now an attorney
for that agency in a different lawsuit.</p>
<p>Judge Oliver Wanger, who retired Sept. 30 from the federal
district court in Fresno, recently was named in a court filing as
an attorney for Westlands Water District. The district delivers
water to farms in the San Joaquin Valley, most of it diverted from
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.</p>
<p>Just weeks before retirement, Wanger ruled in favor of Westlands
in a case the district brought against federal regulation of water
diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The rules are
meant to protect the Delta smelt, a threatened fish. </p>
<p> In an outburst from the bench in that case on Sept. 19, he
accused two federal scientists of bias, calling one a "zealot" and
suggesting the other distorted the truth. It was a rare emotional
moment for Wanger, who for two decades has ruled for both water
users and environmental groups in numerous complex water cases.</p>
<p>On retirement, Wanger became headline partner at a Fresno law
firm that previously saw relatively little work in the water
arena.</p>
<p>Wanger said he sees no conflict in taking the Westlands case.</p>
<p>"I would not undertake any representation where there is a
conflict," he said. "Candidly, if the environmentalists had sought
to hire me or the government had sought to hire me and I had no
conflicts, I would have been happy to consider representing them."</p>
<p>Wanger is also representing Fresno County in its effort to
prevent Occupy Fresno protesters from camping in Courthouse Park.</p>
<p>The new water case was filed in Fresno Superior Court in August
by the North Coast Rivers Alliance, Friends of the River, Save the
American River Association and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. They
allege that Westlands and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation harm
water quality and wildlife by irrigating Westlands land, which
transports naturally occurring selenium from the soil into
waterways.</p>
<p>Selenium can deform wildlife when it enters the food chain. It
did so in spectacular fashion in 1983, when dozens of deformed
birds were found at Kesterson Wildlife Refuge.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs are asking the court to require Westlands and the
bureau to obtain a state waste-discharge permit.</p>
<p>"I guess I'm not surprised he's now basically retained by
Westlands," said Steve Evans, program consultant at Friends of the
River. "I'm sure Westlands is purchasing the best legal
representation they can buy. But I trust the system to work, and I
think we have a really good case."</p>
<p>Ethics rules forbid a former judge from serving as a lawyer for a
party in a case over which he recently presided. That does not
necessarily apply in a different case, even with similar issues.
It may depend on details that can become a subject of legal
dispute. </p>
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