
<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219574" dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/29/environmentalists-fishing-groups-file-lawsuit-to-block-delta-tunnels-plan/" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219591">http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/29/environmentalists-fishing-groups-file-lawsuit-to-block-delta-tunnels-plan/</a><br></div><h1 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.26667em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT serif', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 2.25rem; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.02em; width: 1160px; clear: both;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219819"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219820">Environmentalists, fishing groups file lawsuits to block Delta tunnels plan</span></h1><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; line-height: 1.71429; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219869"><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/author/paul-rogers/" title="Posts by Paul Rogers" rel="author" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.7; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219870">RS</a> | <a href="mailto:progers@bayareanewsgroup.com" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); text-decoration: none;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219871">progers@bayareanewsgroup.com</a> | Bay Area News Group</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 1.16667; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219872">PUBLISHED: <time datetime="2017-06-29T21:46:04+00:00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219873">June 29, 2017 at 2:46 pm</time> | UPDATED: <time datetime="2017-06-30T11:50:56+00:00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219874">June 30, 2017 at 4:50 am</time></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 1.16667; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219872"><time datetime="2017-06-30T11:50:56+00:00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;"><br></time></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219750">Kicking off what are expected to be years of legal battles, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups on Thursday filed the first major lawsuits over California Gov. Jerry Brown’s $17 billion plan to build two massive, 35-mile-long tunnels under the Delta to make it easier to move water from Northern California to the south.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219751">The Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Bay Institute and Golden Gate Salmon Association filed <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/complaints-challenging-waterfix-biological-opinions-northern-district-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 144, 217); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(0, 144, 217); text-decoration: none;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219752">two lawsuits </a>in U.S District Court in San Francisco.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219753">They challenged <a href="https://www.fws.gov/cno/newsroom/highlights/2017/calwaterfix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 144, 217); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(0, 144, 217); text-decoration: none;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219754">approvals given earlier this week </a>by the Trump administration, which said the project won’t cause significant harm to salmon, smelt and other fish and wildlife.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219755">“This version of the tunnels will wipe out California’s salmon fishery and the families and communities that rely on salmon,” said John McManus, executive director of the Golden Gate Salmon Association, based in Petaluma. “The problem is the state basically allowed the water users to design the tunnels and they’re so huge that the federal fish and wildlife agencies are basically throwing up their hands. It’s like they let the fox design the hen house.”</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219756">Officials with the state Department of Water Resources, which is overseeing the project, did not comment on the suit. Nor did the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219757">“We don’t comment on active litigation,” said Shane Hunt, a spokesman for the service.</div><figure style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; min-height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219758"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/california-water-tunnels-co2.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px" alt="california-water-tunnels-co" width="766" height="482" data-src="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/california-water-tunnels-co2.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px" data-srcset="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/california-water-tunnels-co2.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 620w,https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/california-water-tunnels-co2.jpg?w=310&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 310w" srcset="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/california-water-tunnels-co2.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 620w, https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/california-water-tunnels-co2.jpg?w=310&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 310w" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3125em; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; min-height: auto; max-width: 100%;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219759" data-id="5e9051c4-b6f0-a34d-adb3-25da81e849dc"><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.625em; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(225, 225, 225); font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.125; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(67, 67, 67); background-color: transparent; float: none; width: 710.375px; position: relative; z-index: 1;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219760">In this Feb. 23, 2016, file photo, a sign opposing a proposed tunnel plan to ship water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California is displayed near Freeport, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)</figcaption></figure><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219761">Brown is proposing to build two tunnels, each 40 feet in diameter, under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The idea is to divert water from the Sacramento River north of Sacramento near the town of Freeport, reducing reliance on the massive state and federal pumps at Tracy — which draw water south to cities and farms and are sometimes shut down to protect endangered salmon, smelt and other fish.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219762">The environmentally sensitive Delta, an area of marshes, sloughs and islands between the Bay Area and Sacramento that is roughly the size of Yosemite National Park, is a linchpin of California’s water system. The Delta provides drinking water to 25 million people from Contra Costa County to Los Angeles and San Diego, and irrigation water to 3 million acres of farmland in the San Joaquin Valley and other areas.</div><div data-ad-unit="Cube_Article" style="margin: 0.4375em 1.5625em 0.9375em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; float: left;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219763"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; width: 300px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219764"><iframe title="3rd party ad content" name="google_ads_iframe_/8013/mercurynews.com/news/california-news_4" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219765" title-off=""></iframe></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219766">Environmentalists, Delta farmers and some Northern California lawmakers call the tunnels project a water grab by Los Angeles and corporate farmers in the Central Valley that would harm the water quality of the San Francisco Bay and the Delta, and drive salmon, smelt and other fish to extinction.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219767"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160126_083532_SJM-DELTA-0127-90-01.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px" alt="20160126_083532_SJM-DELTA-0127-90-01.jpg" width="670" height="799" data-src="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160126_083532_SJM-DELTA-0127-90-01.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px" data-srcset="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160126_083532_SJM-DELTA-0127-90-01.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 620w,https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160126_083532_SJM-DELTA-0127-90-01.jpg?w=310&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 310w" srcset="https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160126_083532_SJM-DELTA-0127-90-01.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 620w, https://i2.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160126_083532_SJM-DELTA-0127-90-01.jpg?w=310&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 310w" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; min-height: auto; max-width: 100%;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219768" class="" data-id="413c4f60-5123-a02e-ffac-e3be392e3a62"></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219769">Brown is counting on major water agencies in the state, including the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Westlands Water District in Fresno and the Kern County Water Agency, to pay for the tunnels’ $15 billion construction costs through raising water rates and property taxes.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219770">None of the agencies has yet committed to the project, but most are expected to vote over the next few months.</div><figure style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; min-height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219771"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cct-heatwave-0926-05.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px" alt="Along the calm waters of the Delta, two men try their luck fishing from a boat at Holland Tract, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016. Warm temperatures lured many outside to enjoy the day. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)" width="3953" height="463" data-src="https://i1.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cct-heatwave-0926-05.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px" data-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cct-heatwave-0926-05.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 620w,https://i1.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cct-heatwave-0926-05.jpg?w=310&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 310w" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cct-heatwave-0926-05.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 620w, https://i1.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cct-heatwave-0926-05.jpg?w=310&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 310w" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3125em; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; min-height: auto; max-width: 100%;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219772" data-id="c161eda2-a199-b825-f522-4f38ab73e9ac"><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.625em; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(225, 225, 225); font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.125; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(67, 67, 67); background-color: transparent; float: none; width: 710.375px; position: relative; z-index: 1;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219773">Along the calm waters of the Delta, two men try their luck fishing from a boat at Holland Tract, Calif., on Sept. 25, 2016. </figcaption></figure><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219774">Thursday’s lawsuits follows a decision on Monday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to issue documents called biological opinions for the project. The documents say that the project would not jeopardize the existence of several key endangered species in the Delta, including steelhead trout, the Delta smelt and winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon. Had the agencies found the project would have caused significant harm, it would have had to be redesigned to secure federal permits.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; border: 0px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Times, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit;" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219775">The lawsuits argue, however, that those approvals were flawed and called the decisions “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion.” They argue that the agencies only evaluated the impacts of the project — which the Brown administration calls “WaterFix,” on fish and wildlife populations through 2030 — even though it would operate for much longer, and that the agencies’ ignored their own scientists studies and data.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219598"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219574"><br></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219576"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1498681115018_219581"><br></div></div></div></body></html>