<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:AllowPNG/><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--></head><body><div class="ydp8739f5c7yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/Fishing-groups-sue-federal-agencies-over-latest-14879831.php?t=5a7b52191d" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/Fishing-groups-sue-federal-agencies-over-latest-14879831.php?t=5a7b52191d</a><br></div></div><div><h1 itemprop="headline" class="ydpc32b2cd6header-title" style="line-height: 1.23; margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-family: Tiempos Headline Light, system serif; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Fishing groups sue federal agencies over latest water plan for California</h1><div class="ydpc32b2cd6header-author-img-time" style="display: inline; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 18px;"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6header-author-img" data-component="photo" style="border-top-left-radius: 50%; border-top-right-radius: 50%; border-bottom-right-radius: 50%; border-bottom-left-radius: 50%; float: left; width: 42px; min-height: 42px;"><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/peter-fimrite/" title="Peter Fimrite" itemprop="url" class="ydpc32b2cd6hdn-analytics" data-hdn-analytics="visit|Peter Fimrite-Author Page|article-header|1" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img data-src="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/75/74/65/16239989/3/square_small.jpg" data-src-4x="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/75/74/65/16239989/3/square_medium.jpg" alt="Photo of Peter Fimrite" src="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/75/74/65/16239989/3/square_medium.jpg" style="border-style: none; display: block; width: 42px; background-image: url(https://s.hdnux.com/photos/75/74/65/16239989/3/square_medium.jpg); min-height: 42px;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class=""></a></div><div class="ydpc32b2cd6header-author-time ydpc32b2cd6h5" style="padding: 9.375px 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px; font-family: National Medium, system sans-serif; line-height: 1;"><span class="ydpc32b2cd6header-byline" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="display: inline;"><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/peter-fimrite/" title="Peter Fimrite" itemprop="url" class="ydpc32b2cd6header-authors-url ydpc32b2cd6hdn-analytics" data-hdn-analytics="visit|Peter Fimrite-Author Page|article-header|2" style="color: rgb(96, 132, 157); font-family: National Bold, system sans-serif; border-bottom-style: none;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span itemprop="name" class="ydpc32b2cd6header-authors-name">Peter Fimrite</span> </a></span>Dec. 3, 2019 Updated: Dec. 3, 2019 8:09 p.m.</div></div><img data-src="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/00/24/65/16862571/15/420x0.jpg" data-src-2x="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/00/24/65/16862571/15/640x0.jpg" data-src-4x="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/00/24/65/16862571/15/940x0.jpg" itemprop="photo" class="ydpc32b2cd6fullwidth" src="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/00/24/65/16862571/15/940x0.jpg" style="border-style: none; display: block; width: 100%; background-image: url(https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/00/24/65/16862571/15/940x0.jpg); max-width: 800px;"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6media-meta" style="font-family: National Book, system sans-serif; line-height: 1.334;"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6media-meta-section ydpc32b2cd6media-meta-caption" style="margin: 0px; position: relative;"><span class="ydpc32b2cd6media-meta-caption-inner">A coho salmon swims in a creek running through Devil's Gulch at Samuel P. Taylor State Park where Eric Ettlinger, an aquatic biologist with the Marin Municipal Water District, monitors spawning activity on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.</span><div class="ydpc32b2cd6media-meta-credits" style="color: rgb(173, 173, 173);">Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle</div></div></div><p data-words="42" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">The fracas over California’s scarce water supplies will tumble into a San Francisco courtroom after a lawsuit was filed this week claiming the federal government’s plan to loosen previous restrictions on water deliveries to farmers is a blueprint for wiping out fish.</p><p data-words="30" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">Environmental and fishing groups sued the the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Monday for allegedly failing to protect chinook salmon, steelhead trout and delta smelt.</p><p data-words="33" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">They believe the voluminous government proposal, known as a biological opinion, sacrifices protections for the imperiled fish without adequate justification so that Central Valley farmers and Southern California cities can have more water.</p><div id="ydpc32b2cd6module_B_first" class="ydpc32b2cd6bc-recirculation ydpc32b2cd6bc-recirculation-b"><div id="ydpc32b2cd6bconicInlineSub" style="padding: 10px 15px; font-family: Source Sans Pro, sans-serif; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 193, 193);"><ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; font-family: National Light, system sans-serif; border-top-style: none; line-height: 1.333; display: inline-block; width: 407.359375px; word-wrap: break-word; margin-left: 0px !important;"><li class="ydpc32b2cd6bconicInlineSub-offer" style="padding-bottom: 0px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Source Sans Pro, sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">Unlimited Digital Access for 95¢</li><li class="ydpc32b2cd6bconicInlineSub-subText" style="padding-bottom: 0px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Source Sans Pro, sans-serif;">Read more articles like this by subscribing to the San Francisco Chronicle</li></ul> <a class="ydpc32b2cd6bconicInlineSub-Btn ydpc32b2cd6bcreturnurl_ardmodb" href="https://offers.sfchronicle.com/readmore/06?origin=sfc.inline.ard.offers&variant=orig_redbtn&ipid=suboffers&returnUrl=https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/Fishing-groups-sue-federal-agencies-over-latest-14879831.php" style="background-color: rgb(193, 32, 32); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 10px 30px; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 1px; margin-top: 20px; font-family: Overpass, sans-serif; border: none; vertical-align: top; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SUBSCRIBE</a></div></div><p data-words="37" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charges that the government’s plan to boost agricultural deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is an arbitrary and capricious failure to uphold the Endangered Species Act.</p><div id="ydpc32b2cd6CONCERT1"></div><p data-words="70" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">“This legal action seeks to restore some commonsense balance and compromise to how we share water here in California,” said John McManus, president of the Golden State Salmon Association, a fishing industry advocacy group. “There’s plenty enough to keep our salmon and other wildlife healthy and provide for the people who live in Southern California. There isn’t enough to dump it on desert ground in the western San Joaquin Valley.”</p><p data-words="50" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">The huge pumps near Tracy used by the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project to bring delta water to 25 million Californians and irrigate 750,000 acres of cropland have been the subject of years of legal wrangling among fishing interests, environmentalists, farmers and water agencies across the state.</p><p data-words="31" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">Environmentalists say the pumps suck up and kill endangered delta smelt, a silver-colored fish 2 to 3 inches long that is uniquely adapted to the delta’s shifting currents and brackish water.</p><div id="ydpc32b2cd6module_A_first" class="ydpc32b2cd6bc-recirculation ydpc32b2cd6bc-recirculation-a" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; width: 300px;"><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/promotions/article/San-Francisco-Wine-School-11273258.php" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCbody" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCwrapperBenefit" style="width: 280px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); display: inline-block; border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; float: left; cursor: pointer; z-index: 999;"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCtopTreatment" style="width: 280px; background-color: rgb(44, 185, 191); min-height: 5px;"></div><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCsubsBenefitLabel" style="font-family: National Medium; font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 19px 0px 25px 20px;"><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.78; padding: 0px;">SUBSCRIBER BENEFIT</p></div><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCcontentContainer" style="width: 280px; margin: 0px 0px 15px 20px; font-family: National Light;"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCcontentIcon" style="width: 24px; float: left; margin-right: 12px;"><img src="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/01/37/57/17169383/4/rawImage.jpg" style="border-style: none; display: block; width: 24px; height: auto;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class=""></div><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCcontentDescription"><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: National Medium;">Did you know</span> you have 10% off at San Francisco Wine School?</p></div></div><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCimageContainer" style="background-size: cover; border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; margin: 0px auto 20px; min-height: 180px;"><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCgalleryIcon" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px 10px;"></div><div class="ydpc32b2cd6SubABenefit_BCgalleryCaption"><p style="margin: 45px 0px 0px; font-family: National Bold; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; padding: 30px 10px 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: left; min-height: 80px;"></p></div></div></div></div></a></div><p data-words="59" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">Biologists say the nearly complete absence of smelt in recent years is a sign of the overall lack of health of the ecosystem, including chinook salmon. 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line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Climate havoc wipes out coastal kelp as SF Bay's native fish species die...</h2><p class="ydp2446fde5card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Climate havoc is wiping out the California coast’s kelp, an important food source for sea life. And in the San F...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></li></ul><p data-words="81" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">Ernest Conant, regional director of the U.S Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the Central Valley Project, said the plan calls for spending $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to protect endangered fish, including $14 million to help winter-run chinook salmon. Part of the plan, he said, is to retain more water behind Shasta Dam in Shasta County, the Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir, so that salmon would have enough cold water in the Sacramento River to survive during dry years.</p><p data-words="12" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">He said another $50 million would be spent on helping delta smelt.</p><div id="ydpc32b2cd6module_B_last" class="ydpc32b2cd6bc-recirculation ydpc32b2cd6bc-recirculation-b"></div><p data-words="70" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">The plaintiffs in the lawsuit — including the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Bay Institute and Bay.Org — were particularly angry about a decision to redo a biological opinion submitted in July and loosen the proposed restrictions. That document determined that pumping increases would, in fact, jeopardize not only the fish in the delta but also endangered killer whales, which eat salmon.</p><p data-words="33" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">McManus claimed the document was revised because Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a former water lobbyist who has previously challenged fish protections, ordered government officials to maximize water deliveries to San Joaquin Valley farmers.</p><p data-words="59" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 1.78;">“We’re saying, in part, ‘Hey, federal government, how is it that in July you find out the water diversions are going to annihilate salmon and then in October you find out they won’t harm them at all?’” McManus said. “Somebody’s not being honest here, and we think the court will agree that that somebody is Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.”</p><div>Fisheries Service officials have denied that Bernhardt had anything to do with the decision to redo the opinion.</div></div><div><br></div><div><span><em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Tiempos Text Regular, system serif; font-size: 18px;"><div>Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: <a href="mailto:pfimrite@sfchronicle.com" title="pfimrite@sfchronicle.com" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); border-bottom: 2px solid var(--brand);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pfimrite@sfchronicle.com</a>. Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/pfimrite" title="@pfimrite" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); border-bottom: 2px solid var(--brand);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@pfimrite</a></div></em></span></div></div></body></html>