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Fresno salmon ruling frees up water supply

By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee – 02/05/2010

A federal judge on Friday put a temporary hold on a controversial management plan for endangered salmon — a critical decision that will send more water to parched farms and ranches on the San Joaquin Valley’s west side.

The 23-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger in Fresno is in place for only two weeks, but it comes at a time when there is increased water flow into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the main source for agricultural users in the Westlands Water District.

Agriculture officials say an additional 40,000 to 50,000 acre-feet of water will be sent to federal water users in the next two weeks, saving ranchers and farmers an estimated $10 million to $12 million.

“I am elated that Judge Wanger issued this order,” said Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands, whose 600 farms in western Fresno and Kings counties have struggled because of pumping cutbacks triggered by updated management plans involving endangered salmon and delta smelt species.

The ruling also could bode well for Westlands, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — which serves 19 million people — and other plaintiffs in their case against the federal government seeking a permanent court order. Temporary orders cannot be granted unless there is a “likelihood of success on the merits” of the case.

* External Link Archive on California’s water shortage

Wanger’s ruling said water-pumping restrictions that are part of the salmon management plan were put into place without conducting a critical environmental analysis required under the National Environmental Policy Act. That analysis would consider alternatives to pumping reductions and take into account the environmental effect of the management plan on humans.

Water users ultimately want the salmon management plan rewritten — a battle that continues Tuesday in federal court, as well as in a series of March hearings — with less emphasis on reductions in delta pumping to help the endangered species.

As water agencies hailed Friday’s ruling, however, questions remain over a second endangered species that affects water pumping — the delta smelt. The endangered fish has a similar controversial management plan that is being challenged by urban and agricultural water users.

Birmingham said that Wanger’s ruling shows that delta pumping restrictions put in place under the salmon management plan “are causing catastrophic hardships for the people who live and work on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.”

The Friant Water Authority also hailed the decision. Although the authority gets no water directly from the delta, it potentially could be affected by delivery cutbacks. The San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors have historic rights to San Joaquin River water — where Friant gets its water — but have agreed to take delta water as part of the state’s complex water-delivery system.

For the state’s salmon fishing industry, the ruling was devastating, said Larry Collins, a San Francisco-based fisherman and vice president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.

“I feel so powerless,” he said. “I haven’t salmon-fished for two years, and salmon is 70% of my income.”

Birmingham said he empathizes with the salmon fishing industry, but said Wanger’s ruling found increased delta pumping would not harm the species.

Collins disagreed: “Every minute those pumps are on means I am not going fishing in 2012.” He was referring to juvenile salmon that could be sucked in and killed by the delta pumps. By 2012, they would be ocean-going adults.

Besides the harm to humans from the pumping cutbacks, Wanger also based his ruling on the number of salmon that are permitted to be killed by the pumps without jeopardizing the species.

Currently, that number is calculated at 22,897 juvenile winter-run salmon. But in January, only 1,154 were found in the pumps — or about 5% of the limit. Normally in January, about 14% of the population is found in the pumps, according to the ruling.

Wanger’s ruling, however, left some wiggle room.

If more winter-run salmon suddenly are found at the pumps, the federal government can ask Wanger to revisit his ruling. In addition, the water users can seek to have Friday’s ruling extended.

The ruling is the latest twist in a legal battle dating to April 2008, when Wanger invalidated a management plan for winter-run Chinook salmon, spring-run Chinook salmon and the Central Valley steelhead.

Wanger said the plan — known as a biological opinion — violated the Endangered Species Act by not adequately protecting the species.

Besides salmon, there is a similar legal argument involving the endangered delta smelt. The March hearings before Wanger will involve both salmon and smelt disputes.

And, as Wanger’s order increases water pumping dealing with salmon, there is a chance restrictions could be put in place to protect the smelt. If that happens, the federal government must give a 48-hour notice to water users, who are expected to appeal to Wanger.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/02/05/1810844/judge-delays-endangered-salmon.html#ixzz0iTHdzyYz