Jul 18, 2008 9:20 pm US/Pacific
Judge Rules Calif. Water Systems Harm Wild Salmon
FRESNO (AP) ―
A federal judge ruled Friday that California's water systems threaten to push native, wild salmon into extinction, but stopped short of ordering any immediate water cutbacks farmers said would have cost them millions in lost crops.
The decision in a Fresno federal court Friday ultimately could force regulators to change the way they move and use water to help the endangered fishes spawn in the state's rivers and swim downstream into the Pacific Ocean.
Environmentalists and fishermen had asked the judge to order immediate protections for the endangered fishes' habitat, arguing that the collapse of one of the West Coast's biggest wild salmon runs earlier this spring foretold the extinction of related species.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger denied the groups' request to release more water from a federal reservoir to help young Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon reach the ocean. That could have left hundreds of acres of almonds, walnuts and tomatoes without irrigation supplies next month, at the height of California's drought.
"I'm on cloud nine here," said Jeff Sutton, who manages a canal system that delivers water to farms from near Redding to just north of Sacramento. "We're obviously ecstatic that the service area is going to continue to finish the irrigation season and be able to harvest the crops."
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