FRESNO, Calif. -- A federal judge on Friday imposed limits on water flows caused by massive pumps sending water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River delta to users around the state, saying the pumps were drawing in and destroying a threatened fish.
U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger said pressure from the pumps helped reverse the natural direction of water within the estuary, damaging habitat and killing delta smelt, a fish that experts say might be on the brink of extinction.
"The evidence is uncontradicted that these project operations move the fish," he said after hearing objections from defendants, who had argued that other factors led to the fish's decline. "It happens, and the law says something has to be done about it."
Under Wanger's ruling, the limits would be put in place from the end of December, when the fish are about to spawn, until June, when young fish can move into areas with better habitat and more food.
He also prescribed other measures, such as increased monitoring of the fish's presence in its adult and juvenile stages at several points in the delta.
http://www.kcra.com/news/14024006/detail.html
U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger said pressure from the pumps helped reverse the natural direction of water within the estuary, damaging habitat and killing delta smelt, a fish that experts say might be on the brink of extinction.
"The evidence is uncontradicted that these project operations move the fish," he said after hearing objections from defendants, who had argued that other factors led to the fish's decline. "It happens, and the law says something has to be done about it."
Under Wanger's ruling, the limits would be put in place from the end of December, when the fish are about to spawn, until June, when young fish can move into areas with better habitat and more food.
He also prescribed other measures, such as increased monitoring of the fish's presence in its adult and juvenile stages at several points in the delta.
http://www.kcra.com/news/14024006/detail.html