A series of important water decisions announced late last night
John Ellis of the Fresno Bee reported last friday on Judge Oliver Wagner’s validation of the claim that the that the new Delta smelt plan lacked an assessment on the environmental effect on humans. This is seen as a victory for water users along the westside of the valley, notable members of the Westland’s water district, in their series of lawsuits trying to maintain water rights.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger did not tell officials how to operate the Central Valley Project, and he said it was up to them to manage the massive water pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
But Wanger said officials must focus not just on protecting the endangered Delta smelt when discussing these issues. They also must take into account “the harm being visited upon humans, the community and the environment.” He also said officials must explain and justify how they reached their water-allocation decisions.
A few months ago, the federal government in effect reduced the volume of water pumped out of the Delta by issuing new rules to protect the smelt. That means west-side
growers are receiving less water for crops. Wanger’s ruling Friday raised growers’ hopes of getting some of that water back, although the case is far from over.
Jeff Barnard of the Associated Press also reported last friday that the Klamath Tribes of Oregon and farmers have agreed to drop their state water rights battle pending approval of a federal agreement leading to removal of dams on the Klamath River.
The settlement filed Wednesday with the Oregon Department of Water Resources mirrors the water issues in the dam removal plan, known as the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
Tribal attorney Carl Ullman said the settlement contains the same elements as the restoration agreement, and shows the potential that agreement has for settling difficult conflicts over water and other resources.
Klamath River Aagreement article
