Judge Rules Water Projects Imperil Central Valley Salmon and Steelhead

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
George Torgun, Earthjustice at (510) 550-6725 or (415) 910-0626 (mobile)
Craig Noble, NRDC at (415) 601-8235 (mobile) or Kate Poole at (415) 740-7716
Zeke Grader, PCFFA at (415) 561-5080 or (415) 606-5140 (mobile)
Dr. Tina Swanson, The Bay Institute at (530) 756-9021 or (831) 389-4638
John Merz, Sacramento River Preservation Trust at (530) 345-1865

Judge Rules Water Projects Imperil Central Valley Salmon and Steelhead
Fishermen, tribes, and conservationists pleased that court recognizes need
for changes to state and federal water project operations to better protect
fish, jobs, and local communities

FRESNO (July 18, 2008) - A federal judge ruled today that operation of the
state and federal water projects in California's Central Valley must be
modified to protect threatened and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead
populations from the threat of extinction. Judge Oliver W. Wanger ruled
today that "Project operations through March 2009 will appreciably increase
jeopardy to the three species," thereby violating the law. During the court
proceedings, the agencies had agreed to some operational changes, such as
earlier opening of Red Bluff Diversion Dam and increased water flows on
Clear Creek, to better protect salmon and steelhead. The court did not
order any additional restrictions on the operations of the water projects in
this ruling.

Today's ruling follows a decision by Judge Wanger in April, which found that
plans for managing the State Water Project and Central Valley Project (SWP
and CVP, respectively) failed to adequately evaluate impacts on three listed
salmonid species (winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley spring-run
Chinook salmon, and Central valley steelhead), in violation of federal law.
The court's decision comes on the heels of the historic collapse of Central
Valley salmon populations and the unprecedented closure of this year's
commercial and ocean sport fisheries in California.

The underlying case began in 2005 when a coalition of fishermen,
conservation, and tribal groups challenged the federal government's
biological opinion on the 2004 Operations Criteria and Plan (OCAP) for
management of the SWP and CVP. The 2004 OCAP significantly increased water
exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta over historic levels and
instituted other measures, such as relaxing cold water flow requirements and
eliminating nearly half of the available salmon spawning habitat in the
Sacramento River, that reversed protections credited with saving endangered
winter-run Chinook salmon from extinction. These changes corresponded with
significant declines in protected salmonid populations since 2004.

"This year's total closure of the commercial salmon fishery - the first in
over 150 years - created fears that fishing communities were being
sacrificed to provide for the insatiable demands of subsidized corporate
agribusiness and developers on finite water resources," said Zeke Grader,
Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations (PCFFA), a plaintiff in the case. "Judge Wanger's opinion
recognizes that we need to restore balance between the instream needs of
salmon - one of our state's finest food crops - and out-of-stream water uses
for crops such as cotton. His decision will help to prevent salmon - and
salmon fishermen - from going extinct."

In the 1990s, even as California emerged from a record drought, the State
was able to meet the needs of major water users while allowing salmon
populations to rebound from record low levels. However, before restrictions
were imposed by the court in August 2007 to protect the endangered Delta
smelt, the state and federal projects were exporting a record amount of
water from the Delta under the 2004 OCAP - more than 6 million acre feet a
year. The majority of this water goes to agricultural users in the Central
Valley, whose contracts allow for reduced water due to drought or other
causes.

"Today's decision conclusively demonstrates that the operations of the state
and federal water projects - not only the pumps, but upstream operations -
must be reformed to protect and sustain salmon, steelhead, and the
communities that depend on them," said Kate Poole, an attorney for the
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "Through conservation, increased
efficiency, and other cost-effective solutions, California can better manage
its water operations to protect the economic livelihoods of both fishermen
and farmers and ensure a healthy and productive ecosystem in the Central
Valley."

"The science could not be clearer and the urgency could not be greater,"
said Dr. Tina Swanson, executive director of The Bay Institute, a plaintiff
in the case. "Experts testifying for all parties in the case agreed that
salmon and steelhead are at risk of extinction, and that water projects
operations planned for the coming year would make things worse. Judge
Wanger's ruling comes in the nick of time and will give us a chance to save
these important species."

"Our fight to save salmon in California began 20 years ago," said George
Torgun, an attorney for Earthjustice who was part of the legal team in
Fresno this summer. "In 1990, the number of winter-run Chinook salmon in the
Sacramento River had fallen to about 200. A lawsuit forced federal species
protection and an expensive retrofitting of Shasta Dam to release cold water
when juvenile salmon need it most. Salmon were beginning to recover until
the 2004 biological opinion threatened to undo all that progress. The court
has now recognized the severe harm that is occurring to these fish, and
we're hopeful that changes will be made to restore this remarkable
resource."

The fishing groups, tribal members, and conservationists say that reforming
management of the SWP and CVP to better balance environmental and water
supply needs is critical to protecting and restoring salmon and other
endangered species.

BACKGROUND

Prior to construction of the state and federal water projects, Chinook (or
"king") salmon and steelhead were abundant in the Sacramento and San Joaquin
River systems. Sacramento River salmon were of great cultural and spiritual
importance to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and remain a major economic
contributor to Northern California. As a part of the projects, a necklace
of dams was constructed up and down the western slope of the Sierra Nevada
on every major river flowing into the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers,
blocking the upstream migration of salmon and steelhead to and from their
historic spawning grounds. Of the 6,000 miles of historic steelhead
spawning grounds, today only 300 miles remain. Friant Dam on the San
Joaquin River resulted in the extinction of the spring-run Chinook salmon in
that river. Shasta and Keswick Dams on the Sacramento River blocked the
winter-run Chinook salmon from their historic spawning grounds, forcing them
to spawn in a 40-mile stretch of less favorable habitat below those dams.
Every year the pumping of huge volumes of fresh water out of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta sucks in and grinds up juvenile salmon
and steelhead as they attempt to migrate downstream and though the Delta on
their way to the ocean. As a result, Sacramento River winter-run Chinook
salmon, Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon, and Central Valley
steelhead populations have plummeted from historic abundance and all three
species are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

On April 16, 2008, Judge Wanger ruled that the biological opinion prepared
for operation of the state and federal water projects violated the
Endangered Species Act. The judge relied on the federal National Marine
Fisheries Services' (NMFS) own finding that the current operations of the
projects "result in the loss of 42 percent of the juvenile winter-run
Chinook population, and proposed project effects are expected to result in
an additional 3 to 20 percent loss of the juvenile population." NMFS also
found that the proposed plan, which sought to dramatically increase water
exports from the Delta, would kill up to 66 percent of Central Valley
steelhead and 57 percent of juvenile spring-run Chinook salmon - likely
leading to the extirpation of the spring-run in the Sacramento River and
steelhead in the Central Valley. These findings, the court ruled, are the
"diametric opposite" of the federal government's finding that the projects
would not jeopardize listed salmonid species.

The plaintiff coalition that launched the legal challenge includes: Pacific
Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Institute for Fisheries
Resources, The Bay Institute, Baykeeper, California Trout, Friends of the
River, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern California Council of the
Federation of Fly Fishers, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and Sacramento River
Preservation Trust.

The decision is available online at:
http://www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/salmon-remedies-decision-7-18
-08.pdf

# # #

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization
of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting
public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million
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The Bay Institute is a nonprofit organization that works to protect and
restore the ecosystems of San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, and the rivers, streams, and watersheds tributary to the Estuary,
using a combination of scientific research, public education, and advocacy.

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