Deference to Federal Agencies Prevails…

Judge Lawrence O’Neill of the federal district court in Fresno denied the preliminary injunction sought by AquAlliance and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance to stop the federal 2014 water transfers from the Sacramento Valley. His deference to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will quite possibly bring the Delta smelt, the subject of the preliminary injunction, to extinction. Courts routinely do this since they like to believe that the agencies are more expert than the public. Clearly it creates a high bar for public interests to meet even with expert testimony that supports the legal challenge and it ignores repeated failures by agencies. Unless there are significant environmental changes to the conditions in the area of origin or the Delta that could be brought back to the court for reconsideration, the transfers will move forward.

Arguing the full merits of the case, which covers the failure by the Bureau to analyze the impacts to NorthState groundwater, streams, farms, communities, and businesses, is still possible. The lawsuit seeks to prevent the harm to this region that has already occurred from transfers of river water and the over-extraction of groundwater in the San Joaquin and Owens valleys.

View CSPA Press Release (14 July 2014)