Jeremy P. Jacobs, GREENWIRE
Federal appellate judges today upheld the Fish and Wildlife Service’s finding that a California water project imperils an endangered fish, in a ruling that judges acknowledge would have "enormous practical implications" for the state’s water management.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court ruling that invalidated the Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion on the delta smelt, which concludes that the Central Valley Project and State Water Project pose a threat to the tiny fish.
Together, the two projects serve 200,000 water customers in Central and Southern California, including the country’s most diverse agricultural region.