Final Judgment Issued in Smelt Case

U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger issued a final written judgment today in a suit involving protections for Delta smelt.

In December, Wanger overturned major portions of a federal plan designed to protect the smelt, finding that restrictions on Delta pumping required under the plan were not adequately justified. He ordered key elements of the plan, known as a biological opinion, back to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for further consideration.

Today’s judgment lays out a timeline that calls for federal agencies to revise the biological opinion by December 15, 2011. The judgment decides all outstanding claims in a consolidated case brought by water users and others challenging the biological opinion, which triggered significant reductions in water deliveries for customers of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project over the past three years.

In a separate case involving protections for salmon, Wanger had been expected to rule tomorrow on a request by urban and agricultural water users to block limits on Delta pumping set to begin April 1 to protect salmon and other species.

Water users had asked that pumping levels not be curtailed so that water could be moved to storage in reservoirs and underground basins south of the Delta. A three-day hearing was held last week on the request. In light of yesterday’s announced increase in Central Valley Project allocations for agricultural contractors south of the Delta, however, water users agreed the request for a temporary restraining order was no longer needed at this time, though the issue may be revisited next month.