San Luis Obispo County can reduce the amount of water it releases from Lopez Dam, a federal court ruled [last week]. Lopez Lake supplies drinking water to about 50,000 South County residents. … After a coalition of environmental groups sued the county, a U.S. District Court judge ordered the county last year to release more water from Lopez Dam to support steelhead trout migration through Arroyo Grande Creek. The county appealed the decision on Jan. 24, saying that releasing the prescribed amount of water into the creek would wash away the eggs of two other protected species: the tidewater goby and the California red-legged frog.

Other dam and reservoir news:

• KCBX (San Luis Opispo, Calif.): Why a federal court hit pause on protecting steelhead trout in SLO County
• FOX26 (Fresno, Calif.): Pine Flat Dam upgrade proposed to boost water storage in San Joaquin Valley
• East County Magazine (La Mesa, Calif.): Loveland Reservoir draining underway brings pushback from East County residents
• SFGate: The reservoir headache one Calif. desert city can’t leave behind