Legal Alert: Ninth Circuit Upholds Delta Smelt Biological Opinion Pumping Restrictions
From Best Best & Krieger LLP:
“In a reversal potentially impacting the water supply to millions of Californians, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a biological opinion issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regarding the effect of California State Water Project (SWP) and federal Central Valley Project (CVP) operations on the delta smelt—a small fish located in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Ninth Circuit held the biological opinion valid, largely based on general principles of deference to federal agencies. Although the court stated it was ‘acutely aware of the consequences of this proceeding,’ its decision is likely to affect the availability of water to hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and tens of millions of people throughout the state.”
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