From Western Farm Press – Article by Santa Ana Sucker Task Force
Today’s filing of a lawsuit by 12 Southern California water agencies against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the latest in a series of legal complaints about the Service’s failure to do its job.
The federal agency has a history of designating public lands and watersheds as “critical habitat” for various endangered species without first performing the requisite analysis to determine whether such actions will significantly benefit the species in question.
“The Service has a history of making arbitrary decisions that the agency cannot justify in a court of law because the agency hasn’t done its homework or complied with the requirements of the Endangered Species Act,” said Patrick Milligan, an attorney who also serves as president of San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.
Related Stories:
Lawsuit pits Southern California water against threatened fish
ABC Local - Article by Rob McMillan
A lawsuit claims that protecting an endangered fish in the Santa Ana River could cut off a third of the water supply to a million Southern Californians.
When all of the water was released through the Seven Oaks Dam near Redlands in February, the rising river level down below was seen as good news for the Santa Ana sucker fish, a threatened species.
Environmental groups also applauded the government’s decision to make parts of the Santa Ana River a critical habitat for the threatened fish, thereby off-limits to water companies.
But it’s a decision the water companies are fighting, saying their customers have rights to the land as well.
“We don’t even really know if the fish is in decline, and we’d like to know more about it before we start throwing water down the drain and costing our customers money,” said Stacey Aldstadt, general manager, San Bernardino Municipal Water Department.
Video
