In a Sept. 2 ruling, U.S. District Federal Judge Oliver Wanger found against the US Fish and Wildlife Service's request to locate what is known as X2, a measure point of salinity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 74 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge.
The goal was to have more delta water flow to the Pacific Ocean, supposedly beneficial to the fish. The government filed a motion to stay the ruling.
Sept. 16, Wanger refused to grant the stay and blasted the federal government and several of its witness. In part, this is what the judge had to say: "The government's witnesses' declarations were not credible" and "the government had acted in bad faith." The judge went even as far to call one federal expert's testimony "that of a zealot."
These are telling and truly monumental statements by a federal judge. We in the agricultural-irrigation district business have known this for some time, which is why we have embarked on such an education program regarding our Stanislaus River impacts and the draining of New Melones Reservoir. What the government is doing is not scientifically supportable and we don't want to be a sacrificial lamb to meet the needs of those in government who may have their own agenda.
We have been informing people in opinion pieces like this and in educational outreach efforts such as Save The Stan that we don't trust the government's science. We've been trying to call attention to this misguided federal ruling impacting New Melones now for two years. We have been telling anyone who would listen that the biological opinion that requires more water to go down the Stanislaus River in the mistaken belief that it would somehow benefit native fish is based on much of the identical faulty science that the X2 decision was made. "Our" science points to predation by fish like striped bass to be a principal cause of declining native fish populations.
In public responses to our education outreach efforts we've heard that the South San Joaquin and Oakdale Irrigation Districts are only concerned about losing agricultural water. True, we are worried about the loss of large amounts of water the biological opinion would do not only to our ag economy, but also to our tourist economy, our recreational economy and to our business economy as a whole. In our area, where we live, less water means fewer jobs.
Some people say we care only about farmers and not the fish. Not true. No one can compete with our investment in our watershed on the betterment of habitat, fish and fish knowledge that we provide on an annual basis … no one. If you want to check it out for yourself, visit www.savethestan.com/ environmental-projects. You can see some of the projects that our two districts have spent millions of dollars on to enhance.
There is some good news here. Wanger sent the Stanislaus biological opinion and its reasonable and prudent alternatives that had serious implications for the districts and the region back to the National Marine Fisheries Service. He has ordered this agency to redo the "arbitrary and capricious" actions it took in deriving the alternatives it offered. We are working diligently to get a seat at the table this time. We don't want a drained lake and we don't want to lose a vibrant and healthy fish population in our area; one we have worked so hard to protect.
Wanger has retired from the bench. How his retirement will impact all of this as well as the "revised" biological opinion, due by the end of December 2012, is yet to be seen.
To those in this region, whose livelihoods depends on the river and the reservoir directly and indirectly, as well as those who get part of their drinking water from the river such as the cities of Manteca, Tracy and Lathrop, be assured that we are on watch and will be keeping you informed about how the revised biological opinion will affect you and our region.
Shields is the general manager of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District and Knell is the general manager of the Oakdale Irrigation District
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