Cynthia Koehler is Senior Consulting Attorney for EDF.

For the second time in less than a year, a federal court has stepped in to protect endangered fish that depend on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Wednesday's ruling strikes down major portions of a Biological Opinion for failing to sufficiently ensure the recovery of Central Valley salmon and steelhead.

Throughout the 151 page ruling(PDF), the Court criticizes the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the agency responsible for issuing the Biological Opinion, for making a a "no jeopardy" finding in contradiction of their own science.

Conclusions like this one, on page 97, can be found throughout the Decision: “[Water] Project related losses are expected to continue into the future … and prevent the species from expanding its distribution unless new areas can be restored. NMFS then goes on to state ‘[w]e expect that proposed operations will continue the decline of the mainstream (Sacramento River) population and likely lead to its extirpation.’ (Emphasis added by the Court). This morbid projection is inconsistent, if not irreconcilable, with ‘no jeopardy'…"

Click here for additional selected quotes from the Court's ruling.

We at EDF agree with Earthjustice Attorney Mike Sherwood that "the ruling makes it clear that there are biological limits to the amount of water we can export (from the Delta) …".(see press release). We hope the Governor's Delta Vision Task Force and Bay-Delta Conservation Plan will take note, and so we can find a way to manage California's water supplies sensibly and fairly. If not, our water projects will continue to be operated by the courts.