Take them to court.

October 2004


District Court Holds that Bureau Violated California Law by Failing to Maintain Historic Fish Populations in the San Joaquin River
Natural Resources Defense Council v. Patterson, ___F.Supp.2d___ Civ. S-88-1658 LKK (E.D. Cal. Aug. 27, 2004)

Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the United States District Court for the Eastern District recently held that the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) violated California Fish and Game Code § 5937 by failing to maintain historic fisheries in the San Joaquin while operating the Friant Dam.



Background

This dispute had it genesis in 1988 when environmental groups sued the Bureau of Reclamation and the Friant Water Users Authority over the operation of Friant Dam, which caused long stretches of the river to dry up. That action alleged, among other things, that the Bureau violated state law, specifically Fish and Game Code § 5937, by failing to release sufficient water below Friant Dam to maintain historic fisheries in the San Joaquin River. Fish and Game Code § 5937 requires the owner of a dam to allow sufficient water to flow below the dam “to keep in good condition any fish that may be planted or exist below the dam.â€?