Posted 8/14/2013
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily halted plans to release water from the Trinity River to protect Northern California salmon.
The Fresno Bee (http://bit.ly/16OdZN8) says the judge in Fresno halted Tuesday’s planned release and pushed it back to Friday so the court can have time to examine arguments by opponents.
The federal government plans to release up to 100,000 acre-feet of water from a reservoir in the next few weeks to protect salmon in the Klamath River, downstream from the Trinity.
A lawsuit filed by local water districts contends that the release would decrease the irrigation supply to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agribusiness heartland.
Those in the nation’s largest federal irrigation district say they desperately need the Trinity water to help deal with severe water shortages.
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Information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com