The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed environmentalists to challenge the government’s renewal of 41 long-term contracts for irrigation water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, in a lawsuit seeking greater protection for the endangered delta smelt.
Water districts had asked the justices to review a ruling in April by a federal appeals court in San Francisco. That ruling reinstated a suit by the Natural Resources Defense Council should have consulted with government biologists before renewing contracts with farms and water districts for as long as 40 years. The justices denied the districts’ request.
In a separate case, also pending before the Supreme Court, water districts and farmers are appealing a Ninth Circuit ruling upholding the government’s plan to limit water shipments from the delta to Central and Southern California in order to protect the delta smelt.
Stuart Somach, a lawyer for Northern California water contractors who sought to dismiss the environmental groups’ lawsuit, said he was disappointed by the Supreme Court’s action. But he said his clients, who were using the irrigation water even before the 1964 contracts, remain confident that their contractual rights will be upheld.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/High-court-allows-delta-water-contracts-to-be-5899299.php