San Joaquin River restoration efforts break down

By KIM BACA
Associated Press Writer

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Talks between east San Joaquin Valley farmers and environmental groups that were once hailed as a model partnership between traditional foes have broken down after four years of negotiations.

The two sides, with the help of a federal mediator, have been discussing how to restore a 267-mile section of the San Joaquin River that has been drained dry by a dam. But a water agency's rejection late Wednesday of the mediator's compromise proposal has put the future of the discussions in doubt and resumed a 15-year legal battle over the state's second-largest river.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, which heads an environmental and fishing coalition in a lawsuit challenging the dam's operation, blamed the Friant Water Users Authority for the failure of the talks. The water agency delivers water from Friant Dam, about 20 miles northeast of Fresno, to about 15,000 farmers and several towns from Merced to Kern counties.

``We are disappointed and puzzled that Friant rejected this historic opportunity to restore the San Joaquin River,'' said Jared Huffman, attorney for the defense council. ``After swallowing the entire river for more than 50 years, the Friant water districts just can't swallow the idea of changing business as usual.''

But the water authority's attorney, Dan Dooley, disputed the suggestion that his client had walked away from the talks. He said the agency was willing to continue discussions, but that the NRDC had pushed for either outright acceptance or refusal.

``There were some issues that needed to be resolved, but (Friant) did convey to the NRDC it was an excellent framework,'' Dooley said. ``They said you accept it or reject it. They said no further discussions are warranted.''

Both sides said Thursday that a gag order prevented them from discussing details of the restoration plan proposed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals mediator. The groups plan to meet with a judge on May 5 to figure out how to proceed with the litigation.

In 1988, the NRDC sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the water authority over their failure to release water from the dam to sustain the surrounding environment and wildlife, saying it had caused parts of the river to dry up. Environmental groups claim the dam is subject to the same laws that require all other dams in California to release water to nurture fish populations.

Before the Reclamation Bureau built the dam in the 1940s, the San Joaquin River supported thousands of spawning Chinook salmon.

After reaching an initial settlement in 1999, the Friant authority and environmental groups agreed to negotiate a plan for restoring 267 miles of the San Joaquin.

In the past, farmers and environmentalists said they wanted the restoration to keep enough water flowing both in the river and in Friant irrigation canals, and to find money to pay for the project.

A 1999 restoration project along the San Joaquin, which included the release of several thousand acre-feet of water from Friant, put a steady supply of water into the channel for the first time in years.

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On the Net:

National Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org

Friant Water Users Authority: http://www.fwua.org

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)