WESTLANDS WATER DIST. v. U.S. DEPT. OF INTERIOR

Nos. 03-15194, 03-15289, 03-15291 and 03-15737.

376 F.3d 853 (2004)

WESTLANDS WATER DISTRICT; San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Gale A. Norton, Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior; United States Bureau of Reclamation; Eluid Martinez, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Lester A. Snow, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region; United States Department of Fish and Wildlife; Jamie Rappaport Clark, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Michael Spear, Operations Manager of the California/Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region; United States Department of Commerce; Donald Evans, Secretary, United States Department of Commerce; National Marine Fisheries Service; Penelope Dalton, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at Commerce; Rebecca Lent, Dr., Regional Administrator of the U.S. Marine Fisheries Service, Defendants, Yurok Tribe, Defendant-Intervenor, and Hoopa Valley Tribe, Defendant-Intervenor-Appellant, v. Sacramento Municipal Utility District; Northern California Power Association, Plaintiffs-Intervenors-Appellees. Westlands Water District; San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. United States Department of the Interior; Gale A. Norton, Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior; United States Bureau of Reclamation; Eluid Martinez, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Lester A. Snow, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region; United States Department of Fish and Wildlife; Jamie Rappaport Clark, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Michael Spear, Operations Manager of the California/Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region; United States Department of Commerce; Donald Evans, Secretary, United States Department of Commerce; National Marine Fisheries Service; Penelope Dalton, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at Commerce; Rebecca Lent, Dr., Regional Administrator of the U.S. Marine Fisheries Service, Defendants-Appellants, and Yurok Tribe; Hoopa Valley Tribe, Defendants-Intervenors, v. Sacramento Municipal Utility District; Northern California Power Association, Plaintiffs-Intervenors-Appellees. Westlands Water District; San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. United States Department of the Interior; Gale A. Norton, Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior; United States Bureau of Reclamation; Eluid Martinez, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Lester A. Snow, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region; United States Department of Fish and Wildlife; Jamie Rappaport Clark, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Michael Spear, Operations Manager of the California/Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region; United States Department of Commerce; Donald Evans, Secretary, United States Department of Commerce; National Marine Fisheries Service; Penelope Dalton, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at Commerce; Rebecca Lent, Dr., Regional Administrator of the U.S. Marine Fisheries Service, Defendants-Appellees, Yurok Tribe; Hoopa Valley Tribe, Defendants-Intervenors-Appellees, v. Sacramento Municipal Utility District; Northern California Power Association, Plaintiffs-Intervenors. Westlands Water District; San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. United States Department of the Interior; Gale A. Norton, Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior; United States Bureau of Reclamation; Eluid Martinez, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Lester A. Snow, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region; United States Department of Fish and Wildlife; Jamie Rappaport Clark, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Michael Spear, Operations Manager of the California/Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region; United States Department of Commerce; Donald Evans, Secretary, United States Department of Commerce; National Marine Fisheries Service; Penelope Dalton, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at Commerce; Rebecca Lent, Dr., Regional Administrator of the U.S. Marine Fisheries Service, Defendants-Appellees, Yurok Tribe, Defendant-Intervenor-Appellant, and Hoopa Valley Tribe, Defendant-Intervenor, v. Sacramento Municipal Utility District; Northern California Power Association, Plaintiffs-Intervenors-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Decided July 13, 2004.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Katherine Barton, Department of Justice, for the federal defendants-appellants/appellees.

Thomas Schlosser, Morisset, Schlosser, Jozwiak & McGaw, Seattle, WA, for defendants-intervenors-appellants/appellees Hoopa Valley Tribe.

Scott W. Williams, Alexander, Berkey, Williams & Weathers, Berkeley, CA, for defendant-intervenor-appellant/cross-appellee Yurok Tribe.

Eric N. Robinson, Daniel J. O'Hanlon, Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, Sacramento, for plaintiffs-appellees/cross-appellants water agencies.

Kelly L. Drumm, Brian S. Haughton, Barg Coffin Lewis & Trapp, San Francisco, CA, for plaintiff-intervenor/appellee Northern California Power Agency.

Sally Magnani Knox, Deputy Attorney General, Oakland, CA, for amicus curiae People of the State of California.

Before: GOODWIN, TASHIMA, and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges.


GOODWIN, Circuit Judge:

For forty years, most of the Trinity River's water has been diverted to the Sacramento River basin. Congress mandated that some of that water be returned to the Trinity River in order to revive its chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead trout populations, which have been decimated by the decades of reduced water flows. California municipal water agencies and power districts ("Plaintiffs") challenged the plan to redirect Trinity River water...

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