SAN LUIS WATER AUTHORITY v. SALAZAR

No. 10-15192.

638 F.3d 1163 (2011)

SAN LUIS & DELTA-MENDOTA WATER AUTHORITY; Westlands Water District; State Water Contractors; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Coalition for a Sustainable Delta; Kern County Water Agency, Plaintiffs, and Stewart & Jasper Orchards; Arroyo Farms, LLC; King Pistachio Grove, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Kenneth Lee SALAZAR, as Secretary of the Department of the Interior; United States Department of the Interior; U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service; Rowan Gould, as Acting Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Ren Lohoefenor, as Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Department of the Interior; United States Bureau of Reclamation; J. William McDonald, as Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior; Donald Glaser, as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, U.S. Department of the Interior; California Department of Water Resources; Lester A. Snow; Michael L. Connor, Commissioner; United States Department of Justice; United States Environmental Protection Agency; Lisa Jackson, in her official capacity as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; United States Department of Transportation; Ray Lahood, in his official capacity as Secretary of Transportation; Maritime Administration; James E. Caponiti, in his official capacity as Acting Deputy Maritime Administrator; United States Department of Homeland Security; Janet Napolitano, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security; Federal Emergency Management Agency; William Craig Fugate, in his official capacity as Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; United States Army Corps of Engineers; Robert Van Antwerp, Lieutenant General, Defendants-Appellees, Natural Resources Defense Council; The Bay Institute, nonprofit organizations, Defendant-intervenors-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Filed March 25, 2011.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

James S. Burling , M. Reed Hopper , Damien M. Schiff , Brandon M. Middleton , Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento, CA, for the plaintiffs/appellants.

Ignacia S. Moreno , Assistant Attorney General, David Shilton , Ethan Carson Eddy , Charles R. Scott , United States Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, D.C., for the federal defendants/appellees.

Trent W. Orr , George M. Torgun , Earthjustice, Oakland, CA, Katherine Poole , Doug Obegi , Natural Resources Defense Council, San Francisco, CA, for the defendant-intervenors/appellees.

Before: MARY M. SCHROEDER and SIDNEY R. THOMAS, Circuit Judges, and MARK W. BENNETT, District Judge.


OPINION

THOMAS, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, we consider whether application of sections 7 and 9 of the Endangered Species Act to the California delta smelt violates the Commerce Clause in the United States Constitution. We conclude that it does not, and we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I

The delta smelt is a small fish, 60-70 millimeters in length, that is undisputedly endemic to California. Though once inhabiting California...

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