The State - News from Dec. 23, 1988

Thirteen conservation, sportfishing and commercial fishery groups filed suit in Sacramento federal court to block the signing of long-term contracts for San Joaquin River water until the federal government addresses environmental damage. The suit accuses the Bureau of Reclamation of violating federal law by negotiating to renew 28 contracts without environmental studies. Forty-year contracts that expire starting Feb. 28 for 2 million acre-feet a year of water from the Friant Dam and the Friant-Kern and Madera canals divert “virtually the entire normal annual flow” of the river to eastern San Joaquin Valley farms between Bakersfield and Madera, the plaintiffs said. “This diversion has caused massive environmental harm, including the extinction of salmon runs, the elimination of riparian wetland habitat and the degradation of water quality downstream,” the suit said.