Accord Reached on Water Rules for S.F. Bay, Delta : Standards: Agreement with EPA settles lawsuit brought by environmental groups. They say new regulations will protect fish and wildlife in the vast ecosystems.

In a move likely to increase protection for wildlife in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River Delta, the Environmental Protection Agency agreed Friday to draft new water quality standards for the region.

The tentative agreement, settling a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club and 16 other environmental groups, would lead to enforcement of clean water standards in the vast bay and delta ecosystem for the first time in two decades, environmentalists said.

Ultimately, the new standards could reduce water allocations to farms and cities and provide more water to safeguard fish and wildlife, they said.

“EPA’s action means that fish and wildlife will finally receive the protection which state and federal law has mandated for over two decades,” said Stephan C. Volker, an attorney with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.

The EPA settlement is expected to end a lengthy governmental stalemate over the drafting of water quality standards that would protect the bay and delta.

Under federal law, the state was supposed to draw up the standards. But despite years of hearings, the state was never able to draft a plan that was satisfactory to farmers and environmentalists.

In 1991, the EPA rejected the state’s proposed standards and began working with the Wilson Administration to develop an acceptable plan. But this year, Gov. Pete Wilson halted state involvement in the project.

Meanwhile, environmentalists filed suit to speed up the process of producing the standards. In settling the suit, the EPA agreed to come up with a plan by mid-December.