"Western Water: Groups Sue Trump Admin For Approving Calif. Tunnels"

"Fishing and environmental groups sued the Trump administration [June 29] for concluding that Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) plan to replumb California's water system would not jeopardize key threatened species.

Brown wants to build two 40-foot-diameter tunnels buried 150 feet below ground to shuttle water around the ecologically sensitive Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where the state's two main rivers meet before flowing to the ocean through San Francisco Bay.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service on Tuesday issued long-awaited biological opinions that found the tunnels would not jeopardize key species, such as endangered salmon and the threatened delta smelt (Greenwire, June 27)."

Jeremy P. Jacobs reports for Greenwire June 30, 2017.