Tuesday May 7, 2024
Courthouse News Service —
A federal judge ruled Monday afternoon that a California dam harms endangered salmon when it conducts flood control operations.
Coyote Valley Dam, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, protects the city of Ukiah from flooding from nearby Lake Mendocino. In 2022, fisheries biologist Sean White sued the Corps claiming the dam’s flood control operations kick up sediment in the water, increasing turbidity and harming endangered Central California coast steelhead, coho and Chinook salmon.
White’s previous requests for injunctive relief were denied in 2023, yet he was granted summary judgment on his claims on Monday after providing more data.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, a Joe Biden appointee, wrote in her 18-page opinion that it was beyond dispute that the dam’s operations harm the fish.