Tuesday July 7, 2026
The Tribune —
San Luis Obispo County doesn’t have to increase the amount of water it releases from Lopez Dam, a federal court ruled this week.
Lopez Lake supplies drinking water to about 50,000 South County residents. Meanwhile, water released from the reservoir into Arroyo Grande Creek provides critical habitat to steelhead trout, which are designated as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
After a coalition of environmental groups sued the county, a U.S. District Court judge ordered the county in 2024 to release more water from Lopez Dam to support steelhead trout migration through Arroyo Grande Creek.
The coalition included San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, Los Padres ForestWatch, the California Coastkeeper Alliance and the Ecological Rights Foundation.
The county appealed the decision last year, saying that releasing the prescribed amount of water into the creek would wash away the eggs of two other protected species: the tidewater goby and the California red-legged frog, according to court documents.
But the environmental groups argued that while the flows could wash away a handful of goby and frog eggs when it is first implemented, increasing the amount of water in the creek will eventually improve the habitat for the tidewater goby and red-legged frog — whose populations will increase over time.