A Sacramento federal judge has ordered interim measures to protect three threatened fish species on the lower Yuba River while the National Marine Fisheries Service drafts a new biology study that will satisfy the mandates of the Endangered Species Act.
In an order a year ago, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ruled that the fisheries service "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing a flawed 2007 study, called a biological opinion, that concluded the operation of two dams on the river poses no jeopardy to the survival of spring run chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead and green sturgeon.
