United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill issued a temporary restraining order halting water releases from Trinity Reservoir by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation through Friday, August 16. According to the Order, the stated purpose of the planned releases is to “reduce the likelihood, and potentially reduce the severity, of any Ich epizootic event that could lead to associated fish die off in 2013” in the lower Klamath River.
Plaintiffs San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District stated in the application for a temporary restraining order that Reclamation lacked the legal authority to release CVP water in this manner.
The order stated that nothing in the record indicates that delaying the additional flows by several days to permit a more measured analysis of the issues would render ineffective the overall flow augmentation efforts.
The full order by Judge O’Neill is available here.