Yurok Tribe v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

319 F. Supp. 3d 1168
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedApril 30, 2018
DocketCase No. 16-cv-06863-WHO
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 319 F. Supp. 3d 1168 (Yurok Tribe v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yurok Tribe v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 319 F. Supp. 3d 1168 (N.D. Cal. 2018).

Opinion

William H. Orrick, United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

On March 24, 2017, I issued permanent injunctions in two related cases, Hoopa Valley Tribe v. Bureau of Reclamation , No. 16-cv-4294, and Yurok Tribe v. Bureau of Reclamation , No. 16-cv-6863. See Hoopa Dkt. No. 111; Yurok Dkt. No. 70. The injunctions ordered the United States Bureau of Reclamation (the "Bureau") to require certain types of water flows as part of their operation of the Klamath River Project in order to prevent irreparable harm to the SONCC Coho salmon, an endangered species. The plaintiffs in those two cases are two federally protected Klamath Basin Tribes, the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe, whose cultural heritage and economic wellbeing revolve around the salmon's health, as well as the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, and Klamath Riverkeeper. Certain organizations and persons interested in the Klamath River Project, namely, the Klamath Water Users Association, Sunnyside Irrigation District, Ben DuVal, Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Irrigation District, and Pine Grove Irrigation District (together, "intervenors") intervened in both cases on the side of the Bureau and the National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS," and together with the Bureau, "federal defendants"), advocating the interests of ranchers and farmers in receiving needed water for their livelihoods. While all of the parties present important equitable concerns, I issued the injunctions because the law demands that endangered species are entitled to primary protection. Both federal defendants and intervenors filed timely notices of appeal in the two cases.

Water year 2017 resulted in favorable conditions in the Klamath River, while water year 2018 has been significantly drier. On March 7, 2018, intervenors moved for relief from the judgment, or, in the alternative, a stay of enforcement of the injunctions, arguing that the application of the injunctions to water year 2018 is both unnecessary and inequitable due to new information not available at the time that the *1171injunctions were issued. Federal defendants do not join in intervenors' motion, but respond separately that they believe that full compliance with the injunctions is not possible as a result of the drier hydrological conditions, and propose a new plan. Plaintiffs oppose both intervenors' motion and federal defendants' proposal.

Given the pendency of the appeal, my jurisdiction is limited. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62.1, I consider the merits of intervenors' motion and DENY it because they do not show newly discovered evidence sufficient to justify suspending or modifying the injunctions pursuant to Rule 60(b)(2), nor that prospective application of the injunctions would be inequitable pursuant to Rule 60(b)(5). Staying enforcement would not preserve the status quo, and I do not have jurisdiction to grant their requested stay while the appeal is pending. Nor would I in light of the evidence of record. With respect to federal defendants' proposed plan, I clarify federal defendants' obligations under the injunctions-partial compliance with Measure 4 is necessary in the event that full compliance is not possible. And I again urge that the able scientists who are working on this issue attempt to reach consensus on whether the best available science has changed since issuance of the 2013 Biological Opinion to the extent that the injunctions should be modified prior to water year 2019.1

BACKGROUND

This proceeding involves the permanent injunctions issued in two related cases, Hoopa Valley Tribe v. Bureau of Reclamation , No. 16-cv-4294 (filed July 29, 2016), and Yurok Tribe v. Bureau of Reclamation , No. 16-cv-6863 (filed November 29, 2016). Plaintiffs in both cases brought suit in 2016 after the Bureau's 2014 and 2015 operation of the Klamath River Project2 resulted in significant exceedances of C. shasta disease rate standards among Coho salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act ("ESA"). These exceedances triggered the federal defendants' obligation to reinitiate formal consultation and prepare a new Biological Opinion for the Klamath River Project; they failed to do so. Intervenors, who are interested in the action due to the effects of the Klamath River Project on the irrigation districts that depend on it for water, intervened on the side of the federal defendants. See Hoopa Dkt. Nos. 30, 72; Yurok Dkt. No. 46.

On November 30 and December 1, 2016, plaintiffs in the two cases moved for summary judgment on the failure to reinitiate claims and for permanent injunctions. The permanent injunctions requested implementation of certain guidance measures based on a draft document titled, "Measures to Reduce Ceratanova shasta Infections of Klamath River Salmonids: A Guidance Document," drafted by plaintiffs based on four technical memoranda prepared by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS"). The federal defendants and intervenors opposed on several grounds, including intervenors' argument that an evidentiary hearing was necessary in order to resolve factual disputes on whether injunctive relief was necessary to prevent irreparable harm to the Coho salmon or would cause harm to other endangered species.

*1172I heard oral argument on January 27, 2017. Because the Bureau needed to make certain irrigation allocation decisions on or around April 1, 2017, and prevention flows might have been needed sooner than that, plaintiffs requested a decision by mid-February 2017. Based on the record, including the draft (and later final) guidance document, I granted summary judgment for plaintiffs on the reinitiation claim and issued the permanent injunctions on February 8, 2017. See Hoopa Dkt. No. 102; Yurok Dkt. No. 62 (together, "Injunction Orders"). I denied intervenors' request for an evidentiary hearing because many of intervenors' arguments were irrelevant to whether an injunction against the Klamath Project was warranted. See Injunction Orders at 51. Plaintiffs' requested relief was based on the best available science and, given the threat of imminent harm to the endangered Coho salmon, waiting for "perfect" science was not appropriate. Id. at 51-52. The Injunction Orders directed the parties to confer and submit a more detailed proposed order in accordance with the best available science that met the parameters set in the Injunction Orders. Based on that submission, I modified the injunction orders on March 24, 2017. See Hoopa Dkt. No. 111; Yurok Dkt. No. 70 (together, "Modified Injunction Orders").

Among other things, the Modified Injunction Orders adopted certain Management Guidance Measures from the final Guidance Document, including Measures 1 and 4. Measure 1 requires the Bureau to release annual winter-spring surface flushing flows, and Measure 4 requires the Bureau to release emergency dilution flows and establish a 50,000 acre foot ("50 TAF") reserve water supply to supplement those flows. See Modified Injunction Orders at ¶¶ 4, 6, 10-12. In recognition that the endangered sucker fish3

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319 F. Supp. 3d 1168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yurok-tribe-v-us-bureau-of-reclamation-cand-2018.