Two powerful state and federal agencies have stuck their toes, so to speak, into an ongoing lawsuit against Merced Irrigation District demanding the district reopen a long defunct fish ladder.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service both sent letters to Merced Irrigation District after Water Audit California sued the district over the fish ladder on the Crocker-Huffman Dam, about 30 miles northeast of the City of Merced.
It wasn’t the first time the agencies had sought to have Merced Irrigation District get the fish ladder running again. They had both sent letters in 2009 and 2010, directing the district to reopen the fish ladder, which had been closed since the 1970s…
After Water Audit filed its lawsuit last September, both agencies again sent letters to Merced Irrigation District reiterating their desire to see the fish ladder reopened and offered to meet with the district and provide technical assistance to help get it going again.” [Read More]