Description: Lawsuit challenging the 2016 biological opinion assessing the effects of the Bureau of Reclamation's water operations on the Middle Rio Grande.
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WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 11/30/2022 Petition for Review Download Petition for review of agency action filed. Conservation Groups Said Agencies Failed to Consider Additive Climate Change Effects of Bureau of Reclamation Operations on Middle Rio Grande Protected Species. WildEarth Guardians filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of New Mexico challenging the 2016 biological opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regarding the effects of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation’s) Middle Rio Grande water operations on species listed under the Endangered Species Act and their critical habitat. WildEarth Guardians’ claims include that the FWS failed to consider “the additive climate impacts to the impacts of Reclamation’s water operations,” which include surface water diversions for irrigated lands. The complaint alleged that “[c]limate change over the remainder of the century will significantly alter availability of flows in the Rio Grande Basin” and that the FWS failed to assess how “climate-induced stream changes will affect the efficacy of the proposed conservation measures the [FWS] relies on” to reach its conclusion that Reclamation’s operations would not jeopardize listed species such as the Rio Grande silvery minnow or destroy or adversely modify the species’ critical habitat. In addition, WildEarth Guardians alleged that the FWS and Reclamation must reinitiate consultation under the Endangered Species Act to address significant new information, including information on climate change impacts.