Calif. agencies to sue over sucker fish habitat

Twelve Southern California water agencies have notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that they plan to sue to block expanded sucker fish habitat that could crimp water supplies for people, the agencies said Tuesday.

The action was prompted by a ruling, which went into effect in January and added 1,026 acres to the fish’s habitat, bringing the total protected area to more than 10,000 acres. The federal agency expanded the habitat for the small brown-and-black mottled fish after an environmental organization sued in 2005, alleging the fish was not protected in its namesake river, the Santa Ana River.

The legal notice, filed Monday, gives the federal agency 60 days to respond before a lawsuit is filed.

Jane Hendron, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Carlsbad office, did not immediately return a call or e-mail seeking comment.

The habitat designation does not mean any human water supplies will be shut off or altered, but it does mean that local water districts and cities must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service before doing work on any new or existing water projects with any federal involvement and could face stricter limits on what they can do.

The expanded habitat includes upstream areas that have no sucker fish living in them now — and that sometimes dry up entirely because those areas hold the gravel that is critical for the fish’s survival, said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with Center for Biological Diversity, the group that sued in 2005. That gravel needs to be washed downstream to help the fish, she said.

“The whole reason is to identify areas that may not have any animals in them anymore, but historically did. The critical habitat looks at recovery opportunities as well, rather than just keeping them on life support,” Anderson said of the fish.

The water agencies that filed the notice said Tuesday they were most concerned that they would be required to use water that currently goes to residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties to push gravel downstream to areas where the creatures reproduce.

That could mean diverting water that could supply more than 500,000 people and impact the water supply for about 3 million residents who live downstream, said Douglas Headrick, general manager of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District’s sucker fish task force.

“The only way to move the gravel is with water. What we’re concerned about is that someone will require us to use the water that we’ve been diverting to move gravel. We don’t know any other way,” he said.

The Santa Ana sucker fish is listed as a federally threatened species with known populations in areas of Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties.

The fish in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, in the Santa Clara River, have interbred with other types of sucker fish, however, and are not included in the critical habitat listing because they are not considered genetically pure, Anderson said.

The critical habitat now includes portions of the Santa Ana river in San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties and the San Gabriel River and Big Tujunga Creek in Los Angeles County.

The 12 agencies who are objecting to the final ruling on the habitat have planned or current projects or activities that will be affected by the inclusion of the Santa Ana River in the protected area, according to the 60-day notice paperwork. Included are water districts in Big Bear, San Bernardino, Riverside, Yucaipa and others, as well as the city of Redlands.