Order to Increase Water Flow in California Dam Blocked on Appeal

A federal district court in California failed to consider impacts to other endangered species before ordering San Luis Obispo County to develop a flow and release plan for local steelhead trout, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The injunction blocking the Lopez Dam expansion “may benefit one protected species at the expense of other protected species,” and the US District Court for the Central District of California didn’t consider this factor or the public interest, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

Vacating the injunction, the appeals court remanded the case for the lower court to consider ...