Environmental groups plan suit over river

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 11:52 a.m.

U.S. and Mexican environmental groups have notified federal agencies that they will sue over a failure to protect Colorado River wildlife on both sides of the border.

The activist groups on Wednesday gave the two countries 60 days to try to reach a settlement that would provide enough extra water to flow downstream to protect the delta where the Colorado River runs across the U.S.-Mexican border.

Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C., and the Center for Biological Diversity based in Tucson, Ariz., are leading the efforts to protect animals, birds and fish.

The Colorado River delivers about 17 million acre-feet a year to seven Western states and Mexico. Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah use the river for growing crops, raising cattle and providing drinking water to cities.

The environmental groups are claiming that the Bureau of Reclamation is balancing the needs of farmers and developers for river water and not protecting the entire river system, including the wildlife.

Mexico receives 1.5 million acre-feet a year under treaty with the U.S. The activists noted that the border's delta where jaguars once roamed in riverside jungles and the vaquita porpoise once swam has been devastated as states upstream remove more water.

Five species of wildlife that cross the border into Mexico are on the U.S. endangered species list. They include the desert pupfish, Southwestern willow flycatcher, totoaba, the vaquita porpoise, and the Yuma clapper rail, a bird. The activists said they do not know how much water they will request to protect the delta.

"We just want the Bureau of Reclamation to treat the Colorado River as a whole river," Defenders of Wildlife spokesman Bill Snape said.

"We're saying Nevada and the border delta should get a little bit more water and Southern California irrigators get a little less," Snape said.

Colorado River Commission Executive Director George Cohn groaned when he learned of the environmental groups' actions.

Nevada, Arizona and California are working together to protect many species under a plan that would protect the river system while meeting the needs of the growing Southwest, Cohn said.

The Multi-Species Habitat Plan has been under way for more than a year with the three states, federal agencies and Indian tribes participating.

A lawsuit at this time could complicate the studies, Cohn said. the Bureau of Reclamation has approached Mexican officials to tackle the problems in the delta, he added.