Suit threatened against feds over rare birds

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 10:58 a.m.

An Arizona environmental group said it will sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation over the agency's failure to protect an endangered bird and, if the suit is successful, it could limit plans to store more water in Lake Mead.

The Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue on behalf of the endangered southwest willow flycatcher and its riverside habitat in the Virgin River Delta of Lake Mead.

The Bureau of Reclamation operates Hoover Dam, the hydroelectric plant that supplies power to Las Vegas and Los Angeles and protects downstream users from Colorado River flooding. But more demands by people downstream have kept the river full and nature has cooperated by allowing reservoirs such as Lake Mead to remain full, flooding wildlife habitat.

"The bottom line is that Reclamation has abrogated its responsibility to a species in a dire situation," David Hogan, a biologist at the center in Phoenix, said.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the Bureau of Reclamation has to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that river operations at various dams will not harm the flycatcher, Hogan said.

The Virgin River Delta habitat was not considered habitat for the birds until they were spotted there in 1997 and 1998.

The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that about 20 pairs of flycatchers migrate north along the Colorado River each year to nest at Lake Mead in summer, but with continued high flows in the Colorado, the bird may be near extinction.

If the center wins its suit, Nevada and California may be delayed from storing water underground in Arizona, an arrangement like a bank's savings account. "It could be a temporary delay on water banking," Hogan said.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt gave the Lower Colorado River states of California, Nevada and Arizona permission to set standards for allowing Nevada and California to pay for storing water in Arizona. In times of drought or shortages on the river, the two states could then take more water from Lake Mead while Arizona uses the water stored underground in high runoff years.

No one was available for comment today from either the Bureau of Reclamation or the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

Environmentalists have lost two rounds in federal court over attempts at lowering the Colorado River to save the flycatcher's habitat.

In May 1998 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to overturn a District Court ruling to reduce water levels to save willow trees used by the flycatcher. The ruling protected water and hydroelectric power for Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

In December 1997 environmentalists lost a similar lawsuit in federal court in Phoenix. That one aimed to stop the filling of Roosevelt Lake after the bureau raised Roosevelt Dam by 77 feet in 1996. Roosevelt Lake is northeast of Phoenix, and Isabella Lake is in California.

Fish and Wildlife protected more than 600 miles of rivers in Arizona and California during July 1997, but excluded areas near dams, including Lake Mead.