A judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court has rejected a challenge from United Water Conservation District to strip protections from the Southern California steelhead.
The ruling will allow California Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections to continue until the California Fish and Game Commission decides on permanent protections. “Southern steelhead are in dire need of state protections and today the court ruling got us one stop closer to that goal,” said Walter “Redgie” Collins, legal and policy director at CalTrout, in a statement.
Following a petition from CalTrout, the California Fish and Game commission decided to grant the fish species candidate status under the California ESA. Environmentalists allege the steelhead faces challenges “because dams and water diversions have destroyed its habitat.”
