Judge Wanger speaks at water meeting
By: John Ellis

Federal Judge Oliver W. Wanger knows that many of his legal decisions in the state's ongoing water wars have earned him a reputation in the agricultural community as "the bad guy in the black hat."

But Wanger, the keynote speaker at a half-day water conference sponsored by the Madera County Farm Bureau, gave the very crowd that has been stung by many of these rulings a treatise on water history and politics -- and how laws passed by Congress have bound him in the ongoing debate.

"I'm not just some judge making an arbitrary ruling," Wanger said. "We cannot rewrite the law. We can only follow the law."

These laws include the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Central Valley Project Improvement Act -- which gave endangered species equal footing with meeting water needs of farms and cities. The laws govern many of the decisions before Wanger in U.S. District Court in Fresno.

Wanger faced a polite crowd, and his talk apparently persuaded some audience members to reconsider who they blame for the Valley's water shortage.

One was Piedad Ayala with the advocacy organization Water For All.

"We all thought [Wanger] was the one ruling against our Valley," he said. "We thought he was siding for fish and against human beings."

But after listening to Wanger, Ayala said he now knows the battle is with Congress.

James Cavallero, who grows grapes and almonds in Madera County, had heard Wanger speak once before. That first time, he learned that Wanger was not the enemy. Wednesday's speech confirmed it.

"He is only following the law," Cavallero said. "I realize he is only following the rules. It is up to Congress to change [the law]."

In his talk, Wanger zeroed in on the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, which was approved in 1992. That law, he said, changed the nature of the entire Central Valley Project from one that provides water. It instead gave equal priority not only to that, but to restoring fisheries and protecting the environment.

"That was the day the world changed," Wanger said.

From that flowed multiple lawsuits filed by environmental and fishing groups aimed at protecting threatened and endangered species.

Those lawsuits have been guided by another law passed by Congress: the Endangered Species Act.

Still, Wanger recently handed agriculture interests a rare victory after federal officials restricted delta pumping to protect winter-run salmon.

He found that a salmon management plan was put into place without conducting a critical environmental analysis required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The very next week, water users again turned to Wanger for help after federal officials restricted pumping to protect the delta smelt.

This time, Wanger said his hands were tied as he rejected the request. The Endangered Species Act was the law that bound him.