The US Fish and Wildlife has just released their biological opinion supporting the fish bypass at Intake. According to the report all the latest science, including that of fish biologist Patrick Braaten, who has been studying Pallid sturgeon migration and has observed Pallid sturgeon using existing natural bypass channels, supports the building of a bypass designed to mimic those natural conditions.
By December 20, a progress report from the Army Corps of Engineers and the US Bureau of Reclamation referencing both the Environmental Impact Statement and the new biological opinion supporting the fish bypass will be on the judge’s desk. With those, and the bypass design, the judge will (hopefully) lift the injunction against construction of the fish passage. The EIS, the biological opinion, and the record of decision satisfy normal legal requirements to begin construction of a federal project. However, due to the lawsuit, it is still up to the judge to make that decision. Currently funds are still allocated for the project.
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