LEMOORE -- Already coping with the effects of this year's drought, Lemoore farmer Bob Wilson felt his stress level go up a notch on Aug. 31.

A federal court judge had just issued an order to reduce pumping of water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to preserve a tiny endangered fish.

The ruling came despite the dangerously low reservoir water levels and heat wave that continued to parch California. San Joaquin Valley farmers are already forced to pump groundwater to irrigate their crops at the cost of overdraft or don't irrigate at all.

"It's very bad for us," Wilson said. "We're coming out of a very dry year, and we don't know the prospect of next year's rainfall. We're worried about how we are going to plan the crop next year. People are nervous about the job security for the coming year."

Wilson, also president of the Kings County Farm Bureau, attended the entire court proceeding in Fresno before U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, who ruled to protect the delta smelt, a creature biologists say is facing extinction because of increased pumping from the delta.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice against the Department of Interior and water agencies, among others.

Local officials say the decision in an environmental lawsuit could cut Northern California water exports to the Valley and Southern California through the California Aqueduct by one-third or more and warn of a severe economic impact on Kings County.

But environmental groups question the officials' numbers.

"Those numbers are not really consistent with the sworn testimony provided to the court," said Kate Poole, senior attorney for NRDC. "What the judge wanted was close to the remedy proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services for the next 12 to 16 months to prevent the extinction of the smelt."

Poole said the decrease in pumping -- as estimated by the state Department of Water Resources -- is estimated to be 3 to 13 percent in a dry year.

She stressed that the reduction is not permanent.

A new biological study is under way by court order.

Wanger ordered water flows be maintained at enough levels to keep endangered fish away from the pumps from the end of December, when they spawn, to the end of spring, when young fish move into the delta. Environmentalists say the fish tend to get sucked up to the pumps and killed.

The impact may go far beyond the farming industry, says Kings County Administrative Officer Larry Spikes.

"It affects millions of people who rely on the water on a daily basis, from the state water project from Sacramento to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California," Spikes said.

"Consequences are severe for everybody. We're already in an overdraft situation. If surface water is lost, we have to rely more on groundwater. Continuous pumping of groundwater, which is exacerbated by the lawsuit, is not good for our region."

With Hanford and Corcoran dependent on groundwater, the impact for Kings County is expected to be mostly ag-related. But some communities may face a more direct threat to their water supply.

Concerns of the ruling's effect also reverberated in Avenal, whose 16,000 residents depend solely on the aqueduct water.

Melissa Whitten, Avenal city manager, this week said the city is closely monitoring the situation.

"We don't know if or when it's going to impact our city," Whitten said. "Certainly, we're concerned, but we really won't know until we discuss this with the Bureau of Reclamation officials."

The impact of the court ruling is still being assessed by 29 water agencies contracted with the state -- including San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

But Brent Graham, general manager of the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District in Corcoran, estimates local farmers could expect a 35 percent cutback in state water supplies.

Kings County is contracted to obtain 9,300 acre feet of water each year from the aqueduct, which snakes along the Westside. The possible cut equates to more than 3,000 acre feet of water.

"If we have another dry year, it's going to really raise havoc in this Valley," Graham said.

Graham said farmers in Kings County probably would be forced to leave fields unplanted and groundwater pumping would be increased to offset deficits in water supplies. Even if next winter yields average rainfall and snowpack, he said, users will have to tap into water reserves, making the state even more vulnerable to a drought.

In late June, Kings County got its first emergency designation by the governor. Kings County has since been renewing its local emergency status every two weeks.

In mid-August, the Kings County agricultural commissioner's office estimated $22 million in countywide crop damage caused by drought this year.

Officials say federal court intervention in the California Aqueduct operation has been exacerbating the drought situation. County supervisors renewed the local emergency status this week.

By court order, reduction in water diversion from the delta will continue until a new biological study is done in the coming year to determine the effect of water pumping at the delta on the smelt.

In 2005, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in its biological opinion that water operations in the delta did not endanger the fish. The findings led to a lawsuit by environmentalists.

This May, Wanger invalidated the federal agency's biological opinion. In June, water pumping was suspended for nine days after large numbers of smelt died.

Subsequent urgent pleas by environmentalists led to the Aug. 31 ruling by Wanger, according to media reports.

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3059.

(Sept. 15, 2007)