Opinion ID: 763739
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Litigation Over Earlier Biological Opinions

Text: 11 The competing environmental and economic interests associated with FCRPS operations have spawned years of litigation. The present action follows a series of decisions and BiOps dealing with salmon and FCRPS operations. In 1992, in an effort to assist the downstream migration of juvenile salmon, the Corps and the Bureau increased water flows through the system to augment the velocity of the river and create water spills at the dams. This approach engendered considerable debate as to its efficacy and economics. 12 Following the 1992 decision to increase water flows, several power purchasers, including the DSIs, unsuccessfully challenged two related no jeopardy BiOps issued by NMFS. Pacific N.W. Generating Co-op. v. Brown, 38 F.3d 1058 (9th Cir.1994). The DSIs argued that the 1992 BiOps failed to consider the impact of harvesting on the listed species and were not based on the best scientific and commercial evidence. Id. at 1061. While that case was pending, NMFS issued another no jeopardy BiOp concerning FCRPS operations for 1993 (the 1993 BiOp). The district court disapproved of NMFS's 1993 BiOp in Idaho Dep't of Fish & Game v. National Marine Fisheries Serv., 850 F.Supp. 886 (D.Or.1994), vacated as moot, 56 F.3d 1071 (9th Cir.1995). 13 In the meantime, however, NMFS had issued another no jeopardy BiOp regarding FCRPS operations for the years 1994 through 1998 (the 1994 BiOp). The 1994 BiOp contained the same errors the district court had identified in the 1993 BiOp. As a result of the district court's decision in Idaho, NMFS reinitiated consultation and subsequently issued a BiOp for 1995 and future years (the 1995 BiOp). The 1995 BiOp superseded the 1994 BiOp and is the BiOp at issue here. 14