New suit filed in delta smelt dispute

A conservative legal organization waded into the delta smelt controversy Thursday, claiming in a lawsuit that the federal government has no constitutional authority to oversee the endangered fish. The lawsuit -- filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of three San Joaquin Valley farming operations -- claims that the smelt has no commercial value and is not involved in interstate commerce. Because of that, managing the smelt and placing it under the protection of the Endangered Species Act violates the U.S. Constitution, which limits federal domestic authority to things involved in interstate commerce. The Sacramento-based foundation's suit also argues that a smelt management plan issued in December -- which has resulted in a reduction of water deliveries to west side farmers and urban users in the Bay Area and Southern California -- fails to show how the pumping reductions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would benefit the smelt, and did not take into account the economic effects of the ruling...FresnoBee