We support scientific research to improve water resources management and policy with the ultimate objective of improving the lives of Californians and protecting California’s natural resources. Investigators who receive funding from the Center for California Water Resources Policy and Management carry out studies using data on the imperiled native fishes and environmental factors in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to evaluate management-relevant hypotheses, quantitatively relating the performance of species listed under state and federal endangered species acts to their dynamic, degraded habitats. The Center also funds research aimed at providing guidance to the fish and wildlife and water-resource agencies regarding standards of conservation practice.
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Court of Appeals decision strikes the precautionary principle in determinations under the Endangered Species Act
The directive from Congress that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must base their decisions on the “best scientific and commercial data available” under section 7 of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) has inarguably contributed to the conservation of imperiled species. The California condor, the gray wolf, and the bald eagle are all examples of this. Unfortunately, the federal wildlife agencies predictably drift from value-neutral assessment of the status of species and the effects of human activity on those species to assumptions in line with the precautionary principle, when confronted with substantive uncertainties regarding the ecologies of listed species and the environments
Paul S. Weiland
July 3, 2023
