By GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge temporarily lifted pumping limits Friday designed to protect endangered wild salmon in order to speed more irrigation water to California’s drought-addled fields.
Some of the country’s largest farms had pressed for the protections to be suspended to nurture their fields and orchards. West Coast fishermen argued the limits were necessary to save their dwindling catch.
“This means there’s progress, and anything’s better than nothing,” said Tim Heskett, 44, who grows 150 acres of pistachios near the tiny community of Mendota, on the west side of the parched San Joaquin Valley. “I got this little ranch that I’m trying to keep together, so maybe this is a sign of a little bit of hope.”