Central Valley Redux?

The feds turned off the water in California's Central Valley to protect a fish.

Expect it to happen again. Today's Federal Register contains a Notice of Document Availability for the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Recovery Plan.

Here is the troubling part:

Throughout much of its historic range, the decline of the Rio 
Grande silvery minnow is attributed primarily to destruction and 
modification of its habitat due to dewatering and diversion of water, 
water impoundment, and modification of the river (channelization) (Emphasis mine). 
Competition and predation by introduced non-native species, water 
quality degradation, and other factors also have contributed to its 
decline.

This is very similar to the argument used to turn off the water to the Central Valley. Expect this to end the same way. The Rio Grande Valley is also a very large food producer.

Hold on to your wallet.