A new lawsuit alleges that San Francisco has been given unfair exemptions to restrictions on water use required by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The lawsuit, brought by The Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy, and Reliability — a nonprofit linked to the "largest agricultural water district in the country" — says that farmers and residents in more rural areas of California like the San Joaquin Valley have been subject to "severe cutbacks" to protect the habitat of endangered fish species, while the Bay Area has not been required to do the same.
Aubrey Bettencourt of the California Water Alliance argues that the political clout of San Francisco is a source of the disparity: "California is a tale of two cities. If you added all the agrarian counties of California together in terms of registered voters, that's not even enough to offset either San Francisco or Los Angeles. There are not enough votes."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Who actually needs life insurance?The Explainer If you have kids or are worried about passing on debt, the added security may be worth it
-
Sexual wellness trends to know, from products and therapies to retreats and hotelsThe Week Recommends Talking about pleasure and sexual health is becoming less taboo
-
Is the AI bubble deflating?Today's Big Question Growing skepticism and high costs prompt reconsideration
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation courtSpeed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against NorwaySpeed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
