This story was updated at 2 p.m. EDT.
The Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday added a population of California’s longfin smelt to the roster of endangered species whose status could redirect distribution of the state’s water.
Caught between the state’s Central Valley farmers on the one side and leading environmental groups on the other, the federal agency opted after protracted study to extend the maximum Endangered Species Act protections to the small fish that casts a long shadow.
“We consider reduced and altered freshwater flows resulting from human activities and impacts associated with current climate change conditions — increased magnitude and duration of drought and associated increased temperatures — as the main threat,” the Fish and Wildlife Service stated.
