San Francisco is calling foul on a decision by state regulators to keep more water in the Tuolumne river.
The city filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that they are being forced to forfeit too much of their access to the Sierra Nevada water supply.
The decision is an effort to maintain a healthy river flow and protect the chinook salmon, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
However, if more water stays in the river, much less water will be flowing to San Francisco.
"It would really be a big cut into people’s water supply," Steve Ritchie with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission said.
He believes there’s a better way to protect the salmon.
"We think that if you actually improve habitats on the Tuolumne river as well as put some water at it in a strategic way that you are going to have just as beneficial an effect on the fish," Ritchie said.
The city’s lawsuit, which aims to dislodge the new water rules, is the latest front in a long-standing dispute between San Francisco and the state over scarce water resources, made all the more urgent now by the looming drought.
The State Water Resources Control Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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