ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20159
No(s). 24-7807 (9th Cir. Dec 3, 2025)

The Ninth Circuit vacated a district court's mandatory preliminary injunction requiring a California county to take certain actions in its management of a dam and reservoir. Environmental groups sued, arguing the county's operations were causing unlawful take of steelhead trout in violation of the ESA, and violated a state regulation by failing to release sufficient water to maintain the fish in "good condition." The district court granted the groups' motion for a mandatory preliminary injunction to the extent that it required "extensive action," including development of a flow release plan. The county appealed, arguing the district court erred by not balancing the equities and the public interest because the injunction might affect two other listed species, the California red-legged frog and tidewater goby. The appellate court held that when mandatory injunctive relief under the ESA benefits one protected species at the expense of other protected species, a court must consider competing equities and the public interest as to the other species, and that the court failed to do so here. It vacated the preliminary injunction and remanded for further proceedings.