Rio Grande silvery minnow

Because some things should be printed on paper and thrown on people’s driveways, in this morning’s paper I revisit Dianne Feisntein’s comments on the Rio Grande silvery minnow:

Rio Grande silvery minnow, meet California’s delta smelt.

Y’all have a lot in common. But perhaps not as much as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would have Californians believe.

California is embroiled in a political war that looks very much like the drought-driven 2003 legal and political fight over the fate of the Rio Grande silvery minnow, but on a much larger scale.

Feinstein wants Congress to intervene and override Endangered Species Act protections for the tiny delta smelt to ensure water deliveries for some of California’s farmers.

As precedent, Feinstein cites action taken by New Mexico’s congressional delegation in 2003. But in her zeal to defend California farmers’ water, Feinstein is rewriting New Mexico history.