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SLO County wins another battle in the war over Lopez Lake water

July 3, 2026

Lopez Lake

By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo County successfully stopped another attempt to increase the amount of of water it releases from the Lopez Lake Dam each year with a goal of protecting threatened steelhead trout through an emergency order.

The county argues the increased water flow would reduce the water supply to thousands of people and also harm two endangered species. Lopez Lake not only provides water for Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Oceano and Avila Beach, it is also used to fight wild fires.

In Dec. 2024, a U.S. district judge sided with four environmental groups with a goal of protecting steelhead trout, a threatened species. She ordered San Luis Obispo County to increase the amount of water it releases from the Lopez Lake Dam each year.

The county appealed the ruling, arguing possible impacts on the California red-legged frog and tidewater goby—both endangered species. In late 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the 2024 ruling.

The four environmental groups fired back with a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking :

  • Release water from Lopez Reservoir at rates the county argued would be unsustainable.
  • Revise the county’s habitat conservation plan and construct several capital projects outside the habitat conservation plan review and approval process.
  • Place implementation under court oversight through a special master and expert panel.

On June 29, the judge rejected the motion which was based on an the environmental group’s argument that releasing more water would not harm the California red-legged frog and tidewater goby, and might even benefit the two endangered species.

In its response, the county questioned the legitimacy of the group’s expert witness while noting the increased water flow could displace the endangered species’ eggs and juvenile stealhead trout are known to eat the eggs.

“The court recognized that extraordinary injunction requests like these require extraordinary proof, which the plaintiffs did not provide,” said SLO County Counsel Jon Ansolabehere. “The plaintiffs were asking the court to order sweeping operational changes before the case is even decided, without sufficient evidence that those changes would not harm other federally protected species.”

Meanwhile, the case is still proceeding through the court system, with the cost of the more than $4.5 million lawsuit to be covered through water rate increases.

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7 Comments

My recollection from when Lopez was first constructed is that its stated purpose was recreation and water supply. It’s hard for me to see where the red-legged goby trout or whatever fit into that original objective. Maybe we should just treat these environmental lawyers like farmers and pay them a little bit not to file lawsuits. That way, the local governments can finally get on with some other trivial matter.


6

Are AG residents still on the hook for a very large, approaching 10 million, water rate increase to cover the legal bill?


12

Also is Supervisor Pauling’s wife still involved in any part of the groups filing these lawsuits?


18

Yes, and city officials are hiding it.


0

Release all the water from the lake, open the petcock to allow ONLY the Lopez and Wittenberg creeks to flow uninterrupted. Then watch, as the creek from Cechetti road to the sea, completely dries up by the end of July. All your fragile steelhead, and every other aquatic animal, will be dead or fly away. The downstream farms will also lose any and all water they use from the live stream and aquifer. The little power station will also be shut off, since not near enough water will flow over the turbine.


Surely, that will totally save the creek ecosystem, won’t it?


The entire purpose of the Lopez dam was threefold: Provide water to the city, keep the stream alive year ’round, and mitigate flooding in the Arroyo valley.


This whole lawsuit, is nothing more than extortion, over a non-existent problem.


18

These lawsuits are obviously just a shakedown. None of the lawyers or staff in these ‘Environmental Groups’ is losing any sleep worrying about the fate of the Red – legged frog or the Tidewater Goby!

All about power and a payday.

Maybe if these characters lose enough of these lawsuits, they can shift their business models to ‘Trip and fall’ and Accident- Injury!

I guess they can still sucker enough ‘noble’ eco- warriors to make a payday… for now…


41

Well done Karen. All you need to do is look at the Palisades fire debacle to understand the idiocy of these environmentalists (emphasis on “mental”). It’s always animals over people. We need to retain water, not throw it away. California is blessed with so many resources that can improve our lives if we utilize them. But some people just want to put on a loin cloth and live like cave men/women/they.


40