Grocery Store Lawsuit & Spotted Frogs

Grocery Store Lawsuit & Spotted Frogs. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

First it was the Burrowing Owl, then the Greater Sage Grouse. Now it seems that Oregon's Spotted Frog may be the next species to get some attention. WaterWatch of Oregon recently announced their intention to sue the Bureau of Reclamation and three Oregon irrigation districts over failing to ensure adequate streamflows for the frog. The frog is listed on the Endangered Species list as "threatened" last year. John DeVoe, Executive Director for WaterWatch.

DeVOE: It's in decline in this area because of these irrigation operation and the storage and release of water in the Upper Deschutes River. It's not just about a single species. It's really also about the fish in the river, the wildlife in the area and the people in central Oregon whose lives and livelihoods depend on a healthy river and there are a lot of those folks in the Upper Deschutes Basin. What's happened there is they basically turned the flow regime of the river upside down so that it flows very, very low in the winter and and very, very high in the summer.

Haggen Foods is suing Alberton's. They are alleging that Albertson's has been engaged in efforts to eliminate it as a viable competitor in five states. A lawsuit for over $1-billion dollars was file on Tuesday says that Haggen was forced to lay off hundreds and close nearly a fifth of the stores it had acquired from Albertsons and Safeway. Albertsons officials say the allegations are "completely without merit."

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.