Fish be damned?

Federal wildlife officials gave the first approval last week to Gov. Jerry Brown’s decadeold plan to re-engineer California’s water system by building twin tunnels to ship water around the delta to cities and farms.

It’s a regrettable step in a long, costly and politically charged approval process with an uncertain outcome. It doesn’t make sense to spend $17 billion to move water instead of investing in water saving and reuse.

Within 72 hours, environmental groups and fishing interests sued, saying the agencies are failing to protect native salmon and allowing the river to degrade further.

An earlier draft of the biologic opinion suggested the 35-mile-long tunnels would harm endangered native species. The state’s offer to restore 1,800 acres (in addition to the 30,000 acres already planned) of delta wetland habitat apparently swayed the federal agencies. The opinion notes the tunnels won’t “further harm” the delta smelt (which are nearly extinct) and the endangered winterrun Chinook salmon.

Federal approval of a step toward an enormous water project just days after the Trump administration rolled out “infrastructure week” probably should come as no surprise.

The state says the project will restore the natural flows in the delta where the powerful state and federal pumps reverse the river and suck in the endangered fish. By law, the pumps must shut down if too many smelt are killed, making water delivery unreliable.

The State Water Contractors, who will pay to construct the four-story high tunnels, applauded: “This is a major step toward reaching a final consensus on the project. We’ve known for 60 years that we need to construct alternative conveyance in the delta.” The contractors’ customers, who would see their bills rise, should be less thrilled — along with Californians who appreciate the economic and environmental value of a healthy habitat for fish.