WSJ via Aransas Project: “A coalition of environmentalists, bird lovers and Gulf Coast municipalities sued Texas regulators in federal court this past week, accusing them of mismanaging waters necessary for the survival of the biggest flock of endangered whooping cranes, which migrate to South Texas every winter. The group, called the Aransas Project, claims that officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality violated the Endangered Species Act by not ensuring enough fresh water from the Guadalupe River flowed to the estuary where the cranes stay, causing the death of 23 birds in Texas last year. The lawsuit was filed late Wednesday in Corpus Christi. But state-designated water managers say the real goal of the suit is to block a potential nuclear-power project that would compete for the same water. The tallest bird in North America, the whooping crane is also the rarest crane species in the world. Less than 400 survive in the wild, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A report released Thursday by the Department of Interior found that climate change threatens to exacerbate current pressures on birds such as whooping cranes.”