The State of California will challenge the environmental plan for a bottled water plant that Nestle Waters North America intends to build in Siskiyou County if the company does not revise its contract to pump water from the McCloud River, says the state's top lawyer.

The delta smelt, a small silvery fish that has come to represent the condition of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary, may be declared an endangered species under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service action announced Wednesday.

Scientists are tracking 14 fish at Lake Tahoe to study their movements and try to prevent their species from spreading out across the lake and upsetting its delicate ecology. Large mouth bass and bluegill typically are found in much warmer waters.