"U.S. fishing and conservation groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, seeking to protect wild salmon threatened by rising water temperatures attributed in part to climate change in two major rivers of the Pacific Northwest.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, is believed to be the first court case brought against the EPA under President Donald Trump's newly confirmed chief of the agency, Scott Pruitt.

The groups' legal bid on behalf of salmon runs in the Columbia and Snake rivers hinges on the EPA's authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate excessive temperatures in those rivers as pollutants."

Laura Zuckerman reports for Reuters February 24, 2017. [2]