A federal court order Friday will cut water exports to Southern California next year by up to a third in a bid to save a tiny fish teetering at the brink of extinction in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In an 11-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger in Fresno said that the delta smelt -- an endangered fish that exists only in the sprawling estuary that is the hub of the state's water system -- is in "imminent peril" without swift action. Environmentalists said it remains to be seen if the ruling can help save the fish, whose population has plummeted as delta water exports have skyrocketed.

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