[env-trinity] Sacramento Judge Tosses Out Delta Plan

[Dan Bacher]

http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/06/24/sacramento-judge-tosses-out-delta-plan/



Photo of the Sacramento River at Clarksburg by Dan Bacher.


Sacramento Judge Tosses Out Delta Plan

by Dan Bacher

Judge Michael Kenny of the Sacramento Superior Court on June 23 ruled  
that the Delta Plan is "invalid" after a successful legal challenge by  
multiple Delta parties who argued that the controversial plan doesn't  
protect water quality or the many fish species that depend on fresh  
water flows for their survival.

The Court, in its tentative ruling vacating the plan, said the Delta  
Stewardship Council must rewrite the Delta Plan to include a number of  
quantitative measures of performance, including reduced reliance on  
the Delta for future water needs by exporters.

Since the Delta Plan relied heavily on Governor Jerry Brown's Delta  
Tunnels Plan, now called the California WaterFix, to achieve its  
goals, Delta and public trust advocates see this as significant  
victory that will delay the twin tunnels for years.

The Delta Plan was required by the 2009 Delta Reform Act, a law  
designed to implement the two "coequal goals" of providing a more  
reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and  
enhancing the Delta ecosystem. "The coequal goals shall be achieved in  
a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational,  
natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving  
place," according to the Act.

In his decision, Judge Kenny said: “To be clear, the Delta Plan is  
invalid and must be set aside until proper revisions are completed. As  
Respondent itself argued previously, in light of an invalid Delta  
Plan, there is no proposed project, and consequently nothing before  
the Court to review under CEQA. The Court does not believe that piece- 
meal CEQA review is feasible under circumstances in which significant  
Plan revisions are required.”

Representatives of groups who participated in the lawsuits against the  
weak protections in the Delta Plan praised the tentative ruling. They  
plan to issue a full press release on Friday, June 24.

“The court invalidated the Delta Plan because it blatantly failed to  
comply with the law and, consequently, was not protective of the  
Delta," said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California  
Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA). "The Plan failed to mandate  
specific requirements that would reduce reliance on the Delta, provide  
for more natural flows, reduce harm from invasive species or increase  
water supply reliability though increased regional self-sufficiency."

"The order will require major changes in the Plan that will  
reverberate though-out the document necessitating new environmental  
review. This will delay WaterFix’s efforts to construct the Delta  
tunnels by years and force the state and federal contractors to  
reassess whether they wish to expend tens of billions of dollars for a  
project that will supply less water from the Delta," explained Jennings.

Tim Stroshane, policy analyst with Restore the Delta (RTD), said,  
“Judge Kenny has told the state that the Delta Reform Act means what  
it says. The Delta Stewardship Council must go back to the drawing  
board with the Delta Plan and actually require numeric measures that  
must reduce reliance on the Delta water. This decision will force  
reductions in reliance on Delta waters by Metropolitan Water District,  
Santa Clara Valley Water District, Westlands Water District, Kern  
County Water Agency, and Alameda County’s Zone 7 Water Agency on the  
Delta, for their future water needs.”

In a statement, Jessica Pearson, Executive Officer of the Delta  
Stewardship Council, said the Council is "disappointed" with the ruling.

"While the Sacramento Superior Court’s May 19th ruling upheld  
significant aspects of the Council’s Delta Plan, the tentative ruling  
from today unfortunately moves to set aside the Delta Plan until  
specified revisions are completed," Pearson stated. "At the same time,  
the Court validated the Council’s role in creating an enforceable  
Delta Plan, and the Council’s use of best available science to set  
direction for the Delta."

"While the Council is still considering the full implications of the  
ruling, we are disappointed that the Court chose to invalidate the  
entire Delta Plan because of what it identified as inadequacies in two  
discrete areas," said Pearson.

These two "discrete areas" are:

• The lack of legally enforceable, quantifiable targets for achieving  
reduced Delta reliance, reduced harm from invasive species, restoring  
more natural flows and increased water supply reliability, and

• Inadequate promotion of options to improve the way water projects  
move water across the Delta.

Pearson said an appeal of Judge Kenny's decision is likely. "The Delta  
remains in crisis and now isn’t the time to set aside the State’s only  
comprehensive management plan for the Delta. Because of this, the  
Council likely will appeal," she said.

For the complete statement from the Council, go to: https://mavensnotebook.com/2016/06/23/this-just-in-delta-stewardship-council-issues-statement-on-courts-tentative-delta-plan-ruling/

If constructed, the Delta Tunnels would hasten the extinction of  
Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead,  
Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as  
well as imperiling the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity  
and Klamath rivers. A broad coalition of fishing groups, conservation  
organizations, Tribal leaders, family farmers, environmental justice  
advocates, Delta residents and elected officials opposes Governor  
Brown's California Water Fix.

The project is designed to ship massive quantities of northern  
California water to corporate agribusiness interests irrigating  
drainage impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley,  
Southern California water agencies, and oil companies conducting  
fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods.
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