Numerous water suppliers, as part of ongoing efforts to advance regional sustainability in the Sacramento River Basin, have filed legal actions in Sacramento County Superior Court challenging the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) approval of the California WaterFix and related environmental documents.
The legal actions focus on the ongoing and universal concern (with supporting evidence) in Northern California that the California WaterFix will redirect impacts (water supply, environmental and financial) to the Sacramento River Basin, affecting the special mosaic of cities and rural communities, farms, fish, birds, and recreation. In our view, the state and federal administrations should not advance the interests of one part of the state to the detriment of other parts of the state—in this case by redirecting impacts from the Bay-Delta to upstream areas, and impeding upstream efforts in the Sacramento River Basin to maintain or promote regional water sustainability for all these beneficial purposes.
- More specifically, the approved WaterFix: does not commit to a specific plan for operations, and potential operational scenarios pose a threat to our ability to serve water for various beneficial purposes in the Sacramento River Basin—both now and into the future.
- appears to depend upon additional flows into the Bay-Delta that would directly reduce available water supplies, both surface and groundwater, for the economy and environment in the Sacramento River Basin. The environmental documents do not sufficiently identify or address these impacts.
- does not adequately demonstrate that it can avoid significant impacts to salmonid and pelagic fish species, let alone provide the touted benefits to promote recovery.
To be clear, entities directly involved in the Delta have raised legal issues with the WaterFix physical facilities, while water suppliers upstream of the Delta are not directly focused on the tunnels or conveyance in the Delta. Instead, upstream water suppliers are primarily concerned that the operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP) to support the tunnels would redirect impacts to the Sacramento River Basin. We have consistently stated for the past five years that WaterFix, notwithstanding its primary goal of “big gulp, little sip,” could cause the CVP and SWP to be operated in a way that will reduce of the availability of water for use in the Sacramento River Basin by users of water under contracts with DWR and the Bureau of Reclamation, other water right holders, and the environment. Without terms and conditions describing the operations of the WaterFix, there are no assurances that the CVP and SWP will be operated in tandem with the WaterFix in a way that will avoid redirected impacts and injuries to this region.
Water suppliers and many others in the Sacramento River Basin are devoted to responsible statewide water solutions that protect the economy, environment and quality of life for Northern California and all Californians. We remain committed to help Governor Brown’s administration implement a comprehensive California Water Action Plan and look forward to working with the administration and the WaterFix beneficiaries to develop a coordinated approach to managing the Bay-Delta that recognizes: What’s at Stake: The Importance of Protecting Water Resources in the Sacramento River Basin.
