Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Drought, Weather & Snowpack Category
Click here to view all posts

Environmental organizations file lawsuit alleging the Drought Water Bank violates the California Environmental Quality Act

Posted by: Maven on April 22, 2009 at 8:17 am

From Somach, Simmons & Dunn:

On April 13, 2009, several plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) approval of the 2009 Drought Water Bank (Water Bank). The Plaintiffs include the Butte Environmental Council (BEC), the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), and the California Water Impact Network (C-Win). Plaintiffs brought the lawsuit directly against DWR, the California Resources Agency, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Plaintiffs also named 36 real parties in interest as potential sellers of water to the Water Bank.

To address the effects of the recent drought, DWR has proposed to implement, among other things, the Water Bank. The Water Bank is a program where DWR will purchase water from willing sellers upstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It is expected that these willing sellers will make water available through reservoir releases, groundwater substitution, cropland idling, and crop substitution. This water will be transferred to entities suffering water shortages. Water will be wheeled through the State Water Project (SWP) or Central Valley Project (CVP). Water would be available to all water users that could obtain water from the Delta directly or by exchange.

Get more background information and details on the plaintiff’s case from Jonathan R. Shultz of Somach, Simmons & Dunn by clicking here.

April 22, 2009 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack

Comments

Leave a Reply