CSPA Sues Stewardship Council Over Revised Delta Plan

On 28 May 2018, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance joined with the California Water Impact Network and AquAlliance (CSPA et al.) in filing a lawsuit against the California Delta Stewardship Council (Council) for amending the state’s Delta Plan to facilitate construction of two massive tunnels to divert Sacramento River water directly to Southern California. The lawsuit charges that the council violated numerous laws, including the Delta Protection Act, County of Origin Statutes, Area of Origin Protection Statutes and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in providing a preference for the tunnels over the restoration of the Delta. The Council’s action will cause enormous harm to fish, wildlife, water quality and the people who live in and depend upon the Delta.

CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings observed that, “a seriously degraded estuary, suffering from a critical lack of flow, cannot be protected or restored by further diverting millions of acre-feet of water under the Delta for export to Southern California. The amended Delta Plan is an obituary for fisheries, not a path to restoration.

The complaint asks the court to vacate and set aside approval of the Delta Plan Amendments and certification of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and to issue a stay, temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction prohibiting any actions by the Council to facilitate the tunnel project until the Council has fully complied with all requirements of the Delta Reform Act, CEQA and all other applicable state laws, policies and regulations.

In 2009, the Delta Reform Act established the Council and required it to develop a Delta Plan that would meet the coequal goals of protecting the Delta’s fisheries and ecosystem while promoting water supply reliability. The Council adopted a Delta Plan in 2013 and CSPA et al., among others, promptly filed a lawsuit against the Plan in Sacramento Superior Court. CSPA prevailed in 2016 when the Court invalidated the Delta Plan for failing to comply with the Delta Reform Act.

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) approved the Delta tunnels project in 2017. The Council, dominated by Southern California members, subsequently approved new amendment to the Delta Plan in order to expedite the project in 2018 and this approval led to the current litigation. CSPA et al. is also in litigation with DWR over the 2017 approval of the tunnel project and is a major party in the current evidentiary hearing before the State Water Resources Control Board regarding DWR and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s request to modify their water rights permits to allow project construction.

CSPA Lawsuit

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