Article from Central Valley Business Times.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=26860
SACRAMENTO
October 3, 2014 2:51pm
- Says California officials failed to consider environmental impacts of bank operation
- “Will hopefully shine a light on the murky operation of the Kern Water Bank”
The environmental review of the Kern Water Bank has been struck down by the Sacramento County Superior Court, which says the California Department of Water Resource didn’t do enough in 2010 to examine how the water bank’s operation effects the state’s water resources and wildlife.
It’s seen as a major victory for environmental groups and others that had opposed transfer of ownership of the gigantic water bank near Bakersfield to what is essentially control by Beverly Hills billionaire Stuart Resnick.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley means the Department of Water Resources must now conduct a new environmental review of Kern Water Bank, the country’s largest underground water-banking operation and the subject of 20 years of controversy and litigation.
The decision is a key victory for environmentalists, sportfishers, Delta farmers and State Water Project ratepayers impacted by the now-private water bank that serves San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests.
The water bank was transferred out of public control as part of the controversial 1995 “Monterey Amendments” to the State Water Project long-term contracts, which were also at issue in the latest suit, filed in 2010 by the Center for Biological Diversity and joined by the California Water Impact Network, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and two public water districts representing Delta farmers and residents.
The suit challenged the second attempt by state authorities to analyze the environmental impacts of the Kern Water Bank transfer, with the first attempt being struck down in an earlier lawsuit in 2003.
“We’re pleased that the court agreed with us that the environmental review didn’t do nearly enough to analyze how this water giveaway impacts other natural resources. This is an important victory that will hopefully shine a light on the murky operation of the Kern Water Bank,” says Adam Keats, senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity. “But we strongly disagree that the state’s approval of the transfer of the water bank is untouchable. Despite our victory here, we will likely have to take our fight to the appellate court to reverse one of the greatest rip-offs in California’s history.”