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AquAlliance, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), and the California Water Impact Network (CWIN) have
filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) to protect the economy and the environment of the northern
Sacramento Valley.
The Bureau‟s Environmental Assessment (EA) and Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the 2010-2011 Water
Transfer Program reveals plans to export 395,000 acre-feet of Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) water
to buyers south of the San Francisco Bay Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. To replace the water sold to San Joaquin Valley growers
in low-priority water districts, the plan would permit Sacramento Valley surface water right holders to substitute 154,237
acre-feet of groundwater to continue rice production. The plaintiff groups allege that the EA/FONSI violates the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because, among other things, it:
- Fails to support the Bureau‟s proposed finding of no significant impact,
- Contains a fundamentally flawed alternatives analysis, and
- Inadequately analyzes the impacts from implementing the two years transfer program.
The lawsuit seeks comprehensive NEPA environmental review for the water transfer program. Repeated water transfer projects
in the last decade have all occurred without the benefit of thorough federal or state environmental analysis, which would
require the establishment of baseline conditions, comprehensive
monitoring, and the disclosure of impacts.
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Click a link to download documents:
Press Release 7.1.10
Sacramento Valley Water Transfers - 2010 Background Material
CLICK IMAGE BELOW to view Linda Watkins-Bennett's July 1 interview with Barbara Vlamis, AquAlliance Executive
Director, and local farmer Robert Hennigan (video is at upper right on KHSL-TV webpage)
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Click here
to hear Jim Brobeck singing his new song, Hidden
Water
NEWS / VIEWS
Delta survival requires major cutbacks in water use, state study finds, Contra Costa Times 7.21.10
Lawsuit over Kern Water Bank worth watching, Fresno Bee 7.8.10
Editorial: Sky hasn't fallen over water allotment reduction, The Monterey County Herald, 6.26.10
Tales of the Westside, by Alegria De La Cruz, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, 6.17.10
Aqualliance submits comments on the Butte County General Plan 2030 Draft Environmental Impact Report, 6.7.10
Ratepayers, Farmers, & Conservationists File Suit to Block Southern Ag Water Grab, 6.3.10
Request for Assistance from Legislators: Corps of Engineers policy requiring removal of riparian forests and vegetation on
or near levees: wrong for California, 6.3.10
Ratepayers, Farmers, & Conservationists File Suit to Block Southern Ag Water Grab, 6.3.10
Lesson learned: Do no harm - With water as with oil, caution should come first by Elizabeth Deveraux, Chico News & Review,
6.3.10
West-side farmers clear water hurdle: Irrigation cleanup deadline extended, by Mark Grossi, The Fresno Bee, 5.28.10
for the News/Views archive of articles previously displayed here
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