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December 2011
Plaintiffs
Prevail in Challenge to Federal Water Transfers
AquAlliance, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and the California Water Impact Network sued the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation (Bureau) in 2010 to protect the economy and the environment of the northern Sacramento Valley. The plaintiffs
prevailed in August 2011 because no water was transferred over the two year project period and the comprehensive environmental
review that was sought is being developed (see 10-Year Water Transfer Program).
The Bureau‟s Environmental Assessment (EA) and Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the 2010-2011 Water
Transfer Program revealed 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 have permitted Sacramento Valley surface water right holders to substitute
154,237 acre-feet of ground water to continue rice production. The plaintiff groups alleged that the EA/FONSI violated the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because, among other things, it:
- Failed to support the Bureau‟s proposed finding of no significant impact,
- Contained a fundamentally flawed alternatives analysis, and
- Inadequately analyzed the impacts from implementing the two years transfer program.
The lawsuit sought comprehensive NEPA environmental review for the water transfer program and, as mentioned above, will
be released soon. 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.
Click a link to download documents:
Press Release 7.1.10
Sacramento Valley Water Transfers - 2010 Background Material
January 2011
Environmental Water Caucus Submits Joint Scoping Comments
A broad coalition of environmental, environmental justice and fishing
groups submitted scoping comments on January 25th in response to the Delta Stewardship Council’s Notice of
Preparation to conduct environmental review. This is an important moment for the Council and the Bay-Delta ecosystem.
A scoping meeting was held in Chico on January 26th, which ws well attended.
Click a link for more information.
Joint Scoping Recommendations
Salmon Crisis
Watch clips from the Salmon Summit held at Half Moon Bay on December 4, 2010. The
Summit was hosted by Congresswoman Jackie Spier and Congressman Mike Thompson.and covered the reasons for their near
extinction.of wild salmon in California. The video is in four parts and may be found at the url provided below.
Salmon Summit video by Salmon Water Now
AquAlliance Commentary
Selling more water out of northern California
is not popular in our region. Glenn Colusa Irrigation District (GCID) recently held a public workshop in Hamilton
City offering to do just that. The meeting was originally scheduled in
Chico but moved out of town when the host realized the concept
was extremely controversial and likely to draw a crowd of concerned citizens. Groundwater-dependent farmers/homeowners and
public interest organizations found their way to the remote conference room to defend regional groundwater. Click
link below to read the entire commentary:
AquAlliance commentary 11.04.10
The Environmental Water Caucus (EWC), a group of 27 environmental, environmental justice and native
American tribes, presented a ground-breaking series of proposals to the Delta Stewardship Council, the newly-formed state
agency that is charged with finding a balance between water reliability and Bay-Delta environmental recovery. 10.14.10
Public Trust Lawsuit
Filed September 7, 2010
The California Water Impact Network (C-WIN), the
California Sportfifshing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and AquAlliance filed a public trust lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior
Court to protect Delta fisheries and water quality from excessive Delta pumping.
"The voters of California passed a constitutional
amendment in 1928 to ban wasteful water use and harmful diversions from streams,” said attorney Michael Jackson of Quincy.
“We intend to show the court how DWR and the State Water Board have not complied time and time again, and to persuade
the court to end DWR’s illegal and excessive water exports from the Delta.”
Click a link to download documents:
Media Release 9.7.10
Chronology: The Public Trust Doctrine, and Development and Decline of the Bay-Delta Estuary
Final Report on Development of Flow Criteria for Delta Ecosystem
8.3.10: The State Water Resources Control Board adopted Resolution 2010-0039 approving a report determining new flow
criteria for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem necessary to protect public trust resources pursuant to the Board's
public trust obligations in compliance with Water Code section 85086.
State Water Bond Awash in Bad Policy, Bad Economics, by Nick Di Croce. Sacramento Bee. 8.7.10
July 2010
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
June 2010
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
Lesson learned: Do no harm - With water as with oil, caution should come first by Elizabeth Deveraux, Chico News & Review,
6.3.10
The
Draft Groundwater Quality Protection Strategy for the Central Valley Region "Roadmap" has been posted for
public review and comments.
Provide comments in writing and/or by participation
at workshops: July 14, Chico Public Library, 1-3pm; July 16, Central
Valley Water Board, Rancho Cordova, 10:30am -12:30pm; July 19, Fresno County Farm Bureau, 10am-noon; July 20,
Delano Regional Medical Center, 6-8pm. Contact: Pam Buford, (559) 445-5576, or pbuford@waterboards.ca.gov.
May 2010
West-side farmers clear water hurdle: Irrigation cleanup deadline extended, by Mark Grossi, The Fresno Bee, 5.28.10
Fishermen Fear Delta Pump Ruling May Decimate Fall Salmon Run, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association, 5.27.10
Myths and Facts about the 2010 Water Supply on the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley, May 2010
April 2010
by Jim Suzuki-Brobeck, Chico News & Review, 4.15.10
by Matt Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle, 4.11.10
March 2010
Guest Comment by Doug Alexander, Chico News & Review, 3.18.10
Judge Rejects DWR’s 2009 Drought Water Bank Approval
Alameda Co. Superior Court Judge Alice Vilardi ruled that the Governor and the California Dept. of Water Resources illegally
approved the 2009 Drought Water Bank when they “improperly” exempted the water transfer program from the California
Environmental Quality Act last year. March 15, 2010. Click to view:
-- Press Release
-- Court Order
by Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 3.14.10
Vernal Pool Losses Continue to Mount.
The biological diversity of the vernal pool landscape continues to be threatened by expansion of urban and rural development
and agricultural conversions. AquAlliance Executive Director, Barbara Vlamis, contributed to a newly-released report that
reveals the escalation of landscape losses and degradation over 30 years.
Click to view full report
February 2010
AquAlliance launch press conference, 2.24.10:
-- Press Release
-- Chico Enter-Prise Record article 2.25.10
by Bill Kier, San Francisco Bay Chronicle Opinion Shop, 2.16.10
by Dan Bacher, San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center/Central Valley, 2.1.10
The Tehama Colusa Canal Authority has filed a lawsuit
against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that "...asserts that Reclamation's opera- tion of the CVP [Central Valley Project]
has failed to comply with state law protections of the Sacra- mento Valley watershed by exporting water outside that watershed
without first satisfying the needs within the area of origin." The Authority supplies water for 17 member water districts.
-- Tehama Colusa Canal Authority Area of Origin Complaint
-- Tehama Colusa Canal Authority Area of Origin Claim FAQs
-- View Barbara Vlamis' comments on the Tehama Colusa Canal Authority lawsuit on KNVN-TV's War over Water, 2.12.10 (Barbara
is at 01:25)
Editorial, Monterey County Herald, 2.17.10
January 2010
by Dr. Peter Glieck, President, Pacific Institute, San Francisco Chronicle
by Alan Buis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
by Dan Bacher, AlterNet, 1.19.10
The need for sport fishermen to join the political battle to save the salmon - by Bruce Tokars, SalmonWaterNow.org
by Matt Jenkins, High Country News
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