A three-judge appeals court panel has ruled in support of state officials’ plans to build a new water reservoir in Northern California, rejecting plaintiffs’ arguments that the environmental review process was flawed and alternatives were not considered.
The Third Appellate District court handed down the decision on Sept. 20, providing a legal win for the Sites Project Authority, which is spearheading the reservoir project west of the community of Maxwell. The project would hold about 1.5 million acre-feet of water, which is enough to supply the annual needs of 3 million households, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
The appeals court concluded the environmental groups opposing the infrastructure project, including the Los Angeles-based California Water Impact Network, the Sacramento-based Friends of the River, Save California Salmon and the Sierra Club, had failed to prove that the reservoir’s review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was flawed.
“On appeal, petitioners challenge the authority’s certification arguing the environmental impact report’s environmental baseline (conditions for water supply and delivery) and list of alternatives are invalid under CEQA,” the court said. The judges affirmed a lower court’s ruling on the project.
The reservoir is designed to store and convey water mostly to Southern California communities via the State Water Project. It will also benefit 500,000 acres of farmland in the Central Valley.
The conservation groups said in a statement emailed to the Southern California Record that they disagreed with the court ruling, saying the project would not leave enough water in the Sacramento River to maintain already depressed salmon populations.
“We are disappointed in the court’s decision and remain concerned that the public still lacks sufficient information from the Sites Authority to fully understand and appreciate the project’s downstream impacts,” Don Mooney, the attorney for the plaintiff groups, said. “We also remain concerned that given the inaccurate information regarding environmental baseline, the project impacts will not be fully mitigated.”
The plaintiff groups are now considering another appeal, according to Keiko Mertz, policy director for Friends of the River.
But Newsom said the court’s action was proof that a new California law designed to reduce project delays caused by CEQA litigation is working. The measure, which was signed by Newsom, seeks to ensure that CEQA legal challenges are heard and decided within 270 days.
“We can’t waste anymore time with frivolous lawsuits to hold up major infrastructure projects, especially building more water storage,” the governor said in a prepared statement. “The Sites Reservoir project will capture more rain and snow to supply millions of homes with clean drinking water. This is exactly why we needed this streamlining law.”
The $4 billion reservoir project is part of a broader California water-supply effort to expand above- and below-ground storage capacity by 4 million acre-feet, according to Newsom’s office.
The streamlining law, Senate Bill 149, allows the governor to certify certain infrastructure projects for protection against years-long litigation delays under CEQA.
Southern California agencies that will benefit from the increased water storage include the Metropolitan Water District as well as water districts in the Santa Clarita Valley, Irvine Ranch, Coachella Valley and Antelope Valley-East Kern.