Description: Challenge to environmental review and approval of a 2019-2024 water transfer program for the sale of water by sellers upstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to buyers south of the Delta.
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AquAlliance v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/11/2020 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Plaintiffs Said Environmental Review for California Water Transfer Program Was Insufficient. California water resource management and conservation organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the environmental review and approval of a 2019-2024 water transfer program for the sale of water by sellers upstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to buyers south of the Delta. The plaintiffs alleged the project would likely have “devastating impacts to the Delta,” reducing freshwater flows and worsening existing problems of inadequate water supplies, instream flow deficits, water quality impairments, and degraded aquatic habitats. The plaintiffs alleged that an EIS prepared after the court previously vacated a similar water transfer program was still deficient. Among the alleged deficiencies in the new EIS was a failure to include sufficient information about climate change. The complaint alleged that the project would exacerbate climate change’s impacts on groundwater resources. The plaintiffs asserted claims under NEPA, the California Environmental Quality Act, and the public trust doctrine.