From the San Francisco Baykeeper:
Yesterday, the California Water Resources Control Board (Board) issued a new draft of its water rights permit for the proposed Sites Reservoir project. The project plan consists of two major dams that would form a reservoir north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for the purpose of diverting large volumes of fresh water out of the watershed. The main proponents of the project are corporate agriculture interests and water utilities in Southern California.
In March of this year, the Board’s Administrative Hearing Office (AHO) sided with the Sites Project developers, granting their request for a new water right, but required compliance with numerous conditions designed to better protect fish, wildlife, and water quality to reduce the environmental harms the project would cause. The AHO judge made this decision following an extensive two-year hearing process, including 34 days of testimony and cross-examination of 60 witnesses, a two-day site visit, and over 1,600 exhibits.
Despite the evidence, the project’s backers balked at the requirements, claiming the conditions would make the multi-billion-dollar project too expensive and “infeasible.” Several high-level state officials, including Governor Newsom, wrote directly to the AHO, placing the judge under tremendous pressure to alter the draft permit to make it more amenable to the project developers.
Sadly, today political pressure trumped evidence, science, and the law. In the new permit issued on September 3, most of the previous draft’s requirements to protect native species and water quality are absent or have been substantially weakened. Instead, the draft relies on uncertain and malleable standards in place of clear, science-based rules. The new draft also fails to account for the irreparable destruction of Tribal resources, including cultural sites, burial grounds, and cultural and religious practices, caused by the inundation of sacred Tribal sites.
“The state should not be allowed to tap billions of taxpayer dollars for a project with dubious benefits and inadequate environmental safeguards,” said Eric Buescher, managing attorney for San Francisco Baykeeper. “By capitulating to political pressure and special interest groups, the Water Board has undermined the authority and independence of the Administrative Hearings Office and abdicated its own authority and obligations to protect water quality and wildlife.”
“Compared to the Water Board’s earlier proposal, this new draft permit weakens protections for San Francisco Bay and its watershed, endangering multiple native fish species that are already teetering on the brink of extinction, and fisheries that once supported good jobs and independent businesses,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director for San Francisco Baykeeper. “In caving in to pressure from the governor, the Water Board has again abandoned two decades worth of its own scientific findings showing that San Francisco Bay is in crisis because California diverts too much water from this ecosystem. Operating under this permit, Sites Reservoir will exacerbate the Bay’s problems.”
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San Francisco Baykeeper defends the Bay and its watershed from the biggest threats. Its team of lawyers, scientists, and advocates holds polluters and government agencies accountable and has achieved a winning record for 37 years.
SF BAYKEEPER: State Water Board capitulates to special interests in new Sites Reservoir permit
From the San Francisco Baykeeper:
In March of this year, the Board’s Administrative Hearing Office (AHO) sided with the Sites Project developers, granting their request for a new water right, but required compliance with numerous conditions designed to better protect fish, wildlife, and water quality to reduce the environmental harms the project would cause. The AHO judge made this decision following an extensive two-year hearing process, including 34 days of testimony and cross-examination of 60 witnesses, a two-day site visit, and over 1,600 exhibits.
Despite the evidence, the project’s backers balked at the requirements, claiming the conditions would make the multi-billion-dollar project too expensive and “infeasible.” Several high-level state officials, including Governor Newsom, wrote directly to the AHO, placing the judge under tremendous pressure to alter the draft permit to make it more amenable to the project developers.
Sadly, today political pressure trumped evidence, science, and the law. In the new permit issued on September 3, most of the previous draft’s requirements to protect native species and water quality are absent or have been substantially weakened. Instead, the draft relies on uncertain and malleable standards in place of clear, science-based rules. The new draft also fails to account for the irreparable destruction of Tribal resources, including cultural sites, burial grounds, and cultural and religious practices, caused by the inundation of sacred Tribal sites.
“The state should not be allowed to tap billions of taxpayer dollars for a project with dubious benefits and inadequate environmental safeguards,” said Eric Buescher, managing attorney for San Francisco Baykeeper. “By capitulating to political pressure and special interest groups, the Water Board has undermined the authority and independence of the Administrative Hearings Office and abdicated its own authority and obligations to protect water quality and wildlife.”
“Compared to the Water Board’s earlier proposal, this new draft permit weakens protections for San Francisco Bay and its watershed, endangering multiple native fish species that are already teetering on the brink of extinction, and fisheries that once supported good jobs and independent businesses,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director for San Francisco Baykeeper. “In caving in to pressure from the governor, the Water Board has again abandoned two decades worth of its own scientific findings showing that San Francisco Bay is in crisis because California diverts too much water from this ecosystem. Operating under this permit, Sites Reservoir will exacerbate the Bay’s problems.”
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San Francisco Baykeeper defends the Bay and its watershed from the biggest threats. Its team of lawyers, scientists, and advocates holds polluters and government agencies accountable and has achieved a winning record for 37 years.