Sierra Club v. California Department of Water Resources

Sierra Club and four other organizations filed a lawsuit challenging California Department of Water Resources resolutions that authorized revenue bonds that the petitioners alleged would fund a tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that “would divert large quantities of fresh water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for export south.” The petitioners alleged that adoption of the resolutions violated CEQA because the Department failed to prepare an environmental impact report prior to adoption. The petition indicated that the Department initiated the environmental review in January 2020 with issuance of a Notice of Preparation that listed 24 “probably significant environmental effects of the Project,” including changes in greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resiliency to respond to climate change.