Sierra Club v. California Department of Water Resources

The California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s denial of validation of the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR’s) authority to issue revenue bonds for the planning, acquisition, and construction of the Delta Program, which comprises facilities for conveyance of water in, about, and through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The appellate court agreed that the Program’s contours were “too vague” to support the validation request as a modification of the project authorized by statute as the initial component of the statewide water storage and delivery system known as the State Water Project. Because it had denied validation of the bond issuance, the court did not consider cross-appeals by Sierra Club and other parties from the trial court’s denial of their claims under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Delta Reform Act, and the public trust doctrine. Under CEQA, Sierra Club and other organizations had alleged that an environmental impact report should have been prepared. They noted that DWR 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.

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.