Friends of the River v. Delta Stewardship Council

Six environmental groups filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court challenging the Delta Stewardship Council’s approval of amendments to the Delta Plan, which is the long-term management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The groups asserted that the action was in violation of the Delta Reform Act and that the Council had not complied with CEQA. The groups also asserted that the council had not complied with a 2016 judgment and writ finding that the original Delta Plan adopted in 2013 violated the Delta Reform Act. The petitioners alleged that the 2016 writ also required that the Council adopt new CEQA findings and recertify the 2013 programmatic environmental impact report (PEIR) to the extent the Council relied on it in the future. The shortcomings and failures alleged by the groups in their challenge to the 2018 amendments and PEIR include a failure to disclose and analyze climate change effects on hydrology.