C-WIN: Bay/Delta Plan is Against the Law
Draft Plan Promotes Illegal “Voluntary Agreements” and Violates State Water Code
The draft State Water Resources Control Board Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay / Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed (WQCP) is both illegal and morally indefensible, said water policy experts from the California Water Impact Network.
“The draft plan would illegally delegate responsibility for maintaining healthy rivers and vibrant communities to water contractors serving corporate agriculture,” said Max Gomberg, a C-WIN board member and the former Climate and Conservation Manager for the State Water Resources Control Board. “It is morally indefensible for the Water Board to rubber stamp backroom deals that deliberately exclude tribes, environmental justice communities, and scientific experts.”
Gomberg also noted that the WQCP specifically violates Water Code Section 13241, which requires economic considerations for protecting the “beneficial uses” of water resources.
“Keeping water affordable and available to our environment requires reducing diversions to corporate agriculture,” Gomberg said. “Any honest plan would transparently address the ways to responsibly reduce production of luxury export products like almonds. This plan shows a callous indifference to the damage caused by massive agricultural water subsidies.”
Tom Stokely, a C-WIN water policy and fisheries analyst, said the Delta Plan puts the Trinity River – a major tributary of the Klamath River that is essential for sustaining the Klamath’s salmon runs – at profound risk.
“This plan is essentially a raid on the Trinity River, given it will siphon off increasing volumes of Trinity River water for corporate agricultural operations in the Central Valley,” said Stokely. “The Trinity is the cold water tap for the Klamath. Without ample Trinity River water, we will see terrible salmon mortality in the Lower Klamath – as we did in 2002, when 65,000 adult salmon died due to low Trinity flows. Hundreds of millions of dollars were recently spent to remove four dams on the Upper Klamath and restore salmon runs. But as it stands, the WQCP completely undermines those efforts. Sacrificing Trinity and Klamath salmon for export almonds isn’t a good trade.”
Gomberg also cited other deficiencies in the WQCP, including:
Overreliance on Narrative Rather than Numeric Objectives for Environmental Protections
“Vague narratively described objectives are no substitute for specifically quantifying fish and wildlife beneficial uses, especially since the WQCP does use numeric objectives to characterize municipal, industrial and agricultural beneficial uses,” said Gomberg.
Unreasonable Delays
Gomberg observed the WQCP’s proposed methodologies are too complex and time-consuming, meaning Delta flow improvements could be delayed for years, degrading fisheries and the environment.
“The WQCP has no provision for immediate and interim requirements,” Gomberg said. “This is particularly galling, given the fact that the plan’s draft Substitute Environmental Document (SED) was released over a year ago.”
The Board Is Refusing to Exert Its Legal Authority
“In both the SED and the WQCP, the Board insists its role in areas such as habitat improvement is passive,” said Gomberg. “In reality, the Board has the authority – and the responsibility – to enforce statutory compliance in defense of the public trust. It is simply scamping its duty.”
The WQCP Perpetuates Harm to Tribal Communities
“While the WQCP discusses the potential for tribal beneficial use, it does not identify a timeline for setting numeric protective standards or establishing pathways for incorporating those protections into regulatory controls,” Gomberg said.
C-WIN executive director Carolee Krieger said the SWRCB must revise the WQCP if it hopes to fulfill its legal and ethical responsibilities as a public trustee.
“This Water Board is required to preserve, protect and direct the equitable distribution of water for all Californians,” said Krieger. “As it stands, this plan is an outright gift to powerful agribusiness interests at the expense of ratepayers, taxpayers, farming and fishing families, and communities throughout the state. It is unacceptable.”
Read C-WIN’s comment letter to State Water Resources Control Board here.
CONTACT:
Max Gomberg
maxgombergca@gmail.com
Tom Stokely
tgstoked@gmail.com
Carolee Krieger
caroleekrieger7@gmail.com