Latest news with #StateWaterResourcesControlBoard
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Newsom seeks to short-cut process to build $20-billion Delta water tunnel
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to accelerate his administration's plan to build a $20-billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by short-cutting permitting for the project and limiting avenues for legal challenges. Newsom urged the Legislature on Wednesday to adopt his plan to 'fast-track' the tunnel, called the Delta Conveyance Project, as part of his revised May budget proposal. 'For too long, attempts to modernize our critical water infrastructure have stalled in endless red tape, burdened with unnecessary delay. We're done with barriers,' Newsom said. 'Our state needs to complete this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier future. Let's get this built.' The tunnel would create a second route to transport water to the state's pumping facilities on the south side of the Delta, where supplies enter the aqueducts of the State Water Project and are delivered to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland. Supporters of the plan, including water agencies in Southern California and Silicon Valley, say the state needs to build new infrastructure in the Delta to protect the water supply in the face of climate change and earthquake risks. Opponents, including agencies in the Delta and environmental advocates, say the project is an expensive boondoggle that would harm the environment and communities, and that the state should pursue other alternatives. Read more: Newsom in fight to advance plans for $20-billion water tunnel in the Sacramento Delta 'It's a top-down push for an unaffordable, unnecessary tunnel that fails to solve the state's real water challenges,' said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta. She said the governor 'wants to bypass the legal and public processes because the project doesn't pass the economic or environmental standards Californians expect.' Newsom, who is set to serve through 2026 and then leave office, is pushing to lay the groundwork for the project. Newsom said his proposal would: simplify permitting by eliminating certain deadlines from water rights permits; narrow legal review to avoid delays from legal challenges; confirm that the state has authority to issue bonds to pay for the project, which would be repaid by water agencies; and accelerate state efforts to acquire land for construction. Announcing the proposal, the governor's office said that "while the project has received some necessary permits, its path forward is burdened by complicated regulatory frameworks and bureaucratic delays." The State Water Resources Control Board is currently considering a petition by the Newsom administration to amend water rights permits so that flows could be diverted from new points on the Sacramento River where the intakes of the 45-mile tunnel would be built. The governor's latest proposal was praised by water agencies including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which is currently spending about $142 million on the preliminary planning. MWD General Manager Deven Upadhyay called Newsom's proposal a 'bold step' toward protecting water supplies, saying the approach would support completion of the planning work, reduce 'regulatory and legal uncertainties,' and allow the MWD board to make an informed decision about whether to make a long-term investment to help foot the bill for construction. Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State Water Contractors, said the governor's approach makes sense to address costly delays and upgrade essential infrastructure that is 'in dire need of modernization.' Environmental and fishing groups, however, called Newsom's proposal a reckless attempt to bypass the existing legal process and make it harder for opponents to challenge the project over what they contend would be harmful effects on the Delta region and the environment. Read more: U.S. panel calls for suspending commercial salmon fishing in California for third year Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Assn., a group that represents fishing communities, called Newsom's proposal 'an attack on the salmon fishing industry and the state's biggest rivers.' Commercial salmon fishing has been canceled for three consecutive years because of a decline in the Chinook salmon population. Artis said building the tunnel would represent a 'nail in the coffin of California's once mighty salmon runs.' This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Newsom seeks to short-cut process to build $20-billion Delta water tunnel
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to accelerate his administration's plan to build a $20-billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by short-cutting permitting for the project and limiting avenues for legal challenges. Newsom urged the Legislature on Wednesday to adopt his plan to 'fast-track' the tunnel, called the Delta Conveyance Project, as part of his revised May budget proposal. 'For too long, attempts to modernize our critical water infrastructure have stalled in endless red tape, burdened with unnecessary delay. We're done with barriers,' Newsom said. 'Our state needs to complete this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier future. Let's get this built.' The tunnel would create a second route to transport water to the state's pumping facilities on the south side of the Delta, where supplies enter the aqueducts of the State Water Project and are delivered to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland. Supporters of the plan, including water agencies in Southern California and Silicon Valley, say the state needs to build new infrastructure in the Delta to protect the water supply in the face of climate change and earthquake risks. Opponents, including agencies in the Delta and environmental advocates, say the project is an expensive boondoggle that would harm the environment and communities, and that the state should pursue other alternatives. 'It's a top-down push for an unaffordable, unnecessary tunnel that fails to solve the state's real water challenges,' said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta. She said the governor 'wants to bypass the legal and public processes because the project doesn't pass the economic or environmental standards Californians expect.' Newsom, who is set to serve through 2026 and then leave office, is pushing to lay the groundwork for the project. Newsom said his proposal would: simplify permitting by eliminating certain deadlines from water rights permits; narrow legal review to avoid delays from legal challenges; confirm that the state has authority to issue bonds to pay for the project, which would be repaid by water agencies; and accelerate state efforts to acquire land for construction. Announcing the proposal, the governor's office said that 'while the project has received some necessary permits, its path forward is burdened by complicated regulatory frameworks and bureaucratic delays.' The State Water Resources Control Board is currently considering a petition by the Newsom administration to amend water rights permits so that flows could be diverted from new points on the Sacramento River where the intakes of the 45-mile tunnel would be built. The governor's latest proposal was praised by water agencies including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which is currently spending about $142 million on the preliminary planning. MWD General Manager Deven Upadhyay called Newsom's proposal a 'bold step' toward protecting water supplies, saying the approach would support completion of the planning work, reduce 'regulatory and legal uncertainties,' and allow the MWD board to make an informed decision about whether to make a long-term investment to help foot the bill for construction. Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State Water Contractors, said the governor's approach makes sense to address costly delays and upgrade essential infrastructure that is 'in dire need of modernization.' Environmental and fishing groups, however, called Newsom's proposal a reckless attempt to bypass the existing legal process and make it harder for opponents to challenge the project over what they contend would be harmful effects on the Delta region and the environment. Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Assn., a group that represents fishing communities, called Newsom's proposal 'an attack on the salmon fishing industry and the state's biggest rivers.' Commercial salmon fishing has been canceled for three consecutive years because of a decline in the Chinook salmon population. Artis said building the tunnel would represent a 'nail in the coffin of California's once mighty salmon runs.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newsom asks lawmakers to fast-track Delta tunnel project
SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to fast-track a project to reroute more water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmers and cities as part of his revised budget blueprint set to be unveiled on Wednesday. 'We're done with barriers — our state needs to complete this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier future,' Newsom said in a statement provided to POLITICO. 'Let's get this built.' A version of the proposed project has been floating around — first as a canal, then a pair of tunnels — for more than half a century, during which it has reliably brought out opposition from environmental groups and Delta elected officials concerned about habitat loss and construction impacts. Newsom is asking state lawmakers to pass a trailer bill to shorten judicial review of lawsuits challenging the project and streamline its pending water rights permit by removing deadlines for when the project has to be under construction and using water. Newsom has called the $20 billion, 45-mile long tunnel through the crumbling Delta — now known as the Delta Conveyance Project — key to the state's climate adaptation as it stares down an expected 10 percent reduction in water supplies by 2040. He has said he wants to finish the project's permitting by the end of his term in early 2027. He's also sought to show off how he's increasing water storage and supplies in his state in the wake of President Donald Trump's repeated calls for more water deliveries in California. Newsom got lawmakers to sign an infrastructure streamlining package two years ago, but the package did not include the Delta Conveyance Project after heavy pushback from environmental groups and Delta lawmakers. The language required judges to resolve any lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act within 270 days. The State Water Resources Control Board is in the middle of a contentious months-long hearing to decide whether to grant the project a revised water right. Environmental and tribal groups are fighting the Department of Water Resources, the state agency which would oversee the project, to release more information about its historic water use. On Tuesday, they filed a petition asking the Water Resources Control Board to cancel the hearing if the information wasn't provided.
Politico
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Newsom asks lawmakers to fast-track Delta tunnel project
SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to fast-track a project to reroute more water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmers and cities as part of his revised budget blueprint set to be unveiled on Wednesday. 'We're done with barriers — our state needs to complete this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier future,' Newsom said in a statement provided to POLITICO. 'Let's get this built.' A version of the proposed project has been floating around — first as a canal, then a pair of tunnels — for more than half a century, during which it has reliably brought out opposition from environmental groups and Delta elected officials concerned about habitat loss and construction impacts. Newsom is asking state lawmakers to pass a trailer bill to shorten judicial review of lawsuits challenging the project and streamline its pending water rights permit by removing deadlines for when the project has to be under construction and using water. Newsom has called the $20 billion, 45-mile long tunnel through the crumbling Delta — now known as the Delta Conveyance Project — key to the state's climate adaptation as it stares down an expected 10 percent reduction in water supplies by 2040. He has said he wants to finish the project's permitting by the end of his term in early 2027. He's also sought to show off how he's increasing water storage and supplies in his state in the wake of President Donald Trump's repeated calls for more water deliveries in California. Newsom got lawmakers to sign an infrastructure streamlining package two years ago, but the package did not include the Delta Conveyance Project after heavy pushback from environmental groups and Delta lawmakers. The language required judges to resolve any lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act within 270 days. The State Water Resources Control Board is in the middle of a contentious months-long hearing to decide whether to grant the project a revised water right. Environmental and tribal groups are fighting the Department of Water Resources, the state agency which would oversee the project, to release more information about its historic water use. On Tuesday, they filed a petition asking the Water Resources Control Board to cancel the hearing if the information wasn't provided.
Los Angeles Times
08-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Arrowhead bottled water company wins one of three pending court cases
The company that sells Arrowhead brand bottled water has won a court ruling overturning a decision by California water regulators, who in 2023 ordered it to stop piping millions of gallons of water from the San Bernardino National Forest. Fresno County Superior Court Judge Robert Whalen Jr. said in his ruling that the State Water Resources Control Board's order went 'beyond the limits of its delegated authority.' The board had ordered the company BlueTriton Brands to stop taking much of the water it has been piping from water tunnels and boreholes in the mountains near San Bernardino. The board issued the 'cease and desist' order after the agency's staff conducted an investigation and determined the company was unlawfully diverting water from springs without valid water rights. The judge found, however, that the state water board 'misunderstood and inappropriately applied' state law. He said the legal question was 'not about water rights,' and he cited a provision stating the board does not have the authority to regulate groundwater. A spokesperson for BlueTriton Brands said the company appreciates the court decision in its favor, which affirmed that the state water board 'exceeded its authority in issuing a cease and desist order' targeting the company's operations at Arrowhead Springs in Strawberry Canyon. The State Water Resources Control Board's officials are analyzing the court decision, which was issued Monday, said Jackie Carpenter, a spokesperson for the board. 'The State Water Board strongly disagrees with the court's decision and believes the legal, engineering and hydrogeologic record in this case demonstrates the sound basis for its 2023 decision,' Carpenter said. 'The board is assessing whether to appeal the ruling.' The company's bottled water pipeline is also at the center of two other lawsuits pending in U.S. District Court in Riverside. In one of the cases before District Judge Jesus Bernal, the company is challenging the U.S. Forest Service's 2024 decision denying its application for a new permit to continue operating its pipeline and other water infrastructure in the national forest. The agency ordered the company to shut down the operation and submit a plan for removing its pipes and equipment from federal land. In another lawsuit, the local environmental group Save Our Forest Assn. is suing the Forest Service, arguing the agency violated federal laws by allowing the company to continue piping water, and alleging that the removal of water has dramatically reduced the flow of Strawberry Creek and is causing significant environmental harm. The company has denied that its use of water is harming the environment and has argued that it should be allowed to continue using water from the national forest. Rachel Doughty, a lawyer for Save Our Forest Assn., said the Forest Service is correct in seeking to deny the company's permit. 'I hope there is water in the creek as soon as possible,' Doughty said. 'That's the objective, is that the water remains on the land for the benefit of the public on public lands.' If the Forest Service's decision stands, it would prevent the company from using the namesake source of its brand Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water. The springs in the mountains north of San Bernardino, which have been a source for bottled water for generations, are named after an arrowhead-shaped natural rock formation on the mountainside. A system of 4-inch steel pipes collects water that flows by gravity from various sites on the steep mountainside above the creek. Records show about 319 acre-feet, or 104 million gallons, flowed through the company's network of pipes in 2023, filling a roadside tank where trucks pick up water and haul it to a bottling plant. State officials have said that the first facilities to divert water in the Strawberry Creek watershed were built in 1929, and the system expanded over the years as additional boreholes were drilled into the mountainside. The company has for years had a federal 'special-use' permit allowing it to use its pipeline and other water infrastructure in the national forest. The Forest Service has been charging a permit fee of $2,500 per year. There has been no charge for the water. Controversy over the issue erupted when the Desert Sun reported in 2015 that the Forest Service was allowing Nestle, which then ran the operation, to siphon water using a permit that listed 1988 as the expiration date. The Forest Service then began a review of the permit, and in 2018 granted a new permit for up to five years. The revelations about Nestle piping water from the forest sparked an outpouring of opposition and prompted several complaints to California regulators questioning the company's water rights claims, which led to the state investigation. BlueTriton took over the pipeline operation in 2021 when Nestle's North American bottled water division was purchased by private-equity firm One Rock Capital Partners and investment firm Metropoulos & Co. Last year, BlueTriton merged with Primo Water Corp. to form a new company called Primo Brands Corp., which has dual corporate headquarters in Tampa, Fla., and Stamford, Conn. The company says that in addition to the site in the San Bernardino National Forest, Arrowhead bottled water is sourced from various other spring sites in Northern and Southern California, as well as one spring in Colorado and another in British Columbia, Canada.
