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<H1 id=articleTitle class=articleTitle><FONT size=2>I've also attached the
C-WIN/CSPA Press Release and the Judge's Order.</FONT></H1>
<DIV class=articleTitle>Tom Stokely<BR>California Water Impact Network<BR><A
href="mailto:tstokely@att.net">tstokely@att.net</A><BR><A
href="http://www.c-win.org/">http://www.c-win.org/</A></DIV>
<DIV class=articleTitle> </DIV>
<DIV class=articleTitle><A
href="http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_14696980">http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_14696980</A></DIV>
<H1 class=articleTitle>Judge: Drought water transfers required environmental
review</H1><!--subtitle--><!--byline-->
<DIV id=articleByline class=articleByline>By HEATHER HACKING - Staff
Writer</DIV><!--date-->
<DIV id=articleDate class=articleDate>Posted: 03/18/2010 06:23:06 AM
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<SPAN fd-id="default" fd-type="start"></SPAN>CHICO -- Water transfers last year
under the state Drought Water Bank should have been reviewed under the
California Environmental Quality Act, an Alameda County Superior Court judge
ruled Monday.
<P>The Butte Environmental Council sees the legal victory as a way for
cumulative impacts of water transfers to be looked at more closely. </P>
<P>BEC has long argued that water transfers should be looked at as a whole,
rather than as isolated deals between water-rights holders and buyers. Another
focus by BEC and other groups is the effects of groundwater pumping when surface
water is sold. </P>
<P>The lawsuit against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Department of Water
Resources was filed by BEC, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and
the California Water Impact Network. </P>
<P>Before the lawsuit, the governor issued an emergency drought proclamation in
February 2009 to move ahead with Drought Water Bank water transfers without CEQA
review, a press release from BEC stated. </P>
<P>BEC hired attorneys Lippe, Gaffney and Wagner to challenge the CEQA
exemption, stating the drought was not an emergency situation but rather caused
by mismanagement. </P>
<P>Because the case took time to work its way through the court, water transfers
took place before the court decision, said Lynn Barris, BEC board member. </P>
<P>After the transfers, Barris said, "the other side ... said those transfers
had already occurred. They said this point is moot." </P>
<P>However, with plans for future water transfers, it's important that this
legal precedent be set by the court, Barris said, so her group pushed forward.
</P>
<P>BEC put up the money for the winning court battle, and is hoping to recoup
those costs. The case may, however, be appealed. </P>
<P>In the case, Alameda Superior Court Judge Alice Vilardi ruled that the state
acted improperly when it did not conduct an environmental review under CEQA.
</P>
<P>"What's important is that this is sending a clear message that they can no
longer do these water transfers without going through proper legal channels,"
said Carolee Krieger, executive director of California Water Impact Network,
based in Santa Barbara. </P>
<P>Using a drought emergency as a reason to not follow CEQA won't work, she
continued. </P>
<P>"We know a third of the years in California are dry or critically dry. This
is something they need to plan for," she said. "It's not a sudden emergency."
</P>
<P>"If we don't get a CEQA going, we will never be able to measure the amount of
all the different transfers," said Barris. </P>
<P>Robin Huffman, advocacy director for BEC, said water transfers that include
groundwater pumping are a big concern. </P>
<P>More information is needed to understand these underground aquifers, and
decide if transfers will harm the underground water system, she said. </P>
<P>"By transferring water to ag to the south, they have to show it won't affect
water users up here. </P>
<P>"They need to pass that test before they can sell that water, and it's not an
easy test," Huffman said. </P>
<P>"We expect more dry years. If they declared an emergency every year, that
could affect the north state," she said.<BR style="CLEAR: both"><BR
style="CLEAR: both"></P></DIV></SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>