For Immediate Release:
September 4, 2024
Contact:
Alexandra Nagy, alexandra@sunstonestrategies.org, 818-633-0865
SWRCB Urged to Uphold Law and Protect Tribal Water Rights in Delta
Sacramento, CA – Yesterday, the Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School, on behalf of the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC), (Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Little Manila Rising, and Restore the Delta), submitted a formal letter to the State Water Resources Control Board concerning the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) latest attempt to modify expired water permits for the controversial Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). The Coalition’s letter highlights significant jurisdictional and procedural flaws in DWR’s petition, calling for the Board to reject the Department’s request for a so-called “Minor Change” to extend the expiration date of its permits by over fifty years.
The letter was sent in response to the filing by DWR for what it styled as this “minor change” to its permits and the scheduling of a closed session meeting for 1 pm today for State Water Resources Control Board Members to consider simultaneously petitions for the Delta Conveyance Project and Sites Reservoir.
Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, said, “The Department of Water Resources permit for conveyance expired 24 years ago. Yet, DWR is hiding behind what it is calling a ‘minor change’ to an already expired permit and trying to extend its ‘validity’ through 2055. They have been wasting public money now for over 24 years on the basis of an expired permit and the public is now becoming aware of their tactics. DWR can no longer skirt the law and must go through the actual process of filing for a new water right permit.”
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, criticized DWR’s tactics: “In regard to Delta Conveyance, the Department of Water Resources continues its attempts to sidestep the law to serve special interests that want the tunnel and that are tied directly to Governor Newsom. The question is, will the State Water Resources Control Board continue to give DWR cover to please the Governor? Or will they enforce the codes, resolutions, and laws that they are duty bound to uphold?”
Gloria Alonso Cruz, the Environmental Justice Advocacy Coordinator for Little Manila Rising noted, “The Department of Water Resources is acting on a pattern that demonstrates their reluctance to protect Tribal and historically marginalized communities in the Bay-Delta by requesting to modify water permits that expired over 20 years ago. The State Water Resources Control Board should not allow DWR to follow timelines outside of the law given the current needs of vulnerable communities and the Bay-Delta environment.”
DTEC’s letter emphasizes that the water rights permits that DWR seeks to modify expired in December 2000, and that the Department has never put to beneficial use the 6,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) of Sacramento River water it now seeks to divert through the Delta Conveyance Project. The Coalition also argues that without a proper and transparent process that acknowledges tribal water rights and addresses the Project’s potential to impair the rights and interests of Bay-Delta Tribes and communities, the Board would be perpetuating a well-established pattern of historical injustices.
“DWR’s attempt to resurrect long-expired water rights permits to extend the construction timeline for the DCP by over half a century is a clear overreach. What DWR calls a “minor change” has vast implications for water rights, Tribal sovereignty, and environmental justice, and demands full public scrutiny,” said Terra Baer, student attorney with the Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic. “The permits in question expired over two decades ago, and the State Water Resources Control Board cannot lawfully extend or modify them without overstepping its authority.”
The Coalition further calls on the State Water Resources Control Board to honor its commitments made in the 2021 Racial Equity Resolution, urging the Board to conduct all proceedings in an open and public manner, ensuring that the voices of those most impacted by the Delta Conveyance Project are heard and respected. DTEC warns that the closed session scheduled for September 4, 2024, risks undermining public trust and exacerbating systemic exclusions of marginalized communities from crucial water management decisions.
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About the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC):
The Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition represents a united front of Tribal Nations and community organizations committed to protecting the cultural, spiritual, and environmental resources of the Bay-Delta region. Through advocacy, legal action, and public education, DTEC seeks to ensure that water management decisions in California prioritize the rights and well-being of Indigenous peoples and historically marginalized communities.