FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2025
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Alexandra Nagy, alexandra@sunstonestrategies.org
Leela Yadav, leela@sunstonestrategies.org
Sacramento, Calif. – Administrative comments filed last Friday by the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC) urge the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) to abandon unlawful private deal-making with large water diverters and instead adopt regulations that restore the health of the Bay-Delta, protect tribal uses of water and strengthen engagement with Tribes and disadvantaged communities in watershed management. DTEC’s comments are in response to the Draft Water Quality Control Plan for the Bay-Delta released by the Board in October 2024.
DTEC comprises the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Little Manila Rising and Restore the Delta. Their comments focus on opportunities for the Board to fulfill its obligations to “racial equity and repair for the profound injury the State has caused to tribal sovereignty and cultural survival” and to meet its legal duties to regulate water quality for the benefit of the ecosystem, Tribes and communities that depend on it. Key issues highlighted by DTEC include:
- The inequitable and illegal Voluntary Agreement (VA) framework: The Board’s proposal to exempt large diverters from regulation and instead allow them to follow privately negotiated “voluntary agreements” is both illegal and contrary to the Board’s commitments to racial equity. DTEC calls on the Board to abandon the VAs and proceed with regulatory instream flow standards based in sound science and Indigenous knowledge.
- California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) violations: The coalition points to multiple CEQA violations, including a lack of government-to-government consultation with Tribes.
- Tribal Beneficial Uses: DTEC urges the Board to meaningfully incorporate protections for tribal beneficial uses of water into the Bay-Delta Plan which includes designating tribal uses of water for cultural and traditional purposes on a watershed-wide basis. Tribal cultural and traditional uses of water include ceremony, subsistence, and other purposes integral to exercise of tribal lifeways.
- Tribal consultation and incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge: DTEC calls for the Board to clarify and strengthen its proposed engagement with Tribes, providing recommendations to ensure meaningful consultation and inclusion into Bay-Delta watershed governance.
- Harmful Algal Blooms: DTEC calls for the adoption of enforceable objectives for harmful algal blooms to address the growing threat – protecting public health and beneficial uses of the Delta.
Statement from Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians:
“Every time we meet with State Water Board members, they stress their commitment to working with tribes and racial equity. The Bay-Delta Plan is the Board’s opportunity to make good on its commitments by adopting a strong regulatory program and protecting Tribal Beneficial Uses of water.”
Statement from Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe:
“The voluntary agreements which are part of the Program of Implementation continue to ignore Tribal water rights. The Board is continuing to erase Tribes from water governance.”
Statement from Gloria Alonso Cruz, Environmental Justice Advocacy Coordinator for Little Manila Rising:
“The privately-negotiated ‘voluntary agreements’ overlook the current and future ecological needs of socially vulnerable communities. Harmful Algal Blooms are a symptom that reflect how the ‘voluntary agreements’ neglect public health. The BDP is a clear opportunity for the Board to protect beneficial uses, especially for communities at risk.”
Statement from Cintia Cortez, Policy Manager for Restore the Delta:
“The Plan of Implementation for the Bay-Delta Plan is woefully incomplete. No enforceable standards for protecting public health from toxic algae. No real plan for protecting and regulating the system for tribal uses of water. Yet the voluntary agreements continue. We are so disappointed.”
The Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition is represented by the Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic within the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School.
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