Stockton, Calif. — On February 18, 2025 the State Water Resources Control Board (the Board) will be holding a public hearing to determine action on the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) petitions to change water rights permits related to the Delta Conveyance Project.
Why this is important
There are significant procedural and legal concerns regarding DWR’s petitions to change water rights. This includes the fact that DWR’s permits expired over 15 years ago and the Board should not proceed without resolving these expired permits or confirming that these rights even exist.
In addition, there is a clear lack of due process and a number of significant uncertainties that further warrants a pause in these proceedings, including a completed Bay-Delta Plan.
What we’ve done
The Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC) which includes the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Little Manila Rising, and Restore the Delta along with our partners at the San Francisco Baykeeper, California Indian Environmental Alliance, and Golden State Salmon Association have filed our pre-hearing conference statement in response to DWR’s petitions.
We are doing all we can to argue that these proceedings should not move forward until there is clarity and proper procedure to ensure a fair and lawful process. Moving forward with these proceedings without knowing what, if any, water rights DWR currently has and in the absence of a completed Bay-Delta plan is a waste of resources and not in the best interest of Californians.
How to make comments
The administrative hearing officer allows individuals to deliver oral policy statements regarding the project during the public hearing on February 18th. If you’re not already a party to the proceeding but wish to make your position known, you must file a Notice of Intent (NOI) with the administrative hearing office as soon as possible.
You can download the NOI form [here] and email your completed form to info@restorethedelta.org. Our team will assist with submitting it to the service list. Note that you are not required to submit your policy statement at this time—only the completed NOI.