In a recent letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a broad coalition of Tribes and environmental groups expressed concern over the Bureau of Reclamation’s position on California’s authority over the Central Valley Project and the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan.
The letter points to the Bureau’s recent assertion that the State Water Resources Control Board has no right to impose certain regulations on the operation of the Central Valley Project or to question decisions related to the impacts of Shasta Dam or Reservoir operations on endangered fish populations. Restore the Delta, Tribes, and other organizations warn that these actions could have significant consequences for communities, fish, and wildlife throughout the Bay-Delta watershed.
Citing California’s strong record of successfully challenging unlawful federal actions in court, the letter’s authors urge Attorney General Bonta to speak out against the Bureau’s federal overreach, saying these actions represent a troubling attempt to undermine California regulators while contributing to ongoing harm to the natural resources and communities that depend on them.
Read more about the coalition’s response to the Bureau of Reclamation’s letter here.
STATEMENTS FROM COALITION MEMBERS:
Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians:
“Reclamation’s latest threats to undermine California’s authority over water management are about far more than jurisdiction—they are about who gets a voice in decisions that determine the future of our rivers, our fisheries, and our Tribal communities. Too often, Tribes have been excluded in these decisions and our communities have suffered.
When state and federal governments operate massive water projects on California’s rivers, those operations have profound consequences for Tribal Nations. The State Water Board’s authority to protect water quality and beneficial uses—including Tribal cultural uses—cannot be dismissed when inconvenient for a federal agency. Tribal cultural uses, fisheries, healthy waterways, and the survival of our communities are not secondary interests, and our Tribal Sovereignty cannot be treated as collateral damage in a jurisdictional fight.
The federal government must stop treating California’s water protections as an obstacle to be circumvented and start treating Tribes as sovereign governments whose rights, interests, and knowledge must be part of the decision-making process.”
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta:
“In the face of our changing climate, it is critical that we manage our water systems in a manner that is equitable and protective of ecosystems and communities. The recent actions by the Bureau threaten the State’s autonomy and ability to manage our water resources, threatening downstream tribes, communities, economies, and an increasingly fragile Delta ecosystem. We urge the Attorney General to take these threats seriously, and stand firm against authoritative actions that threaten California’s most precious resource, water.”
Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney, San Francisco Baykeeper:
“The Bureau’s most recent threats continue a pattern of action by the Trump Administration to ignore the State of California’s authority and obligation to protect the State’s natural resources and people,” said Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney at San Francisco Baykeeper. “Governor Newsom has stood up to unlawful and harmful federal overreach on so many fronts, but not on San Francisco Bay-Delta water. It is time for his administration to stop accommodating Trump in this area. Failing to do so harms Tribes, fish, communities, and ecosystems. There is no Newsom-Trump deal on this front that will benefit California.”