Judge OKs Delta reservoirs project

Stored water would be pumped to Kern County; appeal likely

By Alex Breitler

December 06, 2012

Record Staff Writer

A quarter-century-old plan to convert two Delta islands into reservoirs can move forward, a judge has ruled.

But the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted this week to appeal that decision.

The Delta Wetlands Project would flood Bacon Island and Webb Tract while converting two more islands into wildlife habitat.

In wet years, water kept on the islands would be pumped south from the Delta and stored underground in Kern County for use during dry years, improving the water supply for southern cities and farms that depend on the Delta.

San Joaquin County and Delta farmers have long opposed the plan. About 11,000 acres of farmland would be intentionally flooded, and opponents say the added pressure from all that water could put neighboring islands at risk.

Opponents defeated the project once, in 2004, but their latest lawsuit challenging a new environmental impact report was rejected by San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Teri L. Jackson. Her brief ruling found the project’s environmental report to be “legally adequate” and supported by “substantial evidence.”

Dante Nomellini Jr., a Stockton attorney representing Delta farmers, called the decision “very disappointing.”

But, he said, there appears to be fertile ground for an appeal.

In court documents, attorneys for the county and the Delta farmers argued that the sponsor of the project, the Kern County-based Semitropic Water Storage District, “bit off more than it could chew.” Winning approval for such an immense project would be challenging under state environmental laws.

Those attorneys also claimed project supporters failed to consider all public comments on an earlier draft plan, among other issues.

“There were some big procedural blunders,” Nomellini said.

Steven Torigiani and Ernest Conant, attorneys for the Semitropic district, could not be reached Wednesday. In court papers, they claimed opponents failed to acknowledge the “tremendous level of effort” by experts who prepared the documents.

“No stone has been left unturned,” the attorneys wrote.

“It is particularly striking for a project that will divert, store and release water in the heart of the Delta that no environmental organization and no state resources agency has filed suit. … There are no such claims because the environmental analysis for this project is thorough, comprehensive, and scientifically sound,” they wrote.

The project is a public-private partnership between Semitropic and the corporation Delta Wetlands, which owns the land in question.

County supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to appeal the case. Supervisor Ken Vogel was absent.

Nomellini said an appeal was likely later this week.

Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/breitlerblog.