May 24, 2013
Release immediate

(The following is a statement by Dan Nelson, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, on today’s filing for a writ of mandate concerning the Delta Plan.)

WATER AUTHORITY FILES FOR WRIT;
DISAGREES WITH DELTA STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

“The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, along with Westlands Water District, filed a petition today for writ of mandate asserting that the Delta Plan is inconsistent with the 2009 Delta Reform Act legislation and that the programmatic environmental impact report is inadequate.

“The Delta Plan exceeds the authority granted by the Legislature when it passed the Delta Reform Act in 2009. Instead of serving the role as a facilitator or collaborator with over 200 other State agencies with a policy role touching the Delta, the Delta Stewardship Council has made itself the 201st regulatory agency, which creates obstacles rather than pathways to achieving the coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring and enhancing the Delta ecosystem.

“We appreciate the efforts by the Council to incorporate public input into the Delta Plan but we have a fundamental disagreement over the authority the Council has assigned itself over California’s water supply.

“The Council has clearly over-reached its authority and has inappropriately enacted regulatory hurdles that will have the opposite effect of fulfilling the Legislature’s co-equal goals.”

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