THIS JUST IN … State Water Board sets date to start Part 2 of California Water Fix hearings; issues ruling letter.
PART 2 of the hearing will resume at 9:30 a.m. on January 18, 2018 From the California Water Fix Hearing Team at the State Water Resources Control Board: This ruling grants the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) August 3, 2017 request to establish a schedule for Part 2 of the hearing before the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) on the water right change petition for the California WaterFix Project.
As discussed below, we conclude that a continuation of the hearing is not legally required, and that the public interest weighs in favor of proceeding with the hearing, taking into consideration: (1) the substantial information available concerning the potential effects of the project, (2) DWR and Reclamation (collectively petitioners) have the burden of demonstrating that each element necessary for approval of their petition has been met, (3) the risks and costs of postponing for an indefinite period the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing, and (4) either the hearing or the State Water Board’s decision on the petition can be re-opened if necessary and appropriate to consider new information.
Although we have concluded that it is in the public interest to proceed with the hearing, we shared protestants’ expectation that the NEPA and ESA processes would be complete at this juncture, and we did not anticipate that USFWS and NMFS would defer a more detailed level of review of certain elements of the project to a future consultation process.
The schedule for Part 2, including a tentative pre-hearing conference date, is set forth below.
The parties are advised to read this ruling carefully, especially those parties who did not participate in Part 1 and may not be familiar with the State Water Board hearing procedures.
In addition, all of the parties are expected to have read the Notice of Public Hearing and Pre-Hearing Conference (Hearing Notice), including Enclosure D, and our previous rulings in this hearing.
This ruling also addresses the scope of Part 2, limits on evidentiary objections, Deirdre Des Jardins’ request to conduct a rulemaking proceeding to establish “appropriate Delta flow criteria” pursuant to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009, and the City of Stockton’s request to move sur-rebuttal exhibits into evidence.
——————————————– Sign up for daily email service and you’ll always be one of the first to know!
Sign up for daily emails and get all the Notebook’s aggregated and original water news content delivered to your email box by 9AM.