FSCR Takes Legal Action Against Castaic Lake Water Agency

Potential overdraft of the Santa Clara River and its underground aquifers is a major concern of Friends of the Santa Clara River. In an action filed on April 30, 1999, FSCR challenged Castaic Lake Water Agency's approval of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for transfer of 41,000 acre-feet per year (AF/Y) of state water into the CLWA system. This project, carried out under the so-called Monterey Agreement, involves the purchase of water rights from lower Kern County agricultural interests. If implemented as proposed, this transfer would provide state water for further development in the Santa Clarita Valley. In drought years, however, when state allotments could not be met, the only recourse to get needed water would be overpumping of the aquifers underlying the river. The Draft EIR did not address these impacts to the river system, nor propose any mitigation. No public hearings were held on the project. The Final EIR acknowledged, too late for public review and comment, that impacts to groundwater could occur. FSCR has requested, in its complaint under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), that the court set aside approval of the project, and that a second round of environmental review be carried out, in full compliance with CEQA, which acknowledges and allows public and agency comment on impacts to groundwater and other issues.

FSCR believes that the manner in which this transfer was approved by the CLWA Board of Directors involved highly unusual procedures, to say the least. The Board, with virtually no debate, approved on March 30 the use of $47 million from its reserve fund to purchase the transfer. Two Board members were absent and two voted against the action. We would hope that an agency entrusted with the public's money would at least thoroughly discuss such an action prior to voting.