November 29, 2024 — Environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Water Resources Wednesday, claiming that the California State Water Project will harm endangered and threatened fish and the environment in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds, as well as the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary.
The California State Water Project (SWP) is a system of reservoirs, aqueducts, power plants and pumping plants that delivers water to California. Its purpose is to provide water to California’s residents and farmland, and to control flooding. It also provides hydroelectric power for the state’s power grid. The SWP is the largest state-owned water and power system in the U.S., stretching over 705 miles from Northern to Southern California.
San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental nonprofit, was joined by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and six other plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
“The operation of the project significantly degrades environmental conditions in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds and San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, including reduced flows, harm to endangered and threatened fish species and adverse modification of their critical habitat, worsened water quality, increased salinity levels, reduced food supply, and increased harmful algal blooms,” the plaintiffs say in their 74-page complaint filed in Sacramento Superior Court.
The plaintiffs claim that despite extensive evidence of negative impacts, the California Department of Water Resources “implausibly concluded” that operation of the State Water Project wouldn’t have a significant impact on the environment.
They say the project will especially harm the natural resources of the Bay-Delta and fisheries that include seven endangered or threatened species: Delta Smelt, Longfin Smelt, spring-run Chinook Salmon, winter-run Chinook Salmon, Central Valley Steelhead, White Sturgeon, and Green Sturgeon.