IID v. MWD set for trial Nov. 23

IMPERIAL — The Imperial Irrigation District earlier this week answered arguments by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other parties of interest in its ongoing challenge of MWD’s commitment in March 2019 to increase its Drought Contingency Plan water contribution obligation to Lake Mead by 250,000 acre feet.

IID originally filed its petition in Superior Court of Los Angeles County on April 18, 2019. The petition calls on the court to suspend approvals and actions related to the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan until such time an appropriate analysis of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s ( MWD) commitment to the plan has been completed in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act ( CEQA).

The case is scheduled to be heard Nov. 23. In Monday’s filing, IID addressed arguments by MWD and real parties of interest -- specifically Coachella Valley Water District, Palo Verde Irrigation District and the city of Needles.

The seven- state DCP, which was approved in March 2019, involved an escalating array of cutbacks intended to prevent a phenomenon called “dead pool” at lakes Mead and Powell, whereby water levels fall below the gates that let water out.

IID, as the Colorado River’s single largest rights holder, made its participation in the DCP contingent on $ 200 million in federal funding for the Salton Sea. That’s when MWD stepped in and promised to assume IID’s proposed share of up to 250,000 acre- feet of water to be held in reserve in Lake Mead.

In Monday’s court documents, IID observed the amount of water in question is enough to cover 390 square miles in a foot of water and serve 2.25 million people and 750,000 homes.

IID’s concern is that MWD’s reach has exceeded its grasp and that in making that commitment, basically to bypass IID in completing the DCP agreement, it created other potential problems by not doing the necessary due diligence required under CEQA. Specifically, IID is challenging whether MWD’s commitment is exempt from CEQA under a condition that would define it as a minor alteration of an existing facility with negligible or no expansion of use.

IID says not a chance, and it’s calling on the court to suspend approvals and actions related to the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan until such time that an appropriate CEQA analysis and process has been completed.

“The logic in going forward ( with the DCP) without IID was that the DCP couldn’t wait for the Salton Sea,” said IID General Manager Henry Martinez. “This legal challenge is going to put that logic to the test and the focus will now be where it should have been all along, ( which is) at the Salton Sea.”

IID argues MWD violated CEQA principles by committing to enter into agreements on behalf of itself and all other California contractors, which will require MWD to forgo diverting up to hundreds of thousands of acre- feet of water annually from the Colorado River without considering how it will make up the shortfall.

The IID said MWD does not, and cannot, refute that increasing its water commitment by this amount is a massive expansion of use. The lawsuit states this renders the CEQA exemption inapplicable.

MWD agrees that expansion of use is the key consideration under the Class 1 categorical exemption, IID noted in its court filing, yet MWD and the other interested parties have focused their arguments on MWD’s capacity to obtain water to offset its significantly increased DCP contribution, which IID contends is irrelevant to the case.

IID said MWD does not dispute that the approval made in December is not an existing facility.

IID argued Metropolitan engaged in a prejudicial abuse of discretion and failed to proceed in the manner required by law, wrongly determining that the DCP approvals were exempt from environmental laws.

CEQA is a statute that requires state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible, the IID argued.

It added MWD and its partners have conceded the approval made in March authorized an increase in the use of its water facilities and resources.

Metropolitan determined that this additional commitment could be managed within the framework of its existing facilities, operations and supplies, but IID maintains the approval made in March is not exempt from CEQA requirements.

“IID requests that the court grant this petition, and, pursuant and direct MWD to vacate the March Approval and mandate that MWD and the real parties suspend all activities authorized by the March Approval,” IID attorney Stanley Lamort concluded.