Judge rules Delta management plan invalid

Kenny says proposal needs to be rewritten to fix its shortcomings

SACRAMENTO — A long-sought plan to restore the Delta’s ailing environment and bolster the reliability of its water supplies was declared invalid by a judge Friday, possibly throwing another wrench in the governor’s plan for water tunnels through the region.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny ruled that the state management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is invalid because fixes are needed in its shortcomings.

The decision leaves state plans for managing the estuary less clear as key decisions near on its future — including whether the state will build two giant water tunnels to export pumps near Tracy.

“The Delta remains in crisis, and now isn’t the time to set aside the state’s only comprehensive management plan,” said Jessica Pearson, executive officer of the Delta Stewardship Council, the state agency charged with coming up with the plan.

She said it’s likely her agency will appeal the ruling. In his ruling, Kenny wrote that the plan was too vague, lacking “quantified or otherwise measurable targets” as required by the Delta Reform Act in 2009.

The act called for a plan to meet the dual goals of restoring the Delta environment for fish and wildlife and stabilizing Delta water supplies for some 23 million Californians.

Environmentalists have criticized the state plan for lacking specific targets for water flows to restore the Delta environment and stem declines in wild fish. Likewise, some Delta water exporters have criticized the plan as failing to stabilize water supplies.

Some environmentalists called Friday’s ruling a victory in their campaign against the twin tunnels.

“The court invalidated the Delta plan because it blatantly failed to comply with the law, and consequently, was not protective of the Delta,” said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, one of the groups that sued over the plan.

Jennings and other environmentalists predicted the ruling will delay and escalate costs for the $16 billion twin tunnels, increasing doubts cities and farmers will be willing to pay for it.

Nancy Vogel, a California Resources Agency spokeswoman, said the state continues planning for the twin tunnels.

The state water board has scheduled July 26 for hearings on the plan.

“We are continuing the work,” she said.

DOUG DURAN/STAFF A houseboat, rented from Stockton’s Paradise Point Marina, heads into the Delta. Stockton’s many marinas are a perfect jumping-off point for all sorts of aquatic activities, from houseboating to kayaking, water skiing and paddling about.