State claims court ruling shouldn’t impact tunnel plan schedule
“On March 14, California Department of Water Resources claimed that the Court of Appeal ruling the previous day in favor of Delta farmers regarding eminent domain shouldn’t have “any material impact” on Governor Jerry Brown’s rush to build the peripheral tunnels under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
“The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) does not expect yesterday’s (March 13, 2014) California Court of Appeal decision to have any material impact on the schedule of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP),” according to a statement from DWR.
“Based on the lower court’s decision, DWR has been proceeding pursuant to the eminent domain process to conduct geotechnical drilling and will continue to do so. Thus, the BDCP schedule takes into account the time needed for this process,” the agency claimed. (http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2014/031414.pdf)
In a big victory for Delta landowners, the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District (San Joaquin), ruled the state may not access private property in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to conduct studies used to plan the construction of the twin tunnels. The court said these studies would first have to be authorized in formal eminent domain proceedings. “
Bacher, Dan. Central Valley 24 March 2014.