No urgent halt to Sacramento River Valley groundwater pumping

A federal judge has rejected an environmental group's bid to immediately stop groundwater pumping out of the Sacramento River Valley.

Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb said Tuesday the plaintiffs failed to establish that "irreparable harm ... was likely," if he did not issue a temporary restraining order. AquAlliance v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2:21-cv-01533-KJM-DMC (E.D. Cal., filed Aug. 26, 2021).

"Plaintiffs have not shown that any irreparable harm would occur before the court can conduct a full hearing on plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction and review full briefing from the parties," Shubb wrote. "The court has no evidence that pumping would immediately occur without injunctive relief."

A coalition of environmental and sporting groups sued last month, claiming federal approval of a groundwater pumping plan violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act. The complaint signed by Jason R. Flanders, a partner with Aqua Terra Aeris Law Group in Oakland, argued the Bureau of Reclamation's environmental assessment for the project was "conclusory, incomplete, and faulty."

But Shubb wrote there was no pressing reason for him to act before a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Thursday morning.

"The bureau 'has just received funding for the program and is only in the initial stages of contacting water users about participation in this program,' and 'has not entered into any contracts under this program and no payments have been made,'" he wrote, citing a hearing request Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelli L. Taylor filed on Sept. 1.

State and federal courts in Sacramento frequently hear water disputes. Such litigation is likely to increase with the state facing its second major drought in less than a decade. Last week, three water districts sued the state water board in superior court over cuts to farm water allocations. Banta-Carbona Irrigation District v. California State Water Resources Control Board, 34-2021-80003718-CU-WM-GDS (Sac. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 1, 2021).

-- Malcolm Maclachlan