Sacramento Superior Court Rules Department of Water Resources Lacked Authority to Issue Bonds for Delta Tunnel

March 2024

California Water Law and Policy Reporter, Volume 34, Number 6

On January 16, 2024, a Sacramento Superior Court judge denied the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) request to validate bond resolutions for the Delta Program to finance the controversial Delta tunnel known as the Delta Conveyance Project. In a 28-page statement of decision (Ruling), Judge Kenneth C. Mennemeier held that DWR exceeded the scope of its authority by issuing bonds for a program “untethered to the objectives, purposes, and effects” of the project it purported to modify.

Subscribers to the California Water Law & Policy Reporter can read the full legislative update here.