To: Board of Supervisors
From: Thomas Geiger, County Counsel
Report Title: APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Counsel, or designee, on behalf of the County and the Contra Costa County Water Agency, to join with Solano County to file a protest with the State Water Resources Control Board challenging the Department of Water Resources' petition for change in point of diversion in connection with the Delta Conveyance Project, and to execute a related legal services contract with the law firm Soluri Meserve, effective March 26, 2024.
?Recommendation of the County Administrator ? Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Counsel, or designee, on behalf of the County and the Contra Costa County Water Agency, to join with Solano County to file a protest with the State Water Resources Control Board challenging the Department of Water Resources' petition for change in point of diversion under its water rights in connection with the Delta Conveyance Project, and to execute a related legal services contract with the law firm Soluri Meserve, effective March 26, 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The County and Water Agency will be jointly responsible for one half of the attorney's fees and costs charged by the law firm. These fees and costs will be paid with Water Agency funds.
BACKGROUND:
On February 22, 2024, the State of California, Department of Water Resources (DWR) filed a petition for change in point of diversion with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in connection with the Delta Conveyance Project. If granted, the petition would allow DWR to divert water from new locations on the Sacramento River, near Hood, to allow the water to be conveyed through a new tunnel to the head of the California Aqueduct near Tracy, south of the Delta.
The County, Water Agency, and Solano County remain concerned about impacts on the Delta that could result from a change in the locations where DWR can exercise its water rights. These impacts in...
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