Delta Legacy Communities, Inc. alleges unconstitutional actions by DWR in bond authorization

On August 6, 2020, without public notice, the Department of Water Resources passed a Delta Program Revenue Bond / General Bond Resolution, and Attorney General Becerra approved it.

The Delta Program General Bond Resolution is a sweeping assertion of authority by DWR to issue unlimited future bonds for phases of an as yet undefined "Delta Program."  DWR filed a Validation Complaint for the Delta Program General Bond Resolution the same day.  If the court finds in favor of DWR, it would forever bar any judicial review of authorization of bonds for any project DWR defines as part of a phase of the "Delta Program."

DWR's Delta Program General Bond resolution has an open ended definition of the "Delta Program":

Delta Program means the environmental review, planning, engineering, design, and, if and when the Department determines to be appropriate, acquisition, construction, operation and maintenance of facilities for the conveyance of water in, about and through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, subject to such further specification thereof as the Department in its discretion may adopt. Delta Program facilities may include, but are not limited to, water diversion intake structures located on the Sacramento River and a tunnel to convey water to Banks Pumping Plant.  (emphasis added.)

This isn't just a blank check for Governor Gavin Newsom's single tunnel project.  It's a blank checkbook for almost any future project that the Department of Water Resources wants to implement as part of the "Delta Program."

DWR’s General Bond Resolution is far beyond the California legislature’s authorization for issuance of revenue bonds in the California Water Code. The legislature only authorized DWR to fund specific projects, and required preparation of preliminary cost estimates. DWR is then authorized to “adopt a resolution . . . authorizing the issuance of bonds for the purpose of obtaining funds in an amount not in excess of that estimated to be required for those purposes.”

DWR did not include any description of specific projects or preliminary cost estimates in the Delta Program General Bond Resolution.

Delta Legacy Communities, Inc. is challenging DWR's General Bond resolution as unconstitutional, arguing that DWR is attempting to assume the legislature's powers of appropriation. Read our amended response to DWR’s Validation Complaint here.