The Inland Empire Utilities Agency board has authorized an appeal to a recent court decision that blocked a proposed program to send water from the Chino Basin to Northern California, the organization’s general manager said Friday.
The city of Ontario sued to block the proposed Chino Basin Program, or CPB, and on Sept. 4 San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez ruled that several environmental impact assessments did not comply with state law.
According to the court ruling, the IEUA in May 2022 violated the California Environmental Quality Act. The court found that the agency:
— “‘piecemealed’ the evaluation of the effects of the CBP by failing to evaluate the effects of the CBP and the Feather River Exchange outside of the Chino Basin”;
— “used an unstable and inconsistent project description that evaluates the effects of a project life of 25 years, but then justifies the CBP based on purported water supply benefits over 50 years”; and
— “adopted a biased and determinative project objective to justify a refusal to evaluate reasonable alternatives to the CBP.”
The IEUA must now set aside its certification of the environmental impact report and the agency’s other CPB approvals.
“This is a major victory for the City of Ontario and every community in the Chino Basin that depends on a secure, local water supply,” Ontario Councilwoman Debra Porada said in a statement. “IEUA tried to push through a massive water deal that sent our water elsewhere without telling the full story of the adverse environmental and water supply effects of the CBP or evaluating reasonable alternatives to sending a reliable local water supply to Northern California. The court saw through it. We fought back because our future depends on protecting the resources our residents already paid for and rely on.”
Alvarez denied several of the city’s claims — that the utility allegedly provided misleading information about the amount of water in annual Santa Ana River flows, the CBP failed to evaluate an “Ontario Alternative” project plan and the CBP provided a misleading evaluation of its effects on the water supply of Chino Basin communities, according to court documents.
“IEUA is pleased that the major technical aspects of the program were upheld and is appreciative of the court denying several claims raised by the city of Ontario,” General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh said in a statement Friday. “The court did also require that a few areas of the CBP EIR be further examined and/or refined.
“While the matter now shifts to the Court of Appeal for review, it is noteworthy that the trial court’s ruling affirmed the report’s findings on the key technical program elements, including the CBP’s effects on local water supplies and Santa Ana River flows,” Deshmukh said. “This ruling reinforces that the CBP is a beneficial program for our community and has a positive impact on local supply reliability.”
Deshmukh addressed what he called “inaccurate statements that have been shared by the city of Ontario regarding key aspects of the program. The city’s press commentary claiming that the CBP poses a risk to local water supplies is a misrepresentation unsupported by the court’s ruling. In fact, the trial court’s ruling states the opposite and affirms the CBP’s analysis on local water supply,” the IEUA chief said.
“First, the CBP develops a new local water supply by maximizing recycled water,” he continued. “Currently, our region has recycled water supplies that are sent down the Santa Ana River because they are unable to be treated and used due to existing infrastructure and regulatory limitations. The CBP is a series of critical infrastructure projects designed to maximize water supply reliability while ensuring full compliance with recycled water and wastewater permit requirements.”
Deshmukh also said the CBP does not export water to Northern California, and no decrease in overall regional water supplies will occur.
“In fact, the CBP creates opportunities to continue to increase local supply development and storage in the long-term which will benefit all residents and businesses in our community,” he said.
According to city officials, the Chino Basin Program would have transferred reliable, locally developed water paid in part by Ontario residents and surrounding communities to the state, “leaving Ontario and neighboring communities more dependent on imported water.”
The IEUA described the program as “the first of its kind to deliver benefits to both Northern and Southern California “through an innovative water exchange, new recycled water supply and valuable new infrastructure and upgrades.”
The CPB calls for sending groundwater via “a state contractor to facilitate a water exchange over 25 years,” according to the IEUA. “During this time, the state could request pulse flows of water from Oroville Reservoir in Butte County to the Feather River, benefitting ecosystems and Chinook salmon.”
The court ruling noted that the utility violated the California Environmental Quality Act when it failed to analyze the impacts of transferring 375,000 acre-feet of water to Northern California.
The court also found that “the agency adopted biased objectives for the CBP to support IEUA’s refusal to evaluate a reasonable range of alternatives,” officials said.
Attorneys for the city argued that the CEQA violation resulted in the utility’s “failure to evaluate reasonable and feasible alternatives to the CBP that would retain locally generated water for use by the residents of Ontario and other communities in the Chino Basin.”
Culminating with the lawsuit, the city had repeatedly raised concerns via letters, public meetings and direct outreach with the IEUA about what officials called the “the lack of transparency and analysis” surrounding the program.
“By defining the controversial Feather River Exchange as the cornerstone of the project while avoiding legal scrutiny of its impacts, IEUA undermined both environmental integrity and public trust,” according to the city. “The court’s ruling validates those concerns and underscores that IEUA committed multiple prejudicial CEQA violations.”
Ontario officials said they would continue to advocate for transparent and responsible regional water planning that prioritizes the needs of the communities who live here.
“We remain committed to work in partnership with IEUA and surrounding agencies to develop regional water resource programs that meet our collective objectives,” Porada said.
The IEUA serves 935,000 residents over 242 square miles and is situated on the Chino Basin, the largest groundwater storage basin in Southern California, according to the utility.
IEUA board members Steven Elie, Michael Camacho and Paul Hofer voted yes, and board Vice President Jasmine Hall voted no on authorizing an appeal to the court decision. President Marco Tule was not present and did not vote during a nonpublic board meeting.
In 2018, the Chino Basin Program received a $215 million conditional funding grant from the state’s Proposition 1 Water Supply Investment Program.
More information on the local water supply is available on the Ontario Municipal Utility Company’s website via ontarioca.gov.
Additional information on the Chino Basin Program is available at chinobasinprogram.org.
