State Supreme Court sides with Southern California in epic water war over delta islands
The state Supreme Court has cleared the way for Southern California’s powerful Metropolitan Water District to buy five islands at the epicenter of the delta’s water system, officials said Friday.
Some officials and environmentalists in Northern California had fought to halt the sale, worried about what the MWD planned to do with the land. The agency has said it might use some of the land to provide access for the construction of a proposed delta tunnel system, a controversial project some oppose amid California’s five-year drought.
A cohort of counties, water agencies and environmental advocacy groups had mounted a series of legal challenges aimed at postponing the sale. But the high court on Thursday turned those back, allowing the MWD to proceed with its $175-million purchase of the farm islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
An MWD spokesman reiterated Friday that the agency has not proposed a project for the land. In the past, the district has said the 20,000 acres could be converted to fish and wildlife habitat or used to store materials for emergency levee repairs.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-delta-islands-decision-20160715-snap-story.html