FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2022
Contact: Michael Blenner, michael.blenner@sierraclub.org
MWD Board Votes to Participate in Voluntary Agreements
Los Angeles, CA - Today, the board of the largest water wholesaler in Southern California, Metropolitan Water District (MWD), voted to participate in the environmentally destructive Voluntary Agreements (VA’s). These agreements are a work around to regulations that would prevent water agencies from diverting more water from the already strained San Francisco Bay-Delta, located near Stockton. The vote was nearly unanimous and followed multiple heated discussions between board members and a biased panel conversation which included 3 pro-VA viewpoints and only one dissenting viewpoint.
The VA’s are an alternative process to the update of the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan, and are led by a group of special interests that have been negotiating in confidential meetings, without community engagement or transparency. They will ultimately cost the state millions and will not include adequate protections for survival of native fish or the protection of community health. Like the Delta tunnel and Sites Reservoir, the VA’s will take more water from the already strained region of the Bay Delta. 5 million acre feet more water than the ecosystem can handle is already taken out each year.
Sierra Club California and environmental justice groups have steadfastly opposed the VA’s by building public awareness of the environmentally harmful aspects of the agreements.
Tribes, environmentalists, and environmental justice communities have been consistently excluded from the negotiations. Last week, three years after initial conversations and after the State and water agencies had already finalized the essential terms for the VAs, they invited some groups to participate in the implementation process. Restore the Delta turned down their invitation and NRDC pledged that they would turn down any future invitations because the terms are beyond negotiation.
Yesterday’s vote was especially disappointing in that many board members from the Los Angeles’ delegation spoke out against the VA’s s, yet they still voted in support.
In response, Caty Wagner, Sierra Club California SoCal Water Organizer, issued the following statement:
“I am deeply disappointed in the MWD board’s vote, which is entirely politically motivated. The science is clear: the VA’s, much like the Sites Reservoir and Delta tunnel projects, are not sustainable, especially with the worsening effects of climate change. The South Coast of California has the potential to save 1 million acre feet of water - the biggest savings in the state - through proven conservation and efficiency methods. Rate- and taxpayer investments should not be prioritized to fund imported water projects like the VA’s that will leave our grandchildren with debt and no water.”
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory arm of Sierra Club’s 13 local chapters in California, representing half a million members and supporters.