REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

December 2007

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DWR’s Long-Awaited ‘Monterey Plus’ Draft EIR Is Released for Public Comment

On October 19, 2007, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released its Monterey Plus Draft Environment Impact Report (DEIR) for public comment. This document identifies and evaluates the potential environmental impacts of a project that is intended to increase the State Water Project (SWP) contractors’ certainty over water allocation and facilities use and to avoid potential litigation over decades-long contract disputes. A previous version of this EIR was the subject of Planning and Conservation League v. Department of Water Resources, 83 Cal.App.4th 892 (2000) (PCL Decision), the Third District Court of Appeal decision in which the term “paper water” was first invoked and a decision that has been cited in a majority of the subsequent appellate court decisions addressing the CEQA issue of lead agency. The comment period closes on December 13, 2007.