Well, hello blog readers.

Because you’re an important part of the Coastkeeper community, I wanted to take a moment to give you an insider’s perspective on our recent lawsuit. We filed against the San Diego County Water Authority for failing to account for the environmental impacts of existing and future water supply sources in its recently approved water supply plan. As you know, we strive to build relationships in the community with a broad spectrum of businesses, agencies and nonprofits. As you also know, when collaboration fails to meet the needs of our waters, legal action is in our repertoire.

In late March, the Water Authority approved an update to its Master Plan for water supply and a related environmental impact report and climate action plan. Despite the fact that California law requires them to do so, these plans do not fully assess the environmental impacts of each water supply source the Water Authority considers. In particular, they ignore the energy used to treat and move water. These plans will be used as the basis for decisions made for the next twenty years, and today that is a faulty basis.

San Diego Coastkeeper protects and restores fishable, swimmable and drinkable water, this includes our water supply. We are worried about these plans because energy used to move water translates to greenhouse gas and exacerbates climate change impacts like sea level rise and drought characteristics. In San Diego, our environmental and economic stability will be threatened if these plans are left as they stand.

We did not jump straight to a lawsuit. Since mid-2013, we have worked with the Water Authority in meetings with its staff and board members; by submitting comment letters alongside our partner groups; and by giving oral testimony at public hearings. Our concerns and cautions about environmental laws were repeatedly dismissed.

So, as the watchdog organization in our region dedicated to protect our waters and empowered to act, we filed a lawsuit. Our ultimate goal is to bring the Water Authority back to the table and end up with a better water supply plan for our region. The improved plan will consider embedded energy, and we’ll end up prioritizing conservation and reuse over more energy-intensive sources like imports from the Bay-Delta and Colorado River.

Please feel free to comment here or contact me if you have thoughts on this move–supportive or critical. Your opinion matters to us, and I’d like to hear from you. You can email me or call me at 619-758-7743 x103.