The Federated Indians of
Graton Rancheria and their financial backers, Station
Casinos of Las Vegas, NV, are plainning a sprawling
gaming center right next to Rhonert Parl. That's right,
right on top of the most depressed groundwater reservoir
in Sonoma County. In fact, the casino will sit directly
on the famous Cone
of Depression, mapped by the Department
of Water Resources back in the 1980's.
This letter to the Sonoma
County Water Agency ("SCWA") and all of it contractors
(mainly cities and a few water districts) urging them
to join a lawsuit that will stop this federal water right
explains more about this important issue.
8/4/08
To: the Sonoma County Water Agency (“SCWA”)
and all of its water contractors
RE: A FEDERAL WATER RIGHT IN THE SANTA
ROSA PLAIN GROUNDWATER BASIN?
Dear SCWA representatives and contractors;
It’s important for you to
know that the O.W.L. Foundation has no policy whatsoever
regarding Indian gaming, gambling in general, nor does
the O.W.L. Foundation have opinions or policy regarding
the moral rectitude of any legal business endeavor.
The O.W.L. Foundation is strictly concerned with open
space, water resource protection and land use issues.
Federal “Super Right” on
the Way
As you may be aware, the Federated
Indians of Graton Rancheria (“FIGR”) have
purchased land adjacent to the City of Rohnert Park.
FIGR and its financial backer, Las Vegas-based Stations
Casinos, plan to build a 760,000
square foot [sic] complex that will include a 12-story
hotel, a 5,000 seat theater, numerous restaurants, bars,
toilets, gardens and other water consuming installations.
FIGR is entitled to a federal “super” water
right and has indicated that they will use it.
Water supplies in the Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Basin
are already severely taxed. Numerous studies of this
groundwater basin have indicated severe water shortage,
cones of depression, plummeting water table levels, as
well as outright overdraft. Indeed, the only times that
this damage has been relieved has been when all local
groundwater pumping comes to a complete halt.
A 2007 radar interferometric survey using 10 years of
data from two European Space Agency InSAR satellites
discovered that Rohnert Park, and a wide area around
it, is sinking up to 13 mm a year. The study noted
that this high velocity collapse is consistent with groundwater
extraction.
Despite evaporating water supplies,
the cities of Rohnert Park, Cotati and Santa Rosa all
plan for significant expansion of water use from this
basin. SCWA operates three massive wells in the Santa
Rosa Plain Groundwater Basin. These three wells now
account for at least 9% of the water in SCWA’s
aqueduct, meaning that far-flung customers, like the
Marin districts, Petaluma etc. are consuming water
from this legally encumbered groundwater basin.
Putting a federal water right
in an overdrafted groundwater basin instantly creates
an unstable legal climate. The combination of sparse
water supplies today and ambitious plans for even more
water consumption tomorrow, even without the casino,
will force FIGR to use their federal water right to
secure adequate water supplies. Exercising a federal “super” right
means adjudication
of the groundwater basin. Unfortunately, court-imposed
adjudication will force onerous restrictions on the three
SCWA wells and to all other wells operating in the Santa
Rosa Plain Groundwater Basin. Everyone will be affected.
SCWA and its Contractors can Help
We strongly urge SCWA and every one of its contractors
to join the plaintiffs in Stop the Casino 101 et.
al. v. U.S. Department of Interior et. al., filed
June 6, 2008. This lawsuit hinges upon the landmark March
29, 2005 Supreme Court of the United States decision City
of Sherill N.Y. v. Oneida Indian Nation et. al. Sherill
v. Oneida launched 23 state attorneys general to
file similar suits to stop federal rights holders from
seizing sovereign land. Specifically, the attorneys general
of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois,
Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi,
Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota,
Texas and Utah have all filed related suits to block
federal seizures.
Rhode Island filed a lawsuit challenging,
among other things, the U.S. Department of the Interior's
right to unilaterally remove land from a state's sovereign
control. Twenty-two
of the above named states filed amici curiae briefs
on behalf of Rhode Island. The 23rd state, New York,
filed its own challenge. One common theme in these
lawsuits is that under the Enclave Act, Congress
is not permitted to ratify state law. The federal
government can ONLY accept lands into trust that has
been ceded by state sovereigns under their own legislative
acts.
We urge you to join this lawsuit. Joining the suit
will cost you absolutely nothing. Winning the lawsuit
will protect the rapidly diminishing, and shared, water
resource in the Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Basin
from court-imposed restrictions and rationing. Winning
this suit will also help the Federated Indians of Graton
Rancheria to relocate and remove themselves from a
dangerously overdrafted groundwater basin where they,
too, would face certain water shortages and related
legal misfortunes.
California has more than 167 voluntary AB 3030-style
groundwater management plans and only 22 court-imposed
adjudicated basins. The extreme expense and unpleasantness
associated with adjudication is an obvious deterrence
and the reason why more communities prefer voluntary
plans. FIGR has resisted all attempts to relocate this
project elsewhere. FIGR has also turned a blind eye to
the entire hydrologic history of this groundwater basin
and erroneously believes that sufficient resources remain.
Last February, representatives
of FIGR (members of Friends of Graton Rancheria) met
with the Sonoma County Water Coalition. Acting as legal
spokespeople they characterized FIGR’s federal water right as a “trump card” and
announced that the project fully intends to adjudicate
the basin to ensure its water supply.
Sincerely,
[original signed]
H.R. Downs
