In a decision that could delay or complicate Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to build two huge tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a Superior Court judge ruled Friday that a comprehensive management plan for the estuary is no longer valid.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny ruled that the entire Delta Plan must be “set aside” until deficiencies he noted in an earlier ruling are fixed. State officials say they plan to appeal.
The ruling is significant for a couple of key reasons. For one, in order for the Brown administration to build the tunnels, state officials will have to prove that the project complies with the recommendations laid out in the Delta Plan for managing land use and water exports in the fragile estuary. With the plan in flux and an appeals process underway, the already lengthy approval process for the tunnels could face significant delays.
