A new attorney, Chuck DuMars, has come to town to give advice on the Quantification Settlement Agreement. In the beginning, he worked for the farmers and filed a brief in the Court of Appeal arguing that the QSA would destroy the agricultural economy and dry up the Salton Sea. He was right.
Then John Pierre Menvielle recommended IID hire DuMars, and he seems to have changed his tune. Today, he admits the QSA is bad but has a “Plan B” under which IID transfers even more water faster in return for getting money that will be used to “fix” the sea. Does anyone really believe that transferring more water away from the sea faster will somehow reduce air pollution or that IID can fix a problem that the state pegged at $9 billion?
Any lawyer is probably better than the ones who recommended the original QSA where the state “agreed” to restore the sea in return for your water. One judge said those agreements were unconstitutional, and the second said they were legal but unenforceable. The result is the same: your water goes to the coast and you are left with nothing but unhealthful air and an uncertain economic future.
IID has now suggested that DuMars’ contract be increased to provide advice on Plan B’s air impacts. As taxpayers, you already pay the county Air Pollution Control District (who probably knows a bit more about local air issues than DuMars) to do just that. The district has sued to overturn the QSA, because it violates the Clean Air Act. Insanely, IID is spending your money defending against that lawsuit. So, you are paying two lawyers who are fighting each other, and now you are about to pay a third.
I’d like to recommend Plan C — keep your water. Since IID was bamboozled into a bad deal, they should rescind the QSA claiming mutual mistake. Who on the IID board wasn’t mistaken about the state funding obligation in 2003? Maybe Mr. DuMars can provide some much needed legal advice about how IID can get out of the deal, and then sue the attorneys who made such a mess. The Valley’s water can and should be beneficially used here for renewable energy development, agriculture, urban growth and mitigating Salton Sea dust.
Plan C — now there’s some legal advice that IID should at long last follow and it’s free.
Then John Pierre Menvielle recommended IID hire DuMars, and he seems to have changed his tune. Today, he admits the QSA is bad but has a “Plan B” under which IID transfers even more water faster in return for getting money that will be used to “fix” the sea. Does anyone really believe that transferring more water away from the sea faster will somehow reduce air pollution or that IID can fix a problem that the state pegged at $9 billion?
Any lawyer is probably better than the ones who recommended the original QSA where the state “agreed” to restore the sea in return for your water. One judge said those agreements were unconstitutional, and the second said they were legal but unenforceable. The result is the same: your water goes to the coast and you are left with nothing but unhealthful air and an uncertain economic future.
IID has now suggested that DuMars’ contract be increased to provide advice on Plan B’s air impacts. As taxpayers, you already pay the county Air Pollution Control District (who probably knows a bit more about local air issues than DuMars) to do just that. The district has sued to overturn the QSA, because it violates the Clean Air Act. Insanely, IID is spending your money defending against that lawsuit. So, you are paying two lawyers who are fighting each other, and now you are about to pay a third.
I’d like to recommend Plan C — keep your water. Since IID was bamboozled into a bad deal, they should rescind the QSA claiming mutual mistake. Who on the IID board wasn’t mistaken about the state funding obligation in 2003? Maybe Mr. DuMars can provide some much needed legal advice about how IID can get out of the deal, and then sue the attorneys who made such a mess. The Valley’s water can and should be beneficially used here for renewable energy development, agriculture, urban growth and mitigating Salton Sea dust.
Plan C — now there’s some legal advice that IID should at long last follow and it’s free.
