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Suit looming to cut off water to El Dorado County casino
By Cathy Locke - clocke@sacbee.com
Last Updated 12:53 pm PDT Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The El Dorado Irrigation District announced that it has been informed by attorneys for Voices for Rural Living that the citizens group would file a lawsuit asking the court to nullify the district's agreement with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians to expand its existing water service to the Red Hawk Casino.
The district board in May approved an agreement with the tribe to supply up to 135,000 gallons of water per day for the 270,000-square-foot casino, as well as homes and other facilities on the Shingle Springs Rancheria.
The board in 2002 rejected the tribe's request citing restrictions imposed by the El Dorado Local Agency Formation Commission in 1989, when the rancheria annexed to the district, limiting water service to 40 residences, a community building and garden plots.
The agreement in May followed an opinion by the U.S. Department of the Interior Solicitor General's Office, which questioned the validity of LAFCO's restrictions. The opinion indicated that if LAFCO's intent was to regulate use of the tribe's land, a court likely would find that the restrictions would be pre-empted by federal law.
LAFCO officials reported late last month, however, that recent research indicated that neither the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians nor the Bureau of Indian Affairs signed off on the annexation after LAFCO approved it 20 years ago, suggesting that the annexation may have been invalid since its inception.
District officials said in a news release that documents they received last week indicate that Voice for Rural Living intended to file suit in El Dorado Superior Court accusing the district of failing to comply with provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act before approving the agreement with the tribe; failing to evaluate the agreement's consistence with the El Dorado County General Plan, and failing to obey Local Agency Formation Commission law.
The lawsuit asked the court to order the district to set aside its approval of the agreement, declare that agreement is unlawful, and to issue a temporary restraining order, stay order, and preliminary and final injunctions to prevent the district from following through on the agreement.
District officials said that unless they hear from the court, they plan to honor the agreement.
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