Judge Orders Clarity on Key Disputes in Lithium Valley Lawsuit
“If we follow the petitioner’s math, in their brief they note that there’s 25,000 acre-feet set aside for non-agricultural projects,” said Suzanne Varco, representing CTR. “
They say that 5,380 of those acre-feet have already been allocated to a private project. We don’t dispute that, that project’s already got their water allocation. So that leaves 19,620 acre-feet. “They claim that the BHE projects need 13,000 acre-feet, which would leave 6,620. This project only requires 6,500. So even under their analysis, there is enough water for all the projects,” Varco added.
Comité Civico countered citing its own experts, arguing that these calculations failed to reflect the actual water available, particularly given ongoing drought conditions. The county maintained that their water assessments followed established IID protocols, dismissing Comité Civico’s expert testimony as speculative. Judge Jones pointed out that while expert opinions may differ, CEQA requires reliance on substantial evidence from the record, and that “disagreements among experts alone” would not override an EIR’s findings. Both parties now have 10 calendar days to file their clarifying briefs, followed by 5 days for rebuttals before Judge Jones issues his decision on the completeness of the EIR. This decision will not determine the project’s future but will assess whether the EIR satisfies CEQA standards — a ruling that could lead to further appeals.
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EIR could conclude that the project would completely destroy the environment, and they could still build it,” said Jones.
