storytemplate

Land Trust Decision Will Give Rohnert Park Casino Federal Water “Super-right”
Trust decision poses grave threat to Sonoma and Marin county water supplies
SONOMA COUNTY, CA: The federal government’s recent decision to take land into trust for the Rohnert Park casino will give the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR) the ability to assert a federal water “super-right” that will threaten the water supplies of local cities and area residents.
Native American tribes are entitled to “super-rights” over water supplies affecting their reservations. They are allowed under current law, as much water as is necessary for “the original intention of the reservation”, in this case, a 760,000-square-foot-casino with a 12-story hotel tower.
The FIGR’s plans to assert their federal water right shocked members of the Sonoma County Water Coalition, a consortium of Sonoma County water interest groups with over 20,000 members. Bob Rawson, who is a member of the Friends of the FIGR, addressed the coalition February 27, 2008, to present information from the FIGR on water issues, and take back the coalition’s concerns to the FIGR.
Rawson stated that the FIGR intended to assert its federal water right when the casino site was taken into trust, and would not hesitate to exercise its “super water right”; the FIGR would simply commandeer water rights from existing stakeholders. He was adamant that anyone who tried to stop the project on the basis of the lack of water would simply be trumped by the superior rights the tribe enjoys. In a follow-up email to Water Coalition members, Rawson actually referred to this federal water right as the FIGR‘s “trump card”.
Once the FIGR asserts its federal water right, all the cities and the county will be drawn into a protracted legal process that will impact its water supply. The courts or the mediators will decide who is allowed to pump from the groundwater basin and how much annually can be pumped, and tribal water rights are given precedence over all others under a 1908 Supreme Court ruling.
The casino’s environmental impact study has been underway since March of 2004. In light of Mr. Rawson’s remarks, the recent decision to take the casino site into trust before the release of the final Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and the approval of the FIGR’s contract management with Station Casinos makes sense from the perspective of the casino developers. It will allow the FIGR to assert its federal water right in advance of the release of the EIS, thus making the water element in the EIS easy: the casino will be able to take as much water as it wants.
“East Bay MUD has already instituted water rationing, and the water situation at North Bay reservoirs is shaky because of the need to release water for salmon migrations,” said Pastor Chip Worthington of Stop the Casino 101 Coalition. “A federal water right means that Sonoma and Marin residents may not be able to take showers or flush their toilets, all for the benefit of selfish Las Vegas interests who want to make money off our misery.”
“And of course,” he added, “we‘ll all be asked to conserve water–all but the casino, which won‘t be subject to state or local regulations.”
The aquifer that would serve the casino is severely over-pumped, and as a result, the casino site and the surrounding area is sinking at the rate of ½ inch per year. More over-pumping could result in the collapse of the aquifer (see below).
Shortly after the February meeting of the Sonoma Water Coalition, Assistant Secretary-BIA Carl Artman was in the Bay Area. It was Artman who, on April 18, approved both the FIGR’s trust application and one of Station Casinos, other tribal casino projects, the Mechoopda, in Chino.
Additional Information:
More information on the sinking of the casino site and Rohnert Park can be found at “Rohnert Park is Sinking” http://www.owlfoundation.net/RP_is-Sinking.html
Information on the InSAR satellite mapping used to detect the land subsidence in Rohnert Park can be found at
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-051-00/pdf/fs-051-00.pdf (PDF format)
“Land subsidence occurs when large amounts of ground water have been withdrawn from certain types of rocks, such as fine-grained sediments as are found in the casino site area.The rock compacts because the water is partly responsible for holding the ground up. When the water is withdrawn, the rocks falls in on itself. It can occur over large areas rather than in a small spot, like a sinkhole. That doesn’t mean that subsidence is not a big event -- states like California, Texas, and Florida have suffered damage to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars over the years.
“Excessive ground-water pumping…. is the single largest cause of subsidence. Excessive pumping of such aquifer systems has resulted in permanent subsidence and related ground failures. In some systems, when large amounts of water are pumped, the subsoil compacts, thus reducing in size and number the open pore spaces in the soil the previously held water. This can result in a permanent reduction in the total storage capacity of the aquifer system.” (Source: USGS web site)
Marin County receives approximately 9% of its water from Sonoma County.
If you have any questions contact:
Stop The Casino 101
Telephone: 707-793-2355
Email:info@stopthecasino101.com
For the TRUTH about Sonoma County’s casinos, please visit our web site at http://www.stopthecasino101.com
Editor’s Note:
This is one reason why it is so important that voters pay attention, become educated and not rely on who ever is running for or already in office to take care of these issues for us. It is important to stay aware of what is going on and what officials are doing. Originally this tribe was given its recognition by the Federal Government because it was stated they would not do a casino. That portion of the bill was removed after the House of Representatives voted to give this tribe federal recognition, thus the senate voted on a different version. This will be the closest casino to the metropolitian area of San Francisco. This is a major issue that will become bigger if not stopped. As of press time I am not sure how it can be stopped, but please contact the organization listed above, get informed and take action.