Friday January 6, 2023
KDRV —
A board member of the Siskiyou County Water Users Association has filed a lawsuit against the secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. The lawsuit claims the secretary is illegally using taxpayer money to fund the historic dam removal project.
“The secretary of natural resources has authority over the implementation of anything that affects wild and scenic rivers. He’s also… in charge of the bond money,” said Anthony Intiso, who filed the lawsuit.
Intiso is personally suing Wade Crowfoot, the secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. Intiso says his primary concern with the removal project is how it’s being funded by the state of California. His lawsuit cites California’s Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, claiming the project funding is illegal expenditure of tax money.
“People in the state government decided they wanted to fund the removal of these four green energy hydroelectric facilities with money from the bond act,” he said. “If you look at the bond act it says nothing about removing facilities, it’s all about supposedly improving.”