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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22-SEPTEMBER 28, 2025

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VOL. 11,

IEUA to appeal court ruling against Chino Basin Program

Elon Musk has criticized environmental regulations. His companies have been accused of sidestepping them.

By Joe Taglieri

By Taylor Kate Brown for ProPublica

joet@beaconmedianews.com

This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

he Inland Empire Utilities Agency board has authorized an appeal to a recent court decision that blocked a proposed program to send water from the Chino Basin to Northern California, the organization’s general manager said Friday. The city of Ontario sued to block the proposed Chino Basin Program, or CPB, and on Sept. 4 San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez ruled that several environmental impact assessments did not comply with state law. According to the San Bernardino Superior Court’s Sept. 4 ruling, the IEUA in May 2022 violated the California Environmental Quality Act. The court found that the agency: -- “‘piecemealed’ the evaluation of the effects of the CBP by failing to evaluate the effects of the CBP and the Feather River Exchange outside of the Chino Basin”; -- “Used an unstable and inconsistent project description that evaluates the effects of a project life of 25 years, but then justifies the CBP based on purported water supply benefits over 50 years”; and -- “Adopted a biased and determinative project objective to justify a refusal to evaluate reasonable alternatives to the CBP.” The IEUA must now set aside its certification of the Chino Basin environmental impact report and the agency’s other CPB approvals. “This is a major victory for the City of Ontario and every community in the Chino Basin that depends on a secure, local water supply,” Ontario City Councilwoman Debra Porada said in a statement. “IEUA tried

Chinook salmon could benefit from water sourced from the Chino Basin under a proposed plan by the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. | Photo courtesy of the Chino Basin Program

to push through a massive water deal that sent our water elsewhere without telling the full story of the adverse environmental and water supply effects of the CBP or evaluating reasonable alternatives to sending a reliable local water supply to Northern California. The court saw through it. We fought back because our future depends on protecting the resources our residents already paid for and rely on.” Alvarez denied several of the city’s claims — that the utility allegedly provided misleading information about the amount of water in annual Santa Ana River flows, the CBP failed to evaluate an “Ontario Alternative” project plan and the CBP provided a misleading evaluation of its effects on the water supply of Chino Basin communities, according to court documents. “IEUA is pleased that the major technical aspects of the program were upheld

and is appreciative of the court denying several claims raised by the city of Ontario,” General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh said in a statement Friday. “The court did also require that a few areas of the CBP EIR be further examined and/or refined. “While the matter now shifts to the Court of Appeal for review, it is noteworthy that the trial court’s ruling affirmed the report’s findings on the key technical program elements, including the CBP’s effects on local water supplies and Santa Ana River flows,” Deshmukh said. “This ruling reinforces that the CBP is a beneficial program for our community and has a positive impact on local supply reliability.” Deshmukh addressed what he called “inaccurate statements that have been shared by the city of Ontario regarding key aspects of the

program. The city’s press commentary claiming that the CBP poses a risk to local water supplies is a misrepresentation unsupported by the court’s ruling. In fact, the trial court’s ruling states the opposite and affirms the CBP’s analysis on local water supply,” the IEUA chief said. “First, the CBP develops a new local water supply by maximizing recycled water,” he continued. “Currently, our region has recycled water supplies that are sent down the Santa Ana River because they are unable to be treated and used due to existing infrastructure and regulatory limitations. The CBP is a series of critical infrastructure projects designed to maximize water supply reliability while ensuring full compliance with recycled water and wastewater permit requirements.” Deshmukh also said the

See Chino Basin Program Page 02

efore and after the 2024 election, Elon Musk made it clear he disliked environmental regulations and considered them a barrier to innovation, especially given the quick timelines his companies prefer to operate on. The billionaire spent more than $250 million to help elect President Donald Trump and, in the first months of Trump’s second term, Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency, making cuts to the federal bureaucracy and regulatory staff, including environmental agencies, before a dramatic falling out with the president. Musk-controlled companies have also developed influence in Texas, a state already known for a lighter touch on environmental regulation. In addition to his lobbyists’ successful track record in the Texas Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott cited Musk as inspiration for the state creating its own DOGE-style office. A new investigation from ProPublica, the Texas Newsroom, the Houston Chronicle and the Texas Tribune has found Musk and a Houston-area member of Congress have pushed Texas and local officials to hire Musk’s Boring Co. for a $760 million flood control project in the city. Reporters Lauren McGaughy and Yilun Cheng found that Rep. Wesley Hunt helped pitch Boring’s involvement even though the company builds tunnels narrower than the ones

extensively studied by flood control experts for the project. An engineering expert warned that the volume of the tunnels the company is proposing may not be sufficient during a flood emergency. Another said that the proposed tunnels, which would be built at shallow depths, could interfere with existing utility lines and bridge foundations. Boring has described its project in pitches to lawmakers as an “innovative and cost-effective solution.” But experts and some local officials question whether Boring should be awarded the contract. One Democratic county commissioner told the newsrooms that Musk shouldn’t be involved in the Houston project, arguing he has shown “blatant disregard for democratic institutions and environmental protections.” Hunt, Musk and representatives from Boring did not respond to the newsrooms’ request for comment before publication of the Aug. 28 story. After publication, Hunt and Musk defended the project on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. Musk claimed that the tunnels would cost less than alternatives and that additional tunnels could increase flow, but he provided no further details. Officials in Houston haven’t decided on a contractor for the tunneling project yet, and it remains to be seen which environmen-

See Environmental regulations Page 03