We've heard that one before

Eric Caine, Modesto Bee, California, 6 April 2001

Recent news that the Diablo Grande resort project is at last out from under legal restraints (The Bee, March 9) is at best premature. Only the latest in a decadelong series of overly optimistic announcements that construction of the 5,000-home development is just months away, this most recent report overlooks some crucial facts.

First and foremost, even as supporters were touting the long-awaited beginning of construction, Diablo Grande attorneys awaited a judge's decision about whether or not the project has yet again failed to meet the standards of the California Environmental Quality Act, which is the ruling guideline for development in the state of California.

Based on past history, Diablo Grande supporters have little reason to believe the project will receive the go-ahead from the Fresno appellate court where the case will be decided. After all, Diablo Grande attorneys have never yet won in the appellate court, despite several attempts.

The second big problem with the Big Devil is the same problem it has always had - water. Close readers of the decadelong Diablo Grande development epic will remember the fable of the Berrenda Mesa water transfer, a scenario in which Diablo Grande was to receive 8,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Berrenda Mesa Water District in Kern County.

The Berrenda Mesa story was repeated so often it took on the form of a mantra, and Diablo Grande supporters believed in it so fervently they never bothered to check it out, which is too bad, because it turned out that the Berrenda Mesa contract was really a fiction that hadn't been validated by the proper authorities.

Now, Diablo Grande says it has yet another water source. The current plan calls for diverting water from the California Aqueduct, and construction on the diversionary canal has already begun.

The only problem with this new solution is that it fits all too neatly into the same scheme as the Berrenda Mesa debacle, because the new source of water still must be reviewed and approved under the guidelines of the California Environmental Quality Act. Judging from past history, the review process will be lengthy, and Diablo Grande will have failed to follow the proper planning procedures under CEQA. If that proves to be the case, Diablo Grande will remain what it's always been, a super-charged economic engine with no gas.

Furthermore, Diablo Grande's new water supply comes from a source that falls under the authority of the Monterey Agreement, an authority that itself has been clouded by a recent legal decision that to all appearances renders the Monterey Agreement null and void.

While it's just possible that Diablo Grande has finally turned the corner and solved its water woes, past history suggests one lesson should have been learned by now from the long saga of the Big Devil, and that lesson couldn't be more clear: Don't bet on Diablo Grande.