New location for proposed
casino as dangerous as old location.
Nothing has changed. The
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and Station Casinos
of Nevada abandoned plans for a massive casino-hotel
complex near Wilford Road and Stony Point due to insurmountable
environmental problems, not the least of which is diminishing
groundwater supplies. The Wilford Avenue site, immediately
adjacent to Rohnert Park, is well within the now-infamous
"cone of depression", a groundwater "hole" created
by Rohnert Park's over pumping.
But the new site, is also
within the cone of depression.

The locations marked in
red are only approximations. The contour lines in the
above graphic are from a 1987 Department of Water Resources
publication. The lines mapped the huge cone of depression
under Rohnert Park that was discovered in 1983. The
blue line is an arbitrary area that includes SSU, Rohnert
Park, Cotati and large swaths of unincorporated Penngrove.
This study, performed by PES Environmental in 1999, established
groundwater overdraft, in some places of more than 150
feet below normal.
O.W.L. Submitted four documents
at the October 19, 2005 hearings in Rohnert Park. You
can download them here:
Letter from O.W.L. asking
questions regarding the environmental impacts of the
proposed casino.
PDF 342KB
A copy of the current legal
complaint against Rohnert Park under SB 610.
PDF
276KB
A fascinating letter from
the Marin Municipal Water District to the Sonoma County
Water Agency General Manager demanding answers to some
embarassing question.
PDF 228KB
A White Paper generated
by Weston Benshoof, O.W.L.'s attorneys, on the risks
of putting a federal water right in a groundwater basin
known to be in overdraft.
PDF 276KB
The Santa Rosa Plain
Groundwater Basin

Click on the image
to zoom to the Basin itself