Jenny Espino

Record Searchlight

The city of Redding’s top attorney on Friday denied the Record Searchlight’s request to disclose Sacramento River flood maps it has received from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, citing a federal case’s argument that their details could be used for terror attacks.

Additionally, City Attorney Barry DeWalt said records that are exempt under federal law also are exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act.

“I’ve concluded my research on the subject of whether the BOR inundation maps are disclosable. I conclude they are not,” DeWalt said in an email.

He did not immediately return a call for additional comment.

The newspaper last Friday asked for the release of the documents from the city and from the bureau under the Freedom of Information Act. The records requests were filed after the bureau denied Shasta County homeowner Greg Boehle copies of maps showing the river elevations corresponding with releases at Keswick and Shasta dams.

The federal government in recent years has made evacuation and emergency-response plans for major dams off-limit information for the public, for fear details could be exploited for terror attacks or hacking, The Associated Press has reported.

In the wake of Oroville Dam’s damaged spillway, California officials, too, have been citing the same reason to decline the release of the emergency plan for the dam.

“Terrorism doesn’t seem to be an issue in this case,” said Nikki Moore, an attorney with the California Newspaper Publishers Association, arguing that the city’s response is insufficient under the state’s public records law.

At issue is that the city’s response is relying on a 2003 federal district court case out of Utah in which Living Rivers, an environmental nonprofit that advocates for the Colorado River, sued the bureau for release of inundation maps.

California agencies are held to the state’s law in the release of records, and a federal case from Utah is not enough to refuse disclosure under the state’s Government Code cited by DeWalt, Moore said.

“They city is required to respond to the CPRA request under California law to explain why the city is permitted not to disclose,” Moore said.

DeWalt relies on Government Code 6254, which states disclosure is not required for records exempted or prohibited in accordance with federal or state law.