Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Alex Breitler, Stockton
Record
Somewhere in her rural home on
Roberts Island, Delta activist Rogene Reynolds keeps a storage bin filled with
mementoes from decades past.
But they're not cherished family
photos or letters.
Reynolds' keepsakes include
dog-eared reports by water wonks who have long since retired, and maps of
California's immense water distribution system.
Coalition response... What should stun reporters and the public is that opponents of the Bay
Delta Conservation Plan have been able to get away with distributing misleading
information about California's water supply, water rights and the goal of the
proposed twin tunnels. Why does Tom Zuckerman keep telling people that the BDCP
doesn't produce any new water? Because he knows that most people don't realize
that the project is simply trying to restore the delivery of water to people
south of the Delta that they already have a legal right to use. No one is "stealing
the water" and he knows it.
Fisheries
From: Peter Moyle, California
Water Blog
The primary goal of the federal
Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to shorten the government's list of
"endangered" and "threatened" species. The American
Peregrine falcon, the brown pelican, the eastern Steller sea lion and
California populations of the gray whale are among the iconic creatures that
have recovered to large populations and have been "delisted," thanks
to the strong conservation measures afforded under the 40-year-old law.
But there is another, less
congratulatory way species have made it off the lists: new and better
information becomes available showing a species is no longer or never was in
danger of extinction.
Salton Sea
From: Tony Perry, L.A. Times
With an ominous deadline
approaching, two feuding Imperial Valley agencies have put aside their
differences and developed a plan they hope can save the ailing Salton Sea, the
state's largest body of water and often considered its most vexing
environmental problem.
The Imperial Irrigation District
and the Imperial County Board of Supervisors have agreed to push for additional
geothermal energy exploration on the eastern edge of the sea.
Reservoirs
From: Thaddeus Miller, Merced Sun-Star
From: J.N. Sbranti, Modesto Bee
Water levels appear frighteningly
low at the San Luis Reservoir, but water officials assure that is relatively
normal this time of year.
In fact, government researchers
have just completed a study about expanding the reservoir, which they say would
increase California's water storage capacity and improve the reliability of
water supplied by Central Valley Project canals.
Water Supply
From: Staff, Redding
Record-Searchlight
Last week's water-bond hearing
brought a much-needed political focus on the link between up-country forests
and the water supplies of those downstream - but even Assemblyman Brian Dahle,
who'll grab any opportunity to push the issue, doesn't really think a state
bond is the way to pay to thin and tend forests.
So what's the better way? How
about we bill the people using the water for the work needed to restore
watersheds? Get Angelenos to pay for maintain the North State forests that are
the source of their clean water.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento
Bee
The giant Delta water-diversion
tunnels proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown need $1.2 billion more spent on planning
and design before construction starts or is even assured.
The additional planning costs,
which come on top of $240 million already spent, first came to light at a board
meeting of the Westlands Water District late last month. The Sacramento Bee
confirmed this additional planning cost in recent interviews with the
California Department of Water Resources, which is leading the project, and
several of the water agencies that are responsible for the bills.
From: Mark Gold, L.A. Observed
Mark the calendar. This week will
go down as a crucial week in California's water history. The draft Bay Delta
Conservation Plan (BDCP) and associated Environmental Impact
Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) was filed with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency on Friday and the public comment period begins
this week. So if you're in the mood for reading over 10,000 pages on the
state's attempt to fix the Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and
provide farmers and urban users--including Angelenos--with a more reliable
water supply for the future, happy holidays to you!
From: Tib Belza, NCWA Blog
With the state and federal
agencies releasing the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) this week, the
leaders in the North State are unified in our commitment to statewide water
solutions that protect the economy, environment and quality of life in Northern
California. The North State Water Alliance this week continues our call for the
Governor to develop an innovative and comprehensive statewide water plan. This
plan must not exclusively focus on new infrastructure in the Bay-Delta and
related restoration actions, however much as those elements may be needed, but
must also meet the Legislature's overarching goal of providing a more reliable
water supply for all of California.
From: Amy Quinton, Capital
Public Radio
The BDCP proposes to restore the
ecology of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and build two tunnels to carry
water from the Delta to central and southern California.
The release of what's called the
Environmental Impact Report is one of the biggest steps in what's been a
multi-year planning process.
It marks the beginning of the
formal public review of the plan.
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