While Governor Jerry Brown poses as the “resistance to Trump” and vows that he will “defend science” against the Trump administration, the Brown administration today revealed the hollowness of that vow as it approved flawed environmental documents that clear the path for the construction of the Delta Tunnels. By Dan Bacher During a press conference call […]
President Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C., but it appears that he has instead exchanged the swamp alligators with one horrendous “Creature from the Black Lagoon” after another in his administration. By Dan Bacher In the latest Trump regime scandal, a prominent watchdog group called on the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colombia to […]
California’s embattled Department of Water Resources (DWR) got a new director this week: Governor Jerry Brown appointed Grant Davis, 54, of Petaluma to head the agency, reeling from intense international and national media scrutiny of its mishandling of the Oroville Dam spillway crisis. By Dan Bacher DWR is also the lead state agency in the collaborative effort […]
The bill to take control of California’s water away from California has passed the House. HR 23, the “Gaining Responsibility on Water Act of 2017,” aka the GROW water bill, passed on a near-party-line vote. By Jeremy Bloom “This will provide more water … allow more of that water to come through the Valley where […]
California Governor Jerry Brown and Senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein have voiced their opposition to HR 23, the “Gaining Responsibility on Water Act of 2017,” aka the GROW water bill, that is supported by San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests. By Dan Bacher This bill is strongly opposed by California Indian Tribes, fishing groups and conservation […]
One of the most enduring myths of California water politics is that the Delta Tunnels promoted by the Jerry Brown and Donald Trump administrations are designed to divert Northern California water to “fill swimming pools” of “wealthy water wasters” in Southern California. By Dan Bacher One of the most enduring myths of California water politics is that the Delta […]
As I predicted on election night, the President Donald Trump and Governor Jerry Brown administrations have apparently made a deal to fast-track Brown’s legacy project, the Delta Tunnels, considered by opponents to be the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history. By Dan Bacher The Trump released a no-jeopardy finding on the biological […]
Does Jerry Brown’s California Waterfix/Delta Tunnels plan comply with all environmental laws? Or are his pet scientists whitewashing (or greenwashing) the real – potentially devastating – effects that the plan will have on fish, the rivers they live in, and the people who depend on them? By Dan Bacher As state agencies push for approval […]
In 2007, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revived a plan that big agriculture loved – to build a peripheral canal or tunnels around or under the Sacramento Delta. Since then, a coalition of fishermen, Tribal leaders, conservationists, environmental justice advocates and Delta residents have been fighting to stop this Delta tunnels plan pushed by corporate agribusiness interests and Southern California water agencies. Now, […]
“Before confirming David Bernhardt as Deputy Secretary of Interior… it is critical to understand whether federal laws were broken, twisted or bent while Mr. Bernhardt was Solicitor and again while employed by Westlands. Limited disclosures to date reveal that millions of taxpayer dollars have gone to benefit Westlands that should have been deposited in the Federal […]
Below is my three-minute testimony before the Delta Stewardship Council in Sacramento yesterday on the Delta Tunnels plan. I was the last one to make public comment at the meeting. Unfortunately, many residents of the South Delta community of Discovery Bay were unable to speak during the public comment period because their chartered bus had to leave at […]
California is portrayed as the green leader, but the reality is much different. The state has some good environmental laws that protect our rivers, lakes, streams and ocean waters, but they’re enforced very poorly. These laws includes the California Endangered Species Act, California Environmental Water Quality Act, California Coastal Act, Marine Life Protection Act and […]
If present trends continue, almost half of California’s native salmon, steelhead and trout are likely be extinct in the next 50 years — and 70 percent of these iconic fish will be gone in one hundred years. By Dan Bacher That was the alarming news unveiled by scientists and conservation group leaders in a press teleconference announcing the findings of a new […]
After meeting with California Governor Jerry Brown on April 13, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said he “appreciated the positive and productive conversation” with Brown about “public lands, water infrastructure and projects throughout California” that are managed by the Department of Interior. By Dan Bacher One of the topics they talked about was Governor Brown’s controversial plan to […]
At a time when local, national and international mainstream media are focusing on the Oroville Dam crisis, it’s important for reporters to dig deeper and understand the context that the emergency, which spurred the evacuation of over 188,000 people in Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties, occurs within. One of the least discussed issues in California environmental […]