Here is the transcription of my 3 minute comment on the Delta Tunnel Draft Environmental Impact Statement that I made in the virtual hearing held by the California Department of Water Resources. By Dan Bacher I’m an independent journalist that’s covered the fish, environmental justice and water issues for 40 years. Different versions of this […]
Days after a fire induced mudslide killed all fish in a 60-mile reach of the Klamath River, ranchers defied state law by diverting flows from the Shasta River, one of the most important Klamath tributaries for imperiled salmon, according to a joint press release from the Karuk and Yurok Tribes. By Dan Bacher “The Shasta […]
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has announced that it will be releasing their Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) early this week for the Delta Conveyance Project, AKA the embattled Delta Tunnel. Documents for federal review of the project will be released later this fall. “Modernizing how California moves water supplies across the Sacramento-San Joaquin […]
Press Release from the California Water impact Water Network and AquAlliance, June 6: Governor Gavin Newsom recently stated he might institute mandatory water restrictions on California ratepayers in response to the catastrophic drought afflicting the state. From one perspective, his declaration seems reasonable: despite an extremely dry winter and dwindling water supplies, water use in the state […]
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has just published their monitoring report on 2021’s spring Chinook salmon run on Butte Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River in Northern California. By Dan Bacher The number of adult spring-run Chinooks that perished before spawning is worse than the preliminary estimate by the CDFW in October 2021, when the CDFW […]
Los Angeles, CA – The Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), the main water wholesaler in Southern California, voted on April 12 to fund the next phase of planning for the controversial Sites Reservoir with $20 million of ratepayer money. By Dan Bacher If built, Sites Reservoir would be located on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, approximately […]
As the record drought in California and the West continues and the Sacramento River watershed already begins to see die-offs of endangered Chinook salmon, Governor Gavin Newsom on March 29 announced that state, federal and local water leaders had reached “broad agreement” on a package of controversial voluntary agreements purported to provide additional water flows and new habitat […]
State Senators Melissa Hurtado and Dave Cortese are not exactly friends of the Delta. Their audacious new bill SB1219 is a complete assault on the Delta and all the work that Restore the Delta has championed over the years. By Dan Bacher This bill would give the State Water Resources Control Board’s authority to the Department […]
Below is Patrick Porgan’s breaking report on how a U.S. Geological Survey Report affirms the catastrophic consequences of climate change and an ARkSTorm, with $725 billion in flood damages, resulting from the flooding of the entire Central Valley and the Delta, out to San Francisco Bay. By Dan Bacher This report is particularly urgent and timely, […]
An action deadline is swiftly approaching, with comments on Valley Water’s draft Pacheco Reservoir Environmental Impact Report (EIR) due this Tuesday, February 15th at 5pm. By Dan Bacher We’ve mentioned this dam proposal before, but as a refresher: It’s Illegal: The proposed Pacheco Dam would put a reservoir inside Henry Coe State Park. This is prohibited under the California […]
On February 1, the corporate agribusiness and water agency proponents of the controversial “More Water Now” initiative announced that they were pulling the initiative from qualifying for the November 2022 ballot due to lack of funds and signatures. By Dan Bacher ”Today the More Water Now campaign announces an end to its efforts to qualify The […]
A coalition of environmental and tribal groups, including Friends of the River, California Native Plant Society, AquAlliance and Save California Salmon, today submitted comments to the Sites Project Authority regarding the controversial Sites Reservoir project, currently proposed for construction in Colusa County on the west side of the Sacramento Valley. By Dan Bacher The comments came in […]
RedGREENandBlue’s top 10 stories of 2021: Steven Donziger beat Chevron in court, so they crucified him. He just won his appeal Michael Mann on “Don’t Look Up”: DO see this film! Earth’s magnetic field broke down 42,000 years ago and caused massive sudden climate change Sharkfest: 10 solutions to overfishing that could save our oceans […]
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Sites Project Authority has announced an extension of the public comment period on the proposed Sites Reservoir project from Jan. 11 to Jan. 28, 2022. By Dan Bacher Sites Reservoir is opposed by California Tribal representatives, environmental justice groups, conservation organizations and fishing groups because the big threat that it poses […]
Sixteen tribal, environmental justice, fishing, and conservation groups on Tuesday announced their strong opposition to the “More Water Now” ballot measure initiative, otherwise known as the “Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022.” By Dan Bacher The initiative, being by pushed by Central Valley agribusiness and water districts to fund an array of new water projects in California, is being circulated for signatures and could potentially be placed on the […]