After months of talk and speculation, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation today announced plans for a staged implementation of Jerry Brown’s controversial Delta Tunnels project, also known as the California WaterFix. By Dan Bacher In a letter to water agencies, Karla Nemeth, the recently appointed DWR Director, said the […]
The Brown Administration intends to resurrect CA WaterFix as a single tunnel as part of the State Water Project, with discussions beginning at Kern County Water Agency Thursday. Metropolitan Water District’s General Manager Jeff Kightlinger stated at the 9/26/17 Metropolitan Board Workshop on the tunnels that a single tunnel that could extract 6,000 cfs of Sacramento River […]
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted in favor of supporting the CA WaterFix (Delta Tunnels) project today. The vote is an approval by the MWD board to participate in the construction of the tunnels, contribute 26% of funding, and go forth with two joint powers authorities–one for construction, and one for financing. By […]
Restore the Delta gleaned essential findings from the recently released State Auditor Report on the CA WaterFix (Delta Tunnels) and condensed them into a fact sheet. By Restore the Delta Upon review of the Auditor’s 97 page report, Restore the Delta policy analyst Tim Stroshane said: “The State Auditor finds a Department of Water Resources that […]
The Westlands Water District’s Board of Directors rejected Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels project on September 19 because the California WaterFix “is not financially viable,” according to a statement from the district. By Dan Bacher The district also said they cannot support a project that would make water supplies “unaffordable” for Westlands farmers. The powerful agricultural water district’s rejection of […]
A coalition of conservation groups today challenged the legality of proposed bonds that will be used to pay for the construction of the Twin Tunnels project. Also known as California WaterFix, the Delta tunnels would divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California. By Restore the Delta The groups — Friends of the River, […]
Only 1,123 adult winter Chinook salmon, once one of the biggest salmon runs on the Sacramento River and its tributaries, returned to the Sacramento Valley in 2017, according to a report sent to the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). By Dan Bacher “This is the second lowest number of returning adult winter […]
Ohlone leader Corrina Gould of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan and Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu held a press conference at the West Berkeley Shellmound site on Friday, September 8. The two highly respected women leaders announced their mutual alliance to protect California’s indigenous sacred sites and the state’s endangered salmon runs from […]
The Central Basin Water Agency will vote today on Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed multi-billion-dollar Delta Tunnels project, considered by public trust advocates to be the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history By Dan Bacher UPDATE: No vote today after all. YES! Vote will be delayed to 9/25 @CentralBasin. 5 Voted Yes to Delay. […]
This week, Restore the Delta participated in special board meetings and workshops on the Delta Tunnels at key water districts in Southern California, Santa Clara Valley, and in the west San Joaquin Valley. By Restore The Delta We live tweeted every meeting we were at. On Monday, we were at the Central Basin Municipal Water District in southeast […]
A coalition of conservation groups is suing the California Department of Water Resources over its approval of the controversial Delta Tunnels project. “Once again Big Ag in the San Joaquin Valley has come begging for more corporate welfare,” said Adam Keats, a senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety. “Only this time it’s at […]
An open letter from the SEIU to the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors Subject: Oppose California Water Fix/ Tunnels Dear Board of Directors: Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 urges you to oppose the proposal to build massive water tunnels in Northern California, known as the so-called California WaterFix. Our 97,000 members deliver public services in […]
In the latest battle in the California water wars, Restore the Delta (RTD) submitted a formal letter to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California, laying out “various fiscal, environmental, and supply reliability risks of the [California WaterFix/ Delta Tunnels] for not only Southern California, but the entire state.” By Dan Bacher Growing numbers of Southern California ratepayers […]
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, […]
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 […]