We finally have an interim something from the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, although it isn’t what the steering committee intended to have at this point: a quick fix for the Delta ecosystem that would let them get all their exports back. Westlands has thrown a fit and pulled out of the process; the state is...Read More

The National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay-Delta invited the public to an open session in San Francisco (not the most convenient location for Delta folks) week before last. Members of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Steering Committee, including Jason Peltier  of the Westlands Water District, made...Read More

These are probably not words the BDCP Steering Committee ever wanted to have to use. But they came up time and again when the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) met last week. The DSC got an update on the BDCP and considered how to incorporate BDCP material into the Delta Plan – or not. Chair Phil...Read More

Direction to the DSC by the Legislature with respect to developing the Delta Plan includes managing not just the Delta’s water, but the water resources of the whole state (Section 85020(a)). So the DSC’s deliberations are extending well beyond water use in the Delta. During discussion of the Agriculture White Paper introduced at the meeting,...Read More

Last month we reported that Fitch Ratings, a global agency that evaluates and rates agencies that issue bonds, had given the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority an A rating on revenue bonds issued in 2008. The rating was based on the financial strength of Westlands Water District.  That, in turn, was based on Westlands...Read More

We know you’ve noticed that it has been raining.  One Delta business owner observed that with the Mokelumne River nearing flood stage, the state could move toward the “preferred alternative” central canal called for in the CalFed 2000 documents by opening some dams to put more water into the river, thereby flooding the McCormack Williamson...Read More

Panel calls Delta recovery plan woefully incomplete Questions remain despite four years, $140 million in research on estuary… Mike Taugher Contra Costa Times Read Online SAN FRANCISCO — A national panel of experts appeared frustrated Wednesday by gaping holes in a developing master plan for the Delta despite four years and $140 million in studies....Read More

Go With The Flow Zeke GraderPacif Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, Executive DirectorSF Gate, Read Online A few years ago, a fresh effort to deal with the state’s perennial water problem was announced. Candidly, it hardly infused salmon fishermen and seafood consumers with starry-eyed optimism. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan was hailed by the Schwarzenegger...Read More

California’s wealthiest growers, poorest workers, and the water between them… By John GiblerEarth Island JournalRead Online A newcomer arriving into California’s San Joaquin Valley – the most lucrative and industrialized agricultural region in the United States – might think that the entire place is burning. On the horizon in all directions the brown hue of...Read More