Federal Judge Oliver Wanger, on whose every word we have hung, fired one last salvo before stepping down from the bench of the Eastern District of California this week.  The occasion was a hearing on the federal government’s request that Wanger hold off on a ruling he made involving efforts to push encroaching salt water...Read More

We made it clear last week that we think Secretary Salazar got just about everything about the Delta wrong in his remarks at the Commonwealth Club on September 19.  (We didn’t comment about his remarks on the Klamath River settlement or the San Joaquin River Restoration Program except to note that it is funny for...Read More

The California Water Commission met in an all-day session on September 21, with the agenda dominated by preliminary hearings of evidence for resolutions of necessity for eminent domain.  (They’re thinking about thinking about acquiring property.) The meeting started at 9 a.m., but it was 2:30 before the Commission got around to considering the 28 parcels. ...Read More

Tom Keeling, representing a number of Delta landowners, explained to the commission how the whole process of gathering data got to this point. A judge has told DWR that they can’t go onto people’s property to do geotechnical investigations (mostly test borings) with just a temporary entry permit (TEP) because the investigations they requested are...Read More

One landowner reported receiving four different proposals from DWR, each less invasive than the one before.  Some people were waiting for funding from the state for an independent appraisal, which is required by law. One landowner said that DWR had scheduled a visit to the property then not shown up. Landowners suggested there was often...Read More

In considering a resolution of necessity, the Commission must find that The public interest and necessity require the proposed project. The proposed project is planned or located in the manner that will be most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury. The property described in the resolution is necessary for the...Read More

On September 19, in morning remarks (read here) to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar tied Delta conveyance to the Administration’s jobs plan (which is of course also tied to the 2012 presidential election). “In Washington, Congress needs to pass the American Jobs Act and put people back to work right...Read More

While Salazar was speaking in San Francisco to a select group of people who could afford the time to be there, the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) was holding a workshop in Sacramento on the Economic Sustainability Plan & Delta as an Evolving Place. The DSC is holding workshops on different Delta topics, presumably to allow...Read More

The DSC expressed an interest in hearing what it could do to in the next five years about agriculture, recreation, natural resources, risk reduction, and anything else anyone wanted to mention. Those speaking on behalf of the Delta included Melinda Terry of the North Delta Water Agency; Pete Kutras representing the Delta Counties Coalition; Katie...Read More

A representative of the State Water Contractors suggested growing tules to recreate peat on some Delta islands and getting credit for carbon sequestration.  It was noted that tules aren’t an ag commodity and that there is still no market for carbon sequestration.  But DWR could try it on their land. The water contractors see a...Read More