Also at the meeting in Stockton was Westlands Water District chief deputy general manager Jason Peltier. He tried to focus on what Westlands and Delta farmers have in common, although that is kind of a hard case to make. (It might have been easier for him if there had been more farmers in the audience,...Read More
Dear Friends, As you have probably heard by now, HR 1837 has passed the House of Representatives. And while we know that both Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer are opposed to the bill, we have heard that Congressman Jeff Denham is trying to negotiate a compromise with Senator Feinstein. This bill would...Read More
H.R. 1837, the deceptively-named “San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act,” passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives on Leap Day 2012 with a floor vote of 246 to 175. H.R. 1837 was supported by some Valley Democratic congressional representatives and by a small army of California Republican representatives in lock-step behind Devin Nunes, Tom...Read More
The contempt that Jerry Meral and the BDCP planners have for the “public” is embodied in the space they’ve chosen for the monthly BDCP public meetings. The man behind the desk in the lobby of the Pagoda Building in Sacramento has to tell you which elevator button to push to get the correct floor –...Read More
Pile drivers constructing coffer dams for the intake facilities will cause a lot of underwater noise. This will not be good for the fish, affecting early and late portions of some runs. Intake construction also has the “potential for substantial increase in predation” for a small part of the fish population. “Surge towers” will be...Read More
The Delta Stewardship Council has released maps of Delta levees, and the maps basically agree with the Delta Protection Commission’s Economic Sustainability Plan. Out of 840 miles of levees that the DSC mapped, 514 are already at the PL 84-99 standard, leaving 326 miles in need of improvement. The ESP had estimated that 350 miles...Read More
CBS News in Los Angeles used hidden cameras to capture three Metropolitan Water District directors staying at hotels and eating out at ratepayers’ expense, just days after Angelenos’ water rates went up for the 6th year in a row. One director, James Blake, claimed that a 27-mile commute from Fullerton would be too much. Reporter...Read More
