In case you missed it… The Sacramento Bee Viewpoints: Calls for new storage ignore need for reforms of how we use water By John A. Lawrence Special to The Bee Originally Published Thursday, Jun. 20, 2013 There are no politics like water politics. For Westerners, and Californians in particular, no issue excites passions, fuels regionalism...Read More

Dear Restore the Delta Friends, The California Legislature is beginning the process to craft a new water bond. We are asking all our members to call and/or write Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and tell him: We are calling on you to protect the Sacramento River and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta estuary. Therefore,...Read More

Media Advisory for Monday, June 17, 2013                 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com Twitter: @shopcraft Statewide Coalition of Fishing, Wildlife, Farming Community Advocates Sues to Halt Delta Plan, Water Export Tunnels “Arbitrary, Destructive” State Action Violates Delta Reform Act and CEQA; Lawsuit Aims to “Set Aside” State Plan, Require Study of Alternatives   SAN FRANCISCO, CA...Read More

  Media Advisory for Monday, June 17, 2013 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com Twitter: @shopcraft Fishing, Environmental, Farming Advocates to Sue to Halt Delta Plan, Water Export Tunnels San Francisco, CA – A statewide group of fishing, environmental and farming groups will announce the filing of a lawsuit to stop the Delta Plan, which lays...Read More

In case you missed it… Valley Economy Changing the Baseline: The Biggest Problem in the New BDCP Economic Rationalization of the Tunnels By Dr. Jeffrey Michael Originally published Tuesday, June 11th Both environmental assessments and economic assessments of proposed major infrastructure critically depend on a baseline or no-action scenario.  This scenario defines the conditions that are expected if the project is not...Read More

If you didn’t know anything about BDCP, you wouldn’t get the real story from the plan’s website.  The page “About the BDCP” will tell you that “The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is being prepared by a group of local water agencies, environmental and conservation organizations, state and federal agencies, and other interest groups.” What do...Read More

Friends of the River (FOR) has sent a comment letter to officers and staff of federal agencies – the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) – alerting them to “foundational violations of law and fundamental analytical deficiencies in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP)...Read More

Restore the Delta has been saying since last summer that the total cost of the Peripheral Tunnels/BDCP would be close to $55 billion, not the $14 billion BDCP kept talking about. Here, from the BDCP’s own documents, are supporting details of projected costs for the 50 years of the permit period: Construction – $14.5 billion...Read More

DWR has been holding Contract Extension Negotiation Sessions with the State Water Project Contractors.  Meeting summaries are posted for May 1 and May 15, but by May 29 things seem to have been breaking down.  Now the session scheduled for June 12 has been cancelled.  Another is tentatively scheduled for June 26. DWR and the...Read More

As we’ve seen lately with collapsing bridges, it’s one thing to build “visionary” infrastructure. It’s another thing to operate and maintain it for all the decades of its planned life. Compromised SWP operations could be a really BIG elephant in a room already full of pachyderms. In January of 2011, the California Water Commission (CWC)...Read More