Here is some (but not all) of the media coverage we received yesterday.
California Eco Restore web site:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/
New BDCP Page link:
http://
for more information: California Water Fix:
http://www.californiawaterfix.
New $17 billion Delta tunnels plan with less environmental …
Paul Rogers San Jose Mercury News-3 hours ago
…Environmental groups immediately blasted the plan, arguing that without extensive work to restore fish and wildlife in the Delta, the proposal is little more than a water grab by Southern California and Central Valley agribusiness. And it drew tepid responses from the big water providers that must pay for the tunnels.…Environmentalists said Thursday that without a guaranteed major environmental restoration component, it is very similar to Brown's efforts when he was governor decades ago to build the so-called Peripheral Canal, a huge canal around the eastern edge of the Delta. Those efforts were soundly defeated by voters in a statewide ballot measure in 1982.
"The common definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results," said Robert Wright, an attorney with Friends of the River….
…Brown is counting on major water agencies to pay the $17 billion to build and operate the tunnels. They have said they will raise that money through higher water rates on the public and possibly by raising property taxes.
On Thursday, with few details of Brown's revised plans made public, large water agencies were guarded.
"We will thoroughly review with our board this new proposal," said Jeff Kightlinger, CEO of the Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to 19 million people in Southern California.
Giant tunnels planned for delta 'must move forward,' Brown says
In-Depth-Los Angeles Times-14 hours ago
…“This plan has now shifted from a proposal to protect 56 species and over 100,000 acres of habitat to a straight water grab,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, a delta group and one of the project’s most vocal critics.
Federal fishery agencies have also been skeptical that the habitat work would be beneficial for fish species that are suffering from a multitude of problems, most notably the lack of adequate freshwater flows through the delta.
Changed delta tunnels plan results in less restoration
SFGate-15 hours ago
…In defending the plan from critics like Restore the Delta and Friends of the River — some of whom protested outside the state building in Oakland, where the governor announced the plan at a press-only meeting — Brown said its details were the result of “1 million hours of analysis” by state engineers and scientists.
“This is not just some piece of rhetoric play, like pingpong,” he said. “It’s been circulated, critiqued, read and evaluated. We’ve responded to 15,000 comments. I’m doing what I believe is absolutely necessary to proceed.”
But critics said California water policy should not cater to Big Agriculture, whose motive is profit rather than the health of the state.
Brown revises Delta tunnels plan
By Keith Burbank BAY CITY NEWS 4/30/15 11:21pm
… Despite the effort, members of conservation groups such as Restore the Delta and Food & Water Watch said the new plan abandons habitat restoration and will be building a system that benefits farmers in the Central Valley.
Conner Everts, executive director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance, said: “Show me the restoration.”
CA Scales Back Plans to Restore Delta to Rush Tunnels
By NICK CAHILL Courthouse News Service-13 hours ago
…Opponents lambasted Brown's announcement, from environmental groups to fellow state Democrats.
"You cannot have successful habitat or restore fisheries while draining the Delta of its water," said Restore the Delta executive director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla in a prepared statement. "It's time for Gov. Brown to drop the 19th century tunnels plan, and embrace water technologies that will serve the world we live in now."
"The tunnels will move forward, and the commitment to the health of the Delta has been reduced in large part, and relegated to a separate track," said Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, in a statement….
… "Thousands of comments from individuals have also been suppressed by the Brown administration," said Friends of the River senior counsel Bob Wright. "Since the conservation plan agencies are not airing both sides of the issues-in the traditional American way-Friends of the River is now doing the government's job of informing, as opposed to propagandizing, the public."
Don’t let special interests dictate state water policy
By Peter Gleick Special to The Bee Soapbox 4/30/15
…But all of these delicate, good-faith efforts are in jeopardy, threatened by actions by a few major players with narrow self-interests. This group – some Central Valley agricultural districts, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and some members of Congress – has been meeting for the past year behind closed doors with Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office with little input from other regions in the state, state or federal water policy experts, environmental or community groups, or the rest of the California congressional delegation.
Delta Area Farmers Worried Conservation Plan Will Leave Lasting …
FOX40-10 hours ago
… this is a straight water grab, and the governor has no interest in protecting the Delta” Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla with Restore the Delta said.
War Over California Delta Rekindled As Gov. Jerry Brown Unveils …
CBS Local-10 hours ago
… to unsustainable agriculture down the I-5 corridor for almonds to be shipped to China,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla with Restore The Delta.
Brown defends cuts to wetland restoration associated with twin tunnels
News10.net-19 hours ago
… restoration done while twin tunnels are built around California's freshwater delta. … habitat restoration that will be undertaken and fixes the state's aging water …
California water plan has less money for environmental restoration
AG Week-10 minutes ago
California water plan has less money for environmental restoration … Barbara Barrigan-Parilla, a spokeswoman for Restore the Delta, said: "You can't save the …
Jerry Brown’s revised water tunnels plan adds political problems
Sacramento Bee By David Siders and Phillip Reesedsiders@sacbee.com
4/30/15
OAKLAND – For years, Gov. Jerry Brown used the promise of habitat restoration to broaden the appeal of his plan to build two tunnels to divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the south.
Designating the project as a habitat conservation plan – and securing a 50-year permit for the effort – not only gave water users paying for the project an assurance water deliveries could not easily be changed, but also cast the project as more than a stand-alone conveyance.
The $25 billion project, Brown said in his State of the State address in 2013, was “designed to improve the ecology of the Delta, with almost 100 square miles of habitat restoration.”
…
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, a group opposed to the project, said in a prepared statement that the project “has now shifted from a proposal to protect 56 species, and over 100,000 acres of habitat, to a straight water grab” from the Delta.
Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, said Brown needs to forget the tunnels and move on. “Today’s announcement confirms what I feared in 2009,” she said in a prepared statement. “The commitment to coequal goals in the Delta has been broken. The tunnels will move forward, and the commitment to the health of the Delta has been reduced in large part, and relegated to a separate track.”
Sacramento and their tunnel rat mentality
Manteca Bulletin-8 hours ago
The California Department of Fish and Game Director told the Associated Press … Taking fresh water out of the Delta under such circumstances could create an …
Gov. Brown defends cuts to wetland restoration near tunnels
Fairfield Daily Republic-9 hours ago
… tunnels are built around California's freshwater delta to deliver water to farms … as it pursues building the tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
New direction for tunnels plan
Habitat restoration reduced by 70 percent
By Alex Breitler of The Record
Posted May. 1, 2015 at 12:01 AM
… Environmentalists criticized the announcement immediately, however. They argued that the reduction in the habitat goal validated what they believed all along — that the project was a naked water grab with fancy window dressing.
“They spent nine years and $250 million to create a document that was 27 feet high,” said Bob Wright, an attorney with Sacramento-based Friends of the River. “To say now that it was all wishful thinking … It’s time for everyone to wake up. These people can’t be believed and can’t be trusted.”
… Jeff Michael, an economist at the University of the Pacific who consulted in the past on Delta water issues, said the loss of the long-term assurances should concern those water users.
The majority of the economic benefits they would receive from the tunnels are tied to that guarantee of stable water deliveries for decades to come, he said. The revised project removes those guarantees and therefore removes most of the benefits, he said.
“I have no idea how they can now put an economic study back together that could rationalize the tunnels,” Michael said. “It really raises questions whether they can fly financially.”
California Cuts Habitat Fix for Delta Project
NBC Bay Area-1 minute ago
California officials have dramatically scaled back the habitat restoration … said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta and a critic of …
Brown Defends Shift on Delta Habitat Plan
KQED-25 minutes ago
The revision of the environmental plan calls for restoring 30,000 acres for wetland … said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta and a …
California cuts wetland, wildlife restoration in water plan
Fresno Business Journal-47 minutes ago
The project now calls for restoring 30,000 acres for wetland and wildlife … said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta and a critic of …
Delta group says governor's newest Delta plan is worse
Central Valley Business Times-1 hour ago
A California Delta environmental group is criticizing the state's governor for violating … says Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta.
Solano County representatives oppose Governor's latest water plan
TheReporter.Com-12 hours ago
Government leaders representing Solano County aren't excited about the latest water proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown and what it means for the …
Making sense of water in the Tulare Basin
Visalia Times-Delta-11 hours ago
Water in the Tulare Lake watershed comes from: 1) surface water that … “The Tulare Lake Basin doesn't have normal conditions in the sense of …
Proposal gives Melones to local water districts
By Alex Breitler The Stockton Record Calaveras Enterprise-2 hours ago
U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, wants the federal government to transfer ownership of New Melones Reservoir to local water districts.
That’s the aim of one of two bills introduced by Denham on Wednesday. The other bill would seek to eliminate hungry predators that chomp on endangered fish in the Stanislaus River downstream of the reservoir.
Both bills come amid a dispute over how New Melones should be operated during the drought.
The reservoir is in particularly poor shape, even by California standards. Some farmers and landowners who depend on water stored in New Melones have complained about federal mandates requiring some water to be released for threatened fish. Those water users have accused the feds of mismanaging the system.