For Immediate Release: 1/4/17
Contact: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org
Stockton, CA – Today, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell issued a Secretarial Order directing the Department of the Interior and its bureaus to “take timely actions to help address the effects of drought and climate change on California’s water supply and imperiled wildlife.”
On the issue of the Delta Tunnels, Jewell directs the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to, “…Draft Biological Opinion in January 2017 and a final Draft Biological Opinion by March 2017 after incorporating the results of independent scientific peer reviews. A final Biological Opinion is to be issued by April 2017.”
In a press release by the Department of the Interior, Governor Jerry Brown said: “Today’s action tracks closely with the state’s multi-pronged Water Action Plan and commits the federal government to a timely review of the California WaterFix project. This state-federal partnership is what’s needed to improve water reliability for residents and farmers and protect vulnerable ecosystems.”
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta responded:
“Secretary Jewell’s Action Plan really does not change much for us in terms of the timeline. We understood that the final biological opinion would be out in the late spring. Governor Brown’s comment, however, seems a bit desperate, as if he is trying to push the tunnels through as a completed project before President-elect Trump is in charge.”