Interior nears a contract with a company its secretary used to lobby for – Roll Call 11/8/19  “California has a limited water resource and water is going to become more and more scarce with climate change. Westlands Water District has used its outsized influence with Secretary Bernhardt to jump over other people to acquire water rights and...Read More

Water district with Bernhardt ties eyes permanent contract– Michael Doyleand Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E News, 11/8/19The nation’s largest agricultural water district could secure permanent access to precious irrigation deliveries under a newly proposed deal — reviving California political strife and questions about Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s role in the matter. Tapping a provision in a heavily lobbied...Read More

Interior proposes coveted deal to ex-client of agency head– Ellen Knickmeyer, AP 11/8/19The Interior Department is proposing to award one of the first contracts for federal water in perpetuity to a powerful rural California water district that had long employed Secretary David Bernhardt as a lobbyist….Bernhardt served as a lobbyist for Westlands until 2016, the...Read More

Democrats’ Bernhardt probe has California’s Cox in a tough spot – Roll Call, Washington, DC 10/31/19“…an investigation by Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee who say Interior Secretary David Bernhardt may have influenced the reversal of that scientific assessment to help Westlands Water District, a former lobbying client that provides water to those farmers. The probe...Read More

For Immediate Release: October 22, 2019 Contact:Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.orgTim Stroshane, 510-847-7556, tim@restorethedelta.org Washington, D.C./Stockton, CA – Today, the Trump Administration released a set of new Endangered Species Act permits (biological opinions) that will significantly weaken existing federal protections for salmon and other endangered species in California’s Bay-Delta watershed. These biological opinions determine the long-term operation of...Read More

For Immediate Release: September 16, 2019Contact:Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org Stockton, CA – The politics surrounding SB1 are as murky as Delta water in late September.But there is a clear story illuminated by an article today by LA Time’s veteran Sacramento-observer George Skelton. Senate leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) has shown great courage in...Read More

For Immediate Release: August 15, 2019Contact:Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.orgTim Stroshane, Policy Analyst, Restore the Delta tim@restorethedelta.org Stockton, CA – With Governor Brown’s Twin Delta Tunnels formally dead, Stockton-based Restore the Delta has released a new forward-looking report: “Climate Equity and Seismic Resilience for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.” The report gives a SF...Read More

Administration Sidelines Federal Biologists Who Could Stand in Way of More Water for Calif. Farmers– KQED“After rushing forward on a plan to send more water to California’s Central Valley, the Trump Administration has unexpectedly hit the brakes and ordered the work already done by federal scientists to be completed by a different team. “Just days...Read More

For Release: July 2, 2019 Contact: Jon Rosenfeld, San Francisco Baykeeper, 510-684-4757Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053Kate Poole, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), 415-875-6100 Sacramento – A coalition of 55 conservation, fishing, recreation, water policy, and environmental justice groups from throughout California, representing hundreds of thousands of Californians, sent a letter to state officials today...Read More

For Immediate Release: 5/9/19 Contact:Bob Wright, Friends of the River, (916) 442-3155 x207 Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, (209) 479-2053 Sacramento – The California Department of Water Resources has formally rescinded the Bond Resolutions authorizing issuance of almost $9 billion of bonds to pay for the start of construction of the Delta Twin Tunnels. The...Read More