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
Restore the Delta Comment: With or without a tunnel, the Delta will not survive excessive water exports. “The agencies’ final rules, expected this week, will have far-reaching impacts on millions of Californians and the future of the Delta ecosystem. In some years, roughly half of all the water that flows into the Delta — a vast...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
