Dear friends, As we reflect on all that has happened regarding government planning and initiatives for the Delta in 2019, we think it is time to reflect on what has brought about positive social, economic, and environmental change in the history of the United States. Successful movements include tactics centered on protest, litigation, legislation, and negotiation....Read More

Friends,It is time to protect our drinking water, to retire California’s poisoned lands and to put the water back in our rivers. Join our organizing partner Save California Salmon and Restore the Delta on December 5, 2019 at 9 am at the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board to take action!If you live in the Bay, the Delta,...Read More

First, a note from Barbara…So our members are clear, the outcome of the Newsom Administration’s announcement yesterday is not good. Yes, they are going to fight the Trump administration on rollbacks to the Delta. For that we are grateful.However, their plan for the Delta is just a little less bad than the Trump plan and...Read More

For Immediate Release: 11/21/19 Contact: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org  Stockton, CA – The State of California announced two actions today that will impact protections of California’s endangered species.The Department of Water Resources issued draft Environmental Impact Report today on the operation of the State Water Project.Agencies also announced intention to sue the federal government over the Trump...Read More

Newsom must stop the Westlands water grab and save the San Francisco Bay-Deltaby Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Special to CalMatters11/20/2019 “Westlands is the 800-pound gorilla in California water politics. Years ago, fearing its water supplies were decreasing, Westlands hired David Bernhardt and paid him more than $1 million to be their lobbyist. Now that Bernhardt has become...Read More

Editorial: Californians must help kill sleazy Westlands water deal – Mercury and East Bay Times Editorial Boards 11/15/19 The Westlands Water District has engaged in some sleazy maneuvers over the years, but this one, which threatens the Bay Area’s water supply, tops them all.The Trump administration, led by Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt, is poised to give a...Read More

Neighboring water deal reeks of cronyism – Las Vegas Sun, 11/17/19 We are quoted in an editorial on Westlands in the Las Vegas Sun, which worries about implications for Nevada urban water users. “For decades, Nevada has fought to update the 1922-vintage Colorado River Compact so that our state can receive its fair allotment of water...Read More

“Dead dogs and toxic fish: Welcome to Stockton, a city choking on California water policy” – The Los Angeles Times, 11/12/19 The #LATimes Editorial Board knocks it out of the park with an editorial that gets at what the Trump water plan and Newsom Voluntary agreements mean for the Delta’s largest city, Stockton, and the Delta’s environmental justice...Read More

Interior Chief’s Lobbying Past Has Challenged the Agency’s Ethics Referees – The New York Times, 11/9/19 New York Times Coral Davenport writes on how Secretary Bernhardt works to skirt around conflict of interest laws on behalf of Westlands Water District.   “At the center of many ethics issues is Westlands, a state entity created at the behest...Read More

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