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
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
Santa Barbara Water Agencies Say No to State Water Tunnel Project – Noozhawk Santa Barbara 10/25/19“Local water agencies aren’t buying into the new version of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta “twin tunnels” project, and Santa Barbara County members of the State Water Project voted Thursday to opt out entirely…“The Department of Water Resources hasn’t released a complete project description...Read More
October 23, 2019California fights Trump on everything — except water – Politico“Clearly this governor is making a play for the Central Valley to be nice to agriculture, and I think they’re playing him like a fiddle,” said one longtime environmental advocate who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid political repercussions. Editorial: Newsom must not cave...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
Precious Delta waters growing food that rots…California Families Are Hungry While a Third of Crops Rot in Fields – KQED 10/18/19 The Sanchez family is among the 22% of people in Fresno County who couldn’t afford the groceries they needed in the past year. Fresno ranks third in the country for food insecurity, according to the Food...Read More
