The 2009 Comprehensive Water Package called for improved accounting of water diversions. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) got busy and focused on investigating in-Delta water rights only, and not the water rights of any other area. The impetus for this investigation was a biased and targeted report by Stephen Wee, funded and filed...Read More

Last week the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) held a briefing on the second draft of the Delta Plan, even as staff were finishing up the third draft. The DSC invited representatives of local governments to talk about impacts of proposed governance. The DSC heard from all five Delta counties, plus three cities: Sacramento, West Sacramento,...Read More

A couple of years ago, Robyn Suddeth, a graduate student at UCD’s Center for Watershed Science, looked into the “Policy Implications of Permanently Flooded Islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.” The Center for Watershed Sciences is the academic home of Jeffrey Mount and Jay Lund, both of PPIC fame. So it isn’t surprising that Suddeth’s...Read More

AB 550 is Assemblymember Alyson Huber’s bill that would prohibit construction of a peripheral canal unless expressly authorized by the Legislature. It would also require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to complete an economic feasibility analysis before the enactment of a statue authorizing construction of a peripheral canal. That would include the cost of the environmental...Read More

If you have replied to our volunteer request, we need to ask you to respond one more time.  We apologize for the inconvenience! During the move, we experienced computer transition challenges and lost several weeks of email responses.  The problem has been fixed, and we are ready to get our volunteers up and running. Restore...Read More

By Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla Whether one disagrees or agrees with Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed budget for California, one must give the Governor high marks for holding a belief in the democratic process as exemplified by his effort to take the question of taxes directly to voters. It’s too bad that the Governor’s appointee to run the...Read More

Many thanks to those who participated in the Bass Tournament at Russo’s Marina on Bethel Island on April 3.  A special thanks to Bobby Barrack, Michael Frost, Kris DeWolfe and  Andy “Cooch” Cuccia for arranging the event. And congratulations to Dan and Travis Fonte, who won the tournament with a bass weighing in at 37.73...Read More

This past Monday, Congressman Tom McClintock brought the Natural Resources Committee’s Water and Power Subcommittee, which he chairs, to Fresno for a hearing titled “Creating Jobs by Overcoming Man-Made Drought: Time for Congress to Listen and Act.” The purpose of the Fresno hearing was to discuss relaxing or removing export pumping restrictions put in place...Read More

It is significant that Fresno County overall did have an increase of 3,000 farm jobs between February 2010 and February 2011.  When it is time to make cropping decisions, other parts of the county are less vulnerable to fluctuations in Delta water exports.  They have water rights that give them some flexibility. In his April...Read More

On April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Salmon fishermen and Delta farmers will hold a Salmon Summit in Antioch to demonstrate the region’s broad support for science-based restoration of adequate freshwater flows for Delta communities and for salmon.  This event is free and open to the public. Speakers will include Congress members John...Read More