Category: Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan

Resources Secretary sends letter to legislature on CEQA exemption in trailer bill

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

On Thursday,  September 9, Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot a letter to the members of the legislature regarding the controversial CEQA exemption in the Natural Resources trailer bill, AB/SB 155. Crowfoot's letter addressed objections to the trailer bill previously raised by Restore the Delta, stating: The proposed CEQA exemption may only be applied to habitat … Continue reading Resources Secretary sends letter to legislature on CEQA exemption in trailer bill

The State Water Project was originally designed for a six year drought

Lake Oroville March 2021
~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

A 1983 Bulletin by the Department of Water Resources (Bulletin 160-83) [1] documents that Oroville reservoir was designed to provide long-term carryover storage and reliable water deliveries in case of a repeat of the 1928-1934 drought. The Department of Water Resources  proposed in the same Bulletin 160-83 to change State Water Project operations to take … Continue reading The State Water Project was originally designed for a six year drought

The disappearance of the CALFED environmental water budget

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 2 Comments

The 1.18 million acre-feet of water dedicated to environment in the CALFED Record of Decision has basically vanished.  Its disappearance is one of the reasons that pelagic fish populations in the Delta have collapsed. 

Climate change and instream flows

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

Unless we do a better job of keeping water in our rivers and streams, California’s native aquatic species will not survive climate change.

Voluntary Agreements on Delta flows have no real backstop

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

Newsom's veto of Senate Bill 1 shows just how little backstop there is for the Voluntary Agreements on Delta flows.  This should not be surprising, given how the regulatory framework for the Water Board's determination of Delta flow objectives has been gutted.

SCVWD pulls purchase of 5,257 acres of Merced ranch land from agenda

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

The May 14, 2019 Board Agenda for the Santa Clara Valley Water District included a closed session item to discuss “setting negotiation parameters” for the purchase of multiple parcels of land in Merced County. County tax records show that the parcels total 5,257 acres, and are owned by 4S Ranch Partners LLC. The parcels are within the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area, which is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as winter wetlands for waterfowl migrating on the Pacific Flyway.

Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the CALFED Framework for the Delta

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt helped negotiate the CALFED agreement in the 1990s. It is worth looking at how CALFED fell apart.

“Flexible” management of ecosystem water and the Australian catastrophe

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 2 Comments

The Australian model of flexibility and partnership with water diverters in management of ecosystem water has been catastrophic in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin.

State Water Board: Loss of institutional knowledge, independence during historic processes

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 2 Comments

The failure to reappoint Felicia Marcus represents a significant loss of institutional knowledge on the Water Board of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan at a critical time in the Board's development of a once in a generation update to that plan.