The local water agencies that stand to benefit from California’s WaterFix tunnels project have formed a new joint powers authority to oversee construction. Here’s a look at how that will work.
Chuck Winn Member of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors
Don Nottoli Member of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
California voters don’t get a say about the governor’s Delta tunnels plan, but that hasn’t stopped organizations such as the Delta Counties Coalition from continuing to work to halt the project.
In California’s Delta, native fish face a number of challenges. Scientists Peter Moyle and John Durand of the University of California, Davis discuss those obstacles and how they might be overcome.
Sea level rise and changing streamflows are converging with uncertain results in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Ronald Melcer, a senior environmental scientist at the Delta Stewardship Council, explains what the future may hold.
Despite getting a financial boost earlier this month, California’s project to build two new water tunnels still faces big regulatory and legal challenges.
Jeffrey Mount Senior Fellow, PPIC Water Policy Center
A group of independent experts has proposed a plan to resolve some of the biggest challenges facing water and ecosystem management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, often a lightning rod of controversy.
A recently released state budget proposal uses a science-based approach to allocating funds and includes money for water systems in disadvantaged communities, endangered species, wildfire fighting and conservation.
In the latest Deeply Talks, we talk to experts about wildfires, mudslides, infrastructure and what to keep an eye on in 2018 for water in the West.
Some experts are questioning the legality of the Trump administration’s plan to increase water pumping of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, while others are concerned about the consequences for imperiled salmon and other fish.
California and other Western states will be grappling with long-term water issues related to infrastructure, clean drinking water systems and watershed restoration, among other concerns.
Eileen Sobeck was recently hired as executive director of California’s powerful State Water Resources Control Board after decades in federal service. Politics in Washington, she says, make this an important time for states to lead on water and climate issues.
Brian Gray Senior Fellow, PPIC Water Policy Center
Leon Szeptycki Director, Water in the West
Barton “Buzz” Thompson Robert E. Paradise Professor in Natural Resources Law, Stanford Law School
Assigning Ecosystem Water Budgets for California’s major watersheds would provide a defined amount of water that could be flexibly allocated and could ease conflict, say authors of a new report from Public Policy Institute of California.
Despite an increase in the number of Chinook salmon in California this year, some fishers are worried that methods to truck and barge hatchery fish will lead to long-term problems for the restoration of ecosystems and fisheries.
For more than 50 years, Californians have been considering new ways to move water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Here’s a graphic look at the important milestones.
Jeffrey Mount Senior Fellow, PPIC Water Policy Center
New research shows that three reforms could improve ecological conditions and reduce tensions over allocation of water, says Jeffrey Mount, senior fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center.
A decade ago, the state passed up a chance to embrace a cheaper, single water diversion tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Now a groundbreaking vote by a Silicon Valley water agency could turn the tide.
Urban and agricultural water districts have begun to take sides on whether they’ll fund the $17 billion Delta tunnels project, and it’s looking like economic concerns and not just environmental impacts could hamper it.
Jonathan Rosenfield Lead Scientist, Bay Institute
The Brown administration is denying scientific evidence when it comes to the impact that the proposed delta tunnels project would have on endangered species and fisheries, says scientist Jonathan Rosenfield of The Bay Institute.
A century of levee building confined the state’s major rivers to narrow channels. A new policy aims to free them again, which could not only reduce flood risk but also recharge groundwater and improve wildlife habitat.
The state proposes to amend hundreds of water rights to help endangered salmon in the San Joaquin River, as well as other species. But there’s lots of disagreement about how much water the fish need to thrive.
Peter Moyle U.C. Davis Professor Emeritus of Fish Biology and an Associate Director, Center for Watershed Sciences
James Hobbs Research Scientist, U.C. Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology
Scientists Peter Moyle and James Hobbs give their reasoning for qualified support for the controversial tunnels project that will affect Delta fish and fisheries.
Researchers hope to stave off subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with a solution farmers might like: planting rice. But a pilot project has yielded mixed results.
Sediment-laden water has helped the Bay escape the worst effects of nutrient pollution so far, but that’s changing and it could hasten the growth of algae dangerous to the ecosystem and humans.
Grant Davis of the Sonoma County Water Agency talks about being tapped to be the director of the California Department of Water Resources. He brings an environmentalist background to a job long dominated by engineers.
The final version of the environmental impact report for California WaterFix still lacks clarity and adaptability, says Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at U.C. Davis.
The state plans to boost streamflows in the troubled San Joaquin River by amending hundreds of water rights. It hopes settlement deals will avoid a showdown, but will they produce enough water to help imperiled salmon?
The state’s proposal to build twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta cleared another hurdle last month, but opponents still believe that better options exist.
At the 11th hour, the Public Policy Institute of California hopes to rekindle interest in building one water diversion tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta instead of two. But it might be too late to shift course.
California agencies released a three-year plan to bring delta smelt back from the brink of extinction, but some of the goals and the overall feasibility of the plan have been questioned.
California faces a host of water issues, which is why good policy leaders are important. In the first installment of our “Experts to Watch” series, here are nine people who are contributing to policy solutions in the state.
A bill passed by U.S. House of Representatives seeks to limit predator fish, such as striped bass, in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to aid struggling salmon populations. But scientists say the strategy won’t work.
Kate Poole Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council
Should more water be diverted from the Delta? The state already decided this years ago with the Delta Plan, writes Kate Poole, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Six years ago the Delta Stewardship Council kicked off, headed by Phil Isenberg, an attorney and former state assembly member. Isenberg talks to Water Deeply about the council’s Delta Plan, its legal challenges and the near future.
Michael Kiparsky Director, Wheeler Water Institute at U.C. Berkeley Law’s Center for Law
Holly Doremus Faculty Co-Director, U.C. Berkeley Law’s Center for Law
Michael Kiparsky and Holly Doremus of the Wheeler Water Institute at U.C. Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment lay out what’s needed for California’s groundwater agencies to successfully manage a critical resource.
California Tribal Policy Advisor Anecita Agustinez explains how Native American communities are impacted by some of the state’s most pressing water issues.
SACRAMENTO BEE: Results of the spring survey tracking the number of delta smelt in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta found very few of the fish, which already have critically low numbers.
Native fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are critical. Peter Moyle, associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis, has some ideas on what we can do differently.
The recent purchase of five Delta islands by Metropolitan Water District raises a lot of questions. Delta expert Jeff Mount helps shed some light on the risks involved and what Met might stand to gain from its $175 million investment.
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