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Cutting Funding for Ag Water Efficiency: A Backwards Portfolio for Managing Water
On May 9, 2019, Governor Newsom released his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The website for CalCAN, the California Climate and Agricultural Network, reports[1] that the proposed budget would eliminate funding for SWEEP, [2] “the state’s on-farm water use efficiency program.” This is nuts. The Brown administration initiated SWEEP during the 2014 drought. …
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CSPA and Allied Groups Dissect Draft EIS for Don Pedro
CSPA, nine other conservation and fishing groups, and four whitewater outfitters (“Conservation Groups”) jointly submitted 75 pages of comments on April 12, 2019 on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the relicensing of the Don Pedro Hydroelectric Project and the first-time licensing of the La Grange Hydroelectric Project. Together, the projects have buried over…
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Fishing and River Groups Analyze Voluntary Agreements
CSPA, the Golden Gate Salmon Association, and other fishing and river groups have released an analysis critical of the outline of Voluntary Agreements submitted to the State Water Board as a proposed alternative to the Board’s regulatory update of the Bay-Delta Plan. The analysis describes foundational problems with the agreements as proposed by the California…
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What the Water Deals Mean, Part 2: Voluntary Settlements Privatize the Public Trust
The holidays are over, and the sales are on. Karla Nemeth, Director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) published an op-ed in CALmatters on December 26, 2018 to tell the world “what new water deals mean.” Tom Birmingham, General Manager of Westlands Water District on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley,…
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What the Water Deals Mean, Part 1: December 2018 Agreements between the Department of Water Resources and the Bureau of Reclamation
On December 12, 2018, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) concluded a series of water agreements relating to DWR’s State Water Project (SWP) and the Bureau’s Central Valley Project (CVP). On December 26, 2018, CALmatters published op-ed in which, Karla Nemeth, Director of the California Department…
