-
The Delta Conveyance Project: Either We Survive Together or Perish Together
On December 8th, 2023, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued the Final Environmental Impact Report (Final EIR) for its proposed Delta Conveyance Project, informally called the Delta tunnel. During the required comment period following DWR’s release of its Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR), the public, native tribes, and non-governmental organizations submitted 700 letters…
-
Sites Reservoir: Fast-Tracking and Greenwashing a Huge Water Development
In the summer of 2023, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 149 into law. This bill gave the Governor the power to fast-track infrastructure projects deemed beneficial to the state of California’s bid to create a climate-resilient future. On November 6th, 2023 the Governor used this law to fast-track approval for the highly controversial Sites Reservoir…
-
Groundwater Gold Rush
The groundwater gold rush is on. New projects to divert rivers for groundwater recharge are popping up across the state. Most of these projects are temporary, but most also explicitly foresee long-term, permanent projects. These recharge projects threaten to divert still more water from already-depleted rivers, even as the State Water Resources Control Board (State…
-
CSPA, Friends of the River, and Allies Protest Water Rights for Proposed Sites Reservoir
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and Friends of the River (FOR) led a coalition of environmental groups and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe in a protest of the water right application for the proposed Sites Reservoir. CSPA filed the protest with the State Water Resources Control Board on August 31, 2023. In addition to CSPA,…
-
CSPA & Allies File Lawsuits on Groundwater Management in Butte, Colusa & Vina Subbasins
By Cindy Charles The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), along with AquAlliance and the California Water Impact Network, filed three separate lawsuits in February 2022 against the Butte, Colusa, and Vina subbasins’ Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). The lawsuits argue that all three GSPs will continue to threaten groundwater users and the environment by accepting domestic…
