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Delta Stewardship Council Recommends Pause in Delta Tunnels Project
It now appears that there is almost no chance that Delta tunnels will be approved and begin construction before Governor Brown leaves office in January 2019. The roadblock emerged on November 15, 2018 in a proceeding before a state agency that most people don’t know about and even fewer understand: the Delta Stewardship Council. Following…
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State Water Board Postpones Decision on San Joaquin River Flows
“Let’s go.” “We can’t.” “Why not?” “We’re waiting for Godot.” ― Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot In response to a joint written request[1] from Governor Brown and incoming Governor Gavin Newsom, the State Water Resources Control Board on November 7, 2018 postponed a decision on adoption of increased flow requirements for the lower San Joaquin…
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Federal Dam Safety Regulators Describe Need for Big Changes at Oroville Dam
The Division of Dam Safety and Inspections in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a letter to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) on October 25, 2018 that requires DWR to reclassify the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam as an “auxiliary spillway.” The letter also describes the need for DWR to plan for a…
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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Unanimously Supports Update of Bay-Delta Plan
In an 11-0 vote on October 30, 2018, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting the State Water Resources Control Board’s immediate update of the San Joaquin Flow portion of the Bay-Delta Plan. Introduced by Supervisor Aaron Peskin following meetings with several environmental and fishing organizations including CSPA, the resolution recognizes the…
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Irrigation Districts and Trump Administration Bludgeon Federal Fish Agency into Submission
On October 1, 2018, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) retracting its January 29, 2018 flow recommendations for the lower Tuolumne River (see pp. 65-74). In its October 1 do-over letter, US Fish & Wildlife completely agrees to the required flows in the lower…
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