Category: Breaking News

From the Department of Water Resources: Today, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation of 10 percent for the 2020 calendar year. The initial allocation is based on several factors, such as conservative dry hydrology, reservoir storage, and releases necessary to meet water supply and environmental demands. State allocations are based on […]

» Read more

From the Bureau of Reclamation: In light of Governor Newsom’s announcement regarding the State of California’s intent to sue the federal government on the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP), please see the below statement from Brenda Burman, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation: ”From the beginning, we’ve been focused on cooperative solutions with the State […]

» Read more

Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot and CA Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Jared Blumenfeld have a commentary up at Cal Matters where they touch on many California water issues, including the water resilience portfolio, the biological opinions, and voluntary agreements. They write: “California’s water policy can be complex, and—let’s be honest—often polarizing.  Water decisions frequently get distilled into unhelpful narratives […]

» Read more

DWR issued draft Environmental Impact Report today; Agencies also intend to file litigation against federal government Newsom administration continues to work toward voluntary agreements in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta rivers The California Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency today announced a series of actions to protect imperiled fish while improving real-time management of the State Water Project […]

» Read more

Draft EIR released for long-term operations of the State Water Project From the Department of Water Resources: Moving to strengthen safeguards for fish and expand science-based decision making, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) took formal steps today to begin environmental review of long-term operations of the State Water Project (SWP). The action enables California’s water project operations to avoid […]

» Read more

Paul Souza (USGWS), Barry Thom (NOAA Fisheries) and Ernest Conant (Reclamation) discuss the new biological opinions in a press call The long awaited biological opinions have been released.  Earlier this morning, Paul Souza, Regional Director for the US Fish and Wildlife Service; Barry Thom, NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator; and Ernest Conant, Director of the Mid Pacific Region of the Bureau […]

» Read more

From the State Water Resources Control Board: The State Water Resources Control Board today approved an ambitious, long-term plan to address the buildup of salt and nitrates in Central Valley groundwater basins and surface water, and ensure delivery of clean drinking water to disadvantaged communities impacted by nitrates until impaired aquifers are restored. Approved after more than 13 years in […]

» Read more

From Westlands Water District: Today, Westlands Water District terminated its preparation of an environmental impact report pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The District was preparing the environmental impact report to assess the effects of raising Shasta Dam, as proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation, including whether the Dam raise would adversely affect the free-flowing conditions of the McCloud […]

» Read more

Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed Senate Bill 1 with the following message: “I am returning Senate Bill 1 without my signature. The bill would enact the California Enviornmental, Public Health, and Workers Defense Act of 2019 with the intent of ensuring that protections afforded under federal environmental and labor laws and regulations as of January 2017, could remain in place […]

» Read more

The Golden Gate Salmon Association has issued a statement responding to a memo from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to the Bureau of Reclamation, the upshot of which is that Reclamation is proposing changes to the Fall X2 adaptive management action.  X2 is the location in the Bay-Delta where the tidally averaged salinity is 2 parts per thousand; it […]

» Read more