Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

The first draft of the Delta Vision's Strategic Plan was released on June 18, 2008, and is very clearly labeled as a “preliminary" product completed by the staff that has not been reviewed by the Blue Ribbon Task Force. Despite these cautions, the report has stirred considerable press interest, including an Associated Press article that cites a potential cost of up to $80 Billion.

We agree it will be expensive but think the cost will be far, far less. And the best way to keep the costs down is to ensure that they are fairly distributed among the beneficiaries of fixing the Delta. Accordingly, we have outlined a series of financial recommendations for the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force.

What is a bit of a surprise, at least to us, is that the staff is apparently suggesting that California’s Department of Water Resources be bifurcated into two agencies. DWR would continue to do statewide planning, flood management and other activities. A new agency, identified as the “California Water Utility” would operate the State Water Project. They further suggest that this utility might also encompass the federal Central Valley Project someday.

This proposal has an obvious appeal to those of us who sometimes think the State Water Project has too much influence at a Department of Water Resources that is supposed to represent public and environmental interests, not simply respond to the needs of the State Water Contractors. We look forward to the opportunity to investigate this proposal further.

Ann Hayden is a Senior Water Resource Analyst at EDF.

One of the more troubling bills to come around in a while will be heard today in the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee. Senate Bill 994, sponsored by Senators Florez, Ashburn, and Steinberg and supported by powerful water interests, purports to restore the threatened Delta smelt by establishing a Delta smelt hatchery “mitigation bank” program.

In reality, however, this bill would significantly undermine the California Endangered Species Act by providing virtually unlimited coverage under the Act to “take” Delta smelt at the Delta pumps, which could be detrimental to the fate of the species. (See two sets of comments opposing this bill) Read more »

Thomas J. Graff is Senior Counsel at EDF.

Five members of Congress, Miller, Tauscher, Thompson, Matsui, and McNerney have written(PDF) to NOAA/NMFS to urge that they take a much more hands-on approach to the BDCP process (which is seeking to develop a set of so-called “take” permits for users of Delta waters) than their predecessors did in promulgating the CALFED ROD and in implementing the CVPIA.

Bravo to the Members for their insights.

Laura Harnish is the California Regional Director.

It goes without saying that the San Francisco Bay Delta watershed is facing potential disaster akin to those we are seeing this week in the Midwest.

Take a look at this article from Mary Kelly the Vice President of EDF's Center for Rivers and Deltas.

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

How can we pay to fix the Delta and improve water supply? We’ve addressed this critical issue in the attached (PDF) principles.

These principles lay out our view of what “Beneficiaries Pay” means with respect to the Governor’s “Delta Vision” process but apply to the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, potential upcoming bonds, and legislation as well.

Whether it is water, air, health or fisheries management, we believe that getting the price right is a cornerstone of sound public policy. Let's level the playing field and consider the cost of impacts to the environment in any decision-making process involving the Delta. Otherwise, we will make choices that are likely to be bad for the environment, the taxpayer, or both.

Let’s get it right this time. Neither our rivers nor our budget can afford otherwise.

Thomas J. Graff is Senior Counsel at EDF.

Negotiations underway in Sacramento seem to suggest that the Legislature wants a peripheral canal. (See the San Diego Union-Tribune's Newsblog)

Several key questions have yet to be addressed: will there be federal participation and what will the constraints be on a proposed Peripheral Canal?

We also have a question of our own: when did the State contractors promise to fork over $4 billion for a Canal?

Cynthia Koehler is Senior Consulting Attorney for EDF.

California’s high court has spoken(PDF) in long running litigation originally filed by Delta farmers challenging Calfed’s Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR). Although the case has generated its own small forest of paper, the opinion is focused on a technical – if crucial – aspect of CEQA: how a project is defined will largely determine the scope of reasonable alternatives.

The ruling, more or less, comes down to a simple tautology: Calfed defined its “project” as alleviating conflicts and providing better water supply reliability to all water users, but a reduced export alternative would generate more conflict. There you have it in a nutshell—this alternative could not achieve the “project purpose” and, therefore, need not be considered under CEQA.

What does this mean for current Bay-Delta processes? Read more »

Laura Harnish is the California Regional Director.

“Water is like our gold, and we have to treat it like that.” (Governor Schwarzenegger, NY Times June 5, 2008)

We couldn’t agree more with the governor’s analogy, or with his assessment of the severity of the water crisis in California. We applaud his call to action for increased conservation, improved regional coordination, and especially for encouraging the transfer of water supplies from willing sellers to interested buyers.

These are critical initiatives we have been supportive of for years. And it is just these types of projects on which Californians should focus to achieve immediate drought relief. Kudos to the governor for raising the profile of this critical issue and these important solutions.

However…we are very concerned that under the auspices of this “crisis” (which is far from unforeseen) two dangerous things could happen. Read more »

Ann Hayden is a Senior Water Resource Analyst at EDF.

In the world of the San Francisco Bay-Delta, there are so many moving parts to track that it can make ones head spin. The latest effort which we are weighing in on is that which is starting to look at the environmental impacts associated with the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), the multi-year planning process which is still in the early stages of trying to solve both the ecosystem and water supply issues of the Bay-Delta.

Read more »

Thomas J. Graff is Senior Counsel at EDF.

AB 2175 would require Californians to cut per capita water use by 20%. As noted in a recent LA Times editorial this is the first serious effort to impose a statewide water conservation target, following up on Governor Schwarzenegger’s promise to cut urban water use by 20% by 2020.

AB 2175 (authors Laird and Feuer and sponsored by NRDC) passed the Assembly last week 48-30. How it will fare in the Senate and, should it get there, on the Governor’s desk, is hard to foresee. If the Times is right and an overall 20% cut would be “painful” for California residents, chances are it will take a while for this concept to be converted into a legal requirement.

But if there’s actually quite a lot of marginal water use in the state and incentives can be lined up so that people’s water bills reflect what water actually costs to deliver in the state (including offsets of the environmental damages caused by water storage and distribution), then we might just find that a 20% cut wouldn’t be so painful after all.

Check out the recent highly-touted Public Policy Institute of California report, Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta, at pages 99 through 128.