Laura Harnish is the California Regional Director.
Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

Environmental Defense Fund is delighted that the package of water policy reform bills has passed both houses of California’s legislature and will be sent to Governor Schwarzenegger for his signature. We believe this package provides a foundation that will guide environmental protection and sustainable water supply management for many years to come. And we expect that as a result, California’s farms and cities, as well as fisheries in the Bay Delta and Central Valley watershed, will be better off.

Most obviously the legislation establishes a framework for managing the Delta and the rivers that supply it with freshwater. It formally recognizes the importance of the Delta as an ecosystem while acknowledging its role in moving water from north to south. It empowers our Water Board to determine the inflows that are necessary to meet public trust requirements under California law. And the legislation establishes important oversight roles for both the legislature and a newly created Delta Stewardship Council to ensure that any changes to water infrastructure accommodate protection of the Delta and its fisheries.

It is important to realize that the legislation does not authorize a peripheral canal. Read more »

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

The 2009 water year ended this week amidst a plethora of activity, conflict and entertainment.

On Tuesday, as NASA rocket scientists were talking water in Pasadena, Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart responded to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on the Daily Show.

On Wednesday, PacifiCorp agreed to terms for removing four controversial dams on the Klamath River.

On Thursday, after years of litigation and negotiation spearheaded by our colleagues at NRDC, releases from Friant Dam to the San Joaquin River were made–rewetting a riverbed that is often dry as a result of over-extraction of surface and groundwater supplies.

For followers of the Bay-Delta, the stage shifted to the Department of Interior’s hearing in Washington DC. There was plenty of conflict over the Endangered Species Act, despite letters of support for the law by the California’s Department of Water Resources and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. And both the Obama Administration and Senator Feinstein, as well as we at the Environmental Defense Fund, issues statements in support of review of the ESA’s Biological Opinions by the National Academy of Sciences.

Meanwhile the Obama Administration also recommended that the California Legislature enter into a special session to move forward with reform of water policy in California.

We at EDF hope to make progress on legislation in this new water year as well, and are committed to working with all stakeholders to better manage California’s limited water supplies for our cities, farms and natural environment

And we are hoping “wild and wooly” in 2010 will apply to wet weather and not to policy reform.

Laura Harnish is the California Regional Director.

We are extremely excited to share with our On The Water Front readers the addition of Elgie Holstein as our new VP of Rivers and Deltas for EDF. Those of you who may know him from his days in the Clinton Administration know that Elgie brings a wealth of experience to our cause. Elgie will be based in DC but will be engaged with our water work here in California providing insights, guidance and an important link to the new Administration. For more information please read the press release below. Read more »

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

As 2009 is looking like a third dry year in a row, one might wonder whether there will be any naturally flowing streams at all when summer comes around.

Anyone who has been to Burney Falls  knows the answer. The streams that drain Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen in California’s portion of the Cascades have some pretty decent flows even in dry years. The reason is that rain and snowmelt permeate the porous volcanic rock, often taking years to resurface.

Burney Falls (photo by Ted Yu) Read more »

Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s recent support of building a $1 billion water recycling project is only his most recent effort to pursue sustainable water policies for California’s largest city. Earlier this year, he took a historic canoe trip as Los Angeles rewatered a dry portion of the Owens River in Inyo County after agreeing it could take the water further downstream. And in August, he doubled fines for those who violated the city’s ban on daytime lawn watering.

The Mayor clearly understands that reform is needed if we are to ensure reliable supplies for California’s growing cities and world-class farms without devastating the environment. We appreciate his bold leadership and urge other elected leaders to take similar actions.