Urban Water Bi-Monthly Newsletter
June 2013
Announcements:
Please register for the Urban Water Institute’s 20th Annual Water Policy Conference! The event is being held August 14-16, 2013 at the Hilton Mission Bay Resort in San Diego.
Urban Water Institute Newsletter
The Urban Water Institute, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) dedicated to providing information about Urban Water Resource and Clean Water Act issues to Professionals and Elected Officials. See www.urbanwater.com
The “Urban Water Alert” is issued monthly. Brief articles by members and others may be submitted to julie@urbanwater.com<mailto:julie@urbanwater.com> and are subject to editing. Opinions expressed by authors in submitted articles are their own.
Editor: Wayne A. Clark
Links to Member Sites:
Call 949.679.9676 for Sponsor information.
________________________________
Quick Links:
::
Congressional Delegation Expresses Support for BDCP
A coalition of 13 members of Congress on May 22 sent letters to Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell expressing their strong support for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and urging the state and federal government to continue to make the BDCP a “top priority.”
Signed by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and 12 members of Congress, the letter states that “California’s economic and social future is directly tied to a safe supply of reliable, high quality water.” Read more
Sierra Club urges governor to rethink position on Delta tunnels
Editor’s note: This is an open letter from the Sierra Club to Gov. Jerry Brown.
Dear Gov. Brown: Sierra Club California has for more than 26 years led legislative and regulatory advocacy in California for the Sierra Club, one of the largest and oldest volunteer-driven environmental organizations in the country. The Sierra Club itself, founded in 1892 by a group that included naturalist John Muir, was launched and is headquartered in our state.
California water system in trouble
Unable to match the salaries of private and some public utilities, California cannot retain enough skilled employees to maintain and operate its complex and vital water delivery system.
Calif. water officials say delta twin tunnel, habitat restoration plan to cost $24.54 billion
The massive twin-tunnel system that would carry water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and its accompanying delta habitat restoration plan will cost half a billion dollars more than previously reported, according to new estimates California state water officials
Colorado River capacity scrutinized
Water resource managers from seven Western states plan to join conservation groups and Indian tribes in San Diego on Tuesday to begin hammering out rules for squeezing every useable drop from the overtaxed Colorado River.
New Effort Looks at Future of Colorado River
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Tuesday kicked off phase one of a new collaborative effort to solve future water shortages on the Colorado River.
Local, state and federal officials from the seven Colorado River Basin states began meeting in San Diego at the U.S. Geological Survey’s California Water Science Center to outline a framework of “next steps” that could eventually lead to projects that deliver quantifiable water savings. Read more...
Alter CEQA but don’t weaken it
When it comes to the California Environmental Quality Act, modest changes are needed. Does California’s signature environmental law protect the state’s air, water and wilderness by acting as a check on runaway projects proposed by overzealous developers? Or does it encourage baseless lawsuits that unfairly delay and even derail worthwhile projects that could provide badly needed jobs and housing for Californians?
California’s Anti-Fracking Ideologues Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth
The world knows of California’s unemployment, spending, and budget problems. With over $1 trillion in public debt, the Golden State’s fiscal situation is surely challenging. Amazingly, a giant gift was laid at California’s doorstep in the form of abundant oil fields accessible by fracking. Rather than promote the budget-soothing jobs and the tax revenue that comes with it, California Democrats have lined up to stop it.
Judge OKs huge water deal between farmers, San Diego County cities
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly disagreed with litigants who said the deal between the Imperial Irrigation District and the San Diego County Water Authority violated the state’s environmental rules, particularly involving the Salton Sea. See all stories on this topic.
EPA survey ranks California No. 1 in water infrastructure needs
California could use $44.5 billion to fix aging water systems over the next two decades, according to a federal survey that placed the state at the top of a national list of water infrastructure needs.