Delta Flows
They’re keeping their heads down at Water, Parks, and Wildlife
The non-Delta legislators and other interests who passed last year’s comprehensive water package don’t think it can be improved upon with unimportant additions like legislative oversight or cost analysis for a peripheral canal. So they weren’t interested in AB 2304, introduced by Assemblymember Alyson Huber. On April 27, the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee couldn’t even come up with a second to Assemblymember Mariko Yamada’s motion to at least vote on the measure. No one had to take a stand.
Committee chair Jared Huffman thinks Huber’s proposal would have made it harder to block a large conveyance facility before the full legislature, which he insists that he intends to do. He described the measure as “too broad,” “too blunt,” and “unwise.” Yamada, the Committee’s only Delta representative, countered that the legislature had abdicated important responsibilities with regard to conveyance to the Delta Stewardship Council. She noted that if there is nothing to hide, then no one should object to continuing the discussion in a transparent way.
The most telling remark came from Assemblymember Juan Arambula of Fresno, who said he was reluctant to give the Legislature any more authority.
Yes, he really did say that.
We’re keeping an eye on the Delta Stewardship Council
Restore the Delta has filed a conflict-of-interest complaint with the Attorney General’s office regarding DSC appointees Gloria D. Gray and Richard Roos-Collins. As we reported last week, Gray is a board member for the West Basin Municipal Water District in Los Angeles, a position which also places her on the board of MWD. So she represents interests that rely on Delta water exports. Roos-Collins serves on the BDCP steering committee, an entity whose recommendations the Stewardship Council is supposed to review.
RTD has also learned that the DSC staff is recommending that CH2MHill be chosen to provide the primary support for developing the Delta Plan. CH2MHill is already heavily involved in the BDCP. This whole process is looking more and more like a game of musical chairs, with no chairs actually removed.
Magic Kingdom meets water sleight-of-hand
A trip to Disneyland is always fun, right? On May 14, you could take a working vacation to attend the 3rd Annual OC (Orange County) Water Summit at the Grand Californian Hotel at the Disneyland Resort. The title: “Capture the Flow.”
The speakers: Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez; Paul Rodriguez (“actor, comedian, and water activist”); Joel Kotkin, author of “The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050”; Robert Boller, Vice President of Sustainability for Kendall-Jackson Winery; and Curt Schmute (“expert on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta”).
(Mr. Schmute acquired his expertise on the Delta as the Principal Engineer and Water Resources Manager for Metropolitan Water District.)
The cost is $125. Of course, you might not want to pay $125 to hear Paul Rodriguez tell you why agri-business needs more water.
