A state Public Utilities Commission representative indicated this week the delayed draft environmental review document for the proposed Monterey Peninsula desalination project will be released next week, three weeks after originally scheduled. CPUC spokesman Christopher Chow said the commission estimates that the project’s draft combined environmental impact report and environmental impact statement would be released “mid to late next week,” and promised to keep The Herald apprised of “any new developments.”

A menacing storm taking shape over the Pacific is poised to pound California this weekend, causing what could be the worst flooding in parts of the state in more than a decade, forecasters said. The atmospheric river of warm and highly concentrated water will begin to deliver its payload across the northern two-thirds of California on Saturday, overwhelming rivers, drenching urban areas and likely eviscerating much of the Sierra snowpack. But while drought-stressed California has begged for such soaking storms in recent years, the rain may do more harm than good — especially in the mountains — when it surges Sunday.

The outgoing Obama administration on Wednesday tried to nudge forward Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to build two giant north-south water tunnels for California. In an executive order, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell directed federal wildlife officials on Wednesday to release by Jan. 17 a preliminary environmental opinion that directs the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to assist as the $15.7 billion project seeks state and federal permits and other approvals. Brown welcomed Jewell’s move, saying in a statement “it commits the federal government to a timely review” of the proposed tunnels.