When it comes to Oroville Dam, the state Department of Water Resources has been anything but forthcoming in response to California Public Records Act requests. Chico-based advocacy nonprofit AquAlliance sued DWR for documentation relating to asbestos that may have been uncovered during a break in the main spillway (see “Dam records sought,” Downstroke, June 15). Meanwhile, DWR has stymied area media, stalling in many cases and blacking out large sections of documents the agency does release.

Swimsuit. Sunscreen. Skis. You’re ready: Celebrate your independence by schussing the slopes during the longest snow season in California history. While the rest of America has moved on to lawn parties and backyard barbecues, happy skiers are still carving turns through the sweet, sticky pockets of lingering snow in the Sierra Nevada — where weekend lifts are spinning for the ninth straight month, even as temperatures soar to the mid-70s. But California’s snowiest winter on record means major delays — or danger — for equally beloved summer sports such as backpacking, hiking, trail running, kayaking and rafting.

Two federal agencies’ decision Monday to green-light construction of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta twin-tunnels plan is an unwelcome setback for opponents of the project. But it’s not the huge milestone that proponents are claiming. The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opinion merely said that building the tunnels “doesn’t deepen any harm” to several endangered species.  “Deepen” is the key here. In effect, they’re saying that the impact of taking too much water out of the Delta in recent years has been so detrimental that building the tunnels won’t make much difference.

The controversial water diversion tunnels proposed in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta may be the biggest waterworks up for review anywhere in the world. And this $17 billion project requires a variety of permits and approvals before construction can begin. Gov. Jerry Brown hopes to start building in 2018, but there are many steps ahead before a single bucket of dirt can be shifted. There are environmental impact studies, federal and state endangered species permits, federal dredging permits and an eminent domain process to acquire land – all still in the works.