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Board member Gary Osmundson, sued along with the Oakdale Irrigation District, had a judge removed from the case after the judge sided against the district in a pretrial ruling.

In other action related to the lawsuit on OID’s stalled fallow-for-money program:

• The board majority voted Tuesday to alter legal action against two of its own members, at least one of whom is the target of a leak investigation.
• In an unusual move, the board publicly released a confidential memo that answers some nagging questions about the fallowing program.

Barbara Vlamis, director of Chico-based AquAlliance.net, was dancing on the grave of the Delta Plan Thursday.

Her group was a among a coalition that challenged the environmental review of the plan, which includes plans for the hotly-contested twin tunnels. However, a judge’s decision in May, and a clarification this week, invalidated the plan because it did not meet the laws passed by the state legislature in 2009. Because the plan was invalidated, the questions about compliance with environmental review laws don’t apply, Judge Michael Kenny stated in a six-page document released Thursday.

 

The Western Agricultural Processors Association held their annual meeting in Monterey. The Association had several speakers including California Farm Water Coalition President and CEO Mike Wade. Wade gave an update on the state’s water outlook which has been relatively bad news for the last five years.

Wade says on top of challenging water conditions, the coalition was shocked to see two new proposals that look to limit even more of the available water that could be moved south. “Yeah, unusual proposals we are seeing this year from the national fisheries agencies and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),”

The Obama administration is awarding $48 million in grants in 13 states, mostly in the West, to help farmers and others conserve water and energy amid drought and climate change.

The money will pay for improvements to irrigation and water delivery systems as well as provide technical assistance for planning and engineering conservation measures. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the grants Thursday in Brighton, just outside Denver. He was in Colorado to speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen on Friday.

 

California and Victoria, Australia, are both drought-prone states that face major challenges in managing freshwater-dependent ecosystems and native species during dry times. Both states have experienced intense controversy over balancing water for environmental needs and agricultural and urban uses. But while California’s environment has suffered greatly during its latest drought—with many species pushed to the brink of extinction—Victoria avoided serious biological losses during an even longer drought. Equally important, Victoria enacted a suite of policy changes that improved water management for all sectors, not just the environment, and reduced conflict.