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California Democrats in Congress launched challenges Thursday to a proposed Obama administration settlement with a powerful California water district, including announcing their own probe of the deal.

The multi-front assault by the deal’s opponents comes as the U.S. Department of Interior and other federal agencies near conclusion on negotiations related to the settlement with Central California’s Westlands Water District, the country’s largest irrigation district.

One of the state’s driest regions has long been flush with water, a reminder that — even in the current, ridiculous system — it’s possible to have plenty of water if the bureaucrats plan ahead and (repeat slowly) build water-storage facilities.

Furthermore, while desalination is one critical piece of the state’s long-term water puzzle, the environmentalist-friendly California Coastal Commission has delayed permits for a desalination plant in Huntington Beach that’s nearly identical to the one recently opened Carlsbad. The commission’s concern? Its effect on plankton.

The San Diego County Water Authority has filed its fourth lawsuit against the Los Angeles based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, alleging that MWD’s newly adopted rates for 2017 and 2018 violate California law, the state Constitution and common law.

San Diego contends that increases require rates to be set based upon cost of service. MWD adopted the rates at its April 12 meeting

Just days after a powerful Southern California water agency announced it was spending $175 million to buy five islands in the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a coalition of opponents has sued to demand environmental review of the purchase.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Joaquin Superior Court by San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties, the Central Delta and Contra Costa water agencies, and two environmental groups. It alleges the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California improperly exempted itself from the state environmental review process while the purchase agreement was being hashed out.

 

 

The San Joaquin River and its three main tributaries ranked second on a list of “endangered” streams released by a national group.

Water demand from farms and cities has sapped the San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers, says the annual report from American Rivers, based in Washington, D.C.

“Dams, levees and excessive water diversions have hurt river habitat and opportunities for recreation and community access,” says the report released Tuesday. “The river’s salmon and steelhead populations are on the brink of extinction.”