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The California Department of Water Resources is seeking validation of $11 billion in bonds to fund Gov. Jerry Brown’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta tunnel project, California Water Fix, which cleared its final environmental hurdle on Friday. In the lawsuit filed Friday, the agency says it’s seeking a judgment that confirms the validity of the bonds to fund capital costs of the tunnel project. The project calls for two tunnels up to 150 feet beneath the delta and three new intakes with 3,000-cubic-feet-per-second capacity and an average annual yield of 4.9 million acre-feet.

According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor (July 11), less than 32 percent of the state faces drought conditions and only 1 percent of the state is experiencing “severe” drought. Nowhere in the state are we experiencing “exceptional” or “extreme” drought. Governor Jerry Brown ended the drought state of emergency in most of California on April 7. A year ago, more than 90 percent of the state was in some form of drought. The drought’s end comes thanks in large part to so-called atmospheric rivers (AR) — warm weather systems that flow east from Hawaii and the western Pacific.

Water disputes are a fact of life in California, and the recent drought has only increased the stakes in their outcomes. That’s why it is concerning that a Merced Democrat wants to change the resolution process. In California, one agency administers water rules, plans and policy, while another issues permits and enforces water laws. Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, says a perception of bias taints State Water Resources Control Board policing efforts and dissuades many from rightfully contesting fines or cease-and-desist orders.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration gave the official go-ahead Friday for his controversial plan to bore two huge tunnels beneath the heart of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The state Department of Water Resources said it had finalized the lengthy environmental review of the $17.1 billion Delta tunnels project, officially known as California WaterFix. In what’s known as a “Notice of Determination,” regulators said building and operating the tunnels complies with the California Environmental Quality Act and won’t harm fish, wildlife or human health.

Fresh Sierra mountain snowmelt would make a better drink of water for rural Tulare County folk who currently rely on wells tainted by fertilizers, leaky septic systems and decades-old pesticide residues. Nobody argues with that here in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The problem is obtaining even a tiny fraction of the average 1.7 million acre-feet of Kings River snowmelt that heads mostly to farm fields each year. Even after securing the water, millions of dollars would be needed for a treatment plant, which is required for surface water.