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Delaying Vote on California’s Delta Tunnels Gives Estuary Hope

On Aug. 28, the Central Basin Water Board voted, 5-2, to postpone a decision on California Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed Delta Tunnel project (also known as California Water Fix) until rate impacts of the project can be clarified. Specifically, officials are concerned about the burden citizens from poorer areas of Los Angeles County will bear without seeing an increase of water supplies. The $25 billion California Water Fix proposes to construct several massive underground tunnels that will update California’s water infrastructure by diverting more water, making the delivery more reliable and improving environmental conditions.

Frustration, Friction Flashed Behind the Scenes as Oroville Dam Emergency Grew

In the confusion and chaos of the emergency at Oroville Dam, as thousands of residents were being evacuated, public safety officials and others involved in managing the crisis found themselves clashing with the people operating the nation’s tallest dam. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea questioned an assertion by the director of the state Department of Water Resources that the situation was stabilizing.

Taxpayer Money Was Wrongly Used to Plan California Water Tunnel Project, Federal Audit Says

A federal agency left U.S. taxpayers on the hook for $50 million in water project costs that should have been paid by Central Valley irrigation districts, according to an inspector general’s report released Friday. The audit found that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation improperly subsidized the districts’ share of planning costs for a controversial proposal to build two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

BLOG: Why did the Fed Interior Dept misuse $84 million for California Delta Tunnels planning?

Mary Kendall, the deputy federal inspector general for the U.S. Department of Interior, today issued a 42 page report detailing the misuse of the money and the recommendations made to the state and federal agencies to resolve the issue. “The audit says that California water districts — and not federal taxpayers — were supposed to bear the costs of the $16-billion water project,“ the Associated Press reported via the LA Times. “The inspector general says federal authorities also did not fully disclose to Congress or others that it was covering much of the cost of the project’s planning.”

Governor’s Delta Tunnels Scheme Sees $50 Million in Federal Funds Misspent

The twin water tunnels project pushed by Gov. Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. as a substitute for his voter-rejected Peripheral Canal have seen at least $50 million misspent by the Bureau of Reclamation, one of the supporters of the controversial project. That’s the charge by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, in a report Friday.

The US West Had a Snowy Winter, So Why the Fiery Summer?

Acrid yellow smoke clogs the skies of major Western U.S. cities, a human-caused fire in the Columbia River Gorge rains ash on Portland, Oregon, and a century-old backcountry chalet burns to the ground in Montana’s Glacier National Park. Wildfires are chewing across dried-out Western forests and grassland, putting 2017 on track to be among the worst fire seasons in a decade.

Concerns Raised About Lagoon Dredging

Plans to dredge Agua Hedionda Lagoon and place the sand on Carlsbad beaches suffered a setback this week after residents raised concerns about pollutants. The city’s Planning Commission delayed approval of a permit needed for the project, scheduled to start in January, until more information can be gathered about the quality of the sand to be dredged.

Federal Policy Change Criticized for Giving ‘Free Pass’ to Controversial Desert Water Project

In 2015, the federal government issued a decision that temporarily blocked Cadiz Inc.’s plan to sell groundwater from the Mojave Desert, ruling the company would need a permit to build a water pipeline alongside a railroad. That decision by the federal Bureau of Land Management, however, was based on a 2011 legal opinion that railroads could only authorize other types of uses “that derive from or further a railroad purpose.”

Agencies Urge California Water Board to Approve Salton Sea Agreement

Three agencies are urging California’s top water regulators to approve an agreement that would commit the state to following through on its pledges at the Salton Sea, even as state funding for the shrinking lake remains an open question. The State Water Resources Control Board met Thursday to hear comments on the proposed agreement, which sets targets for state agencies tasked with building thousands of acres of ponds, wetlands and other dust-control projects around the lake over the next 10 years.

The Delta Tunnels: It’s Crunch Time

In terms of how to guarantee a good water supply for Southern California during all these weather changes, I wrote an article for CityWatch recently, “Life Without Water, Or Why the Delta Tunnel Is So Critical to LA.” On September 26 there is a key vote coming up at the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) as to whether the project will move forward with their approval.