Earlier this week, California’s Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water district in the U.S., voted not to participate in an ambitious, long-planned project to re-engineer the way water is shuttled across the Golden State. The Westlands decision is a setback for the project, a plan to route tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but California […]
California is world-renowned for its protection of natural resources, and its environmental laws are America’s strongest — far more stringent than their federal equivalents. In fact, the rigor of California’s environmental process has caused many high-profile projects to seek legislative exemptions from state review. So when a critical infrastructure project makes it through California’s environmental […]
Snow fell in Sierra Nevada on the last day of summer, giving the towering mountain range shared by California and Nevada a wintry look in September and making travel hazardous. Mammoth Lakes got more than a dusting Thursday in the first snowfall of the season, with 3 inches reported in the village. Snow coated the […]
It was 11:59pm last Friday, and Assembly Bill 313 sat silently in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it had slumbered untouched for weeks. Less than three hours later, it had passed both chambers of the Legislature and was heading to the governor’s desk. This is how the sausage is really made in the California Capitol. Or, […]
Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta Water tunnels project faces a major funding hurdle following a critical vote this week. The massive infrastructure project that would move water from the San Joaquin Delta down to Southern California lost support from the Westlands Water District after a vote on Tuesday. Will other water districts follow suit and bury […]
Save the California Delta Alliance (STCDA) has filed its third lawsuit to stop the Delta Twin Tunnels, Sept. 15, in Sacramento Superior Court. The Delta Tunnels project, sometimes called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) or California WaterFix, would divert water from the Sacramento River near Hood and carry it underground in twin 40-foot-diameter tunnels, […]
California Water Project Could Cramp Colorado River Plan
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /High Country News (Paonia, Colo.)Earlier this week, California’s Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water district in the U.S., voted not to participate in an ambitious, long-planned project to re-engineer the way water is shuttled across the Golden State. The Westlands decision is a setback for the project, a plan to route tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but California […]
OPINION: The Myths Used To Needlessly Delay The Cadiz Water Project, Debunked
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles TimesCalifornia is world-renowned for its protection of natural resources, and its environmental laws are America’s strongest — far more stringent than their federal equivalents. In fact, the rigor of California’s environmental process has caused many high-profile projects to seek legislative exemptions from state review. So when a critical infrastructure project makes it through California’s environmental […]
‘It’s Kind Of A Weather Roller Coaster’: On Last Day Of Summer, California Hit By Snow, Hail
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles TimesSnow fell in Sierra Nevada on the last day of summer, giving the towering mountain range shared by California and Nevada a wintry look in September and making travel hazardous. Mammoth Lakes got more than a dusting Thursday in the first snowfall of the season, with 3 inches reported in the village. Snow coated the […]
How Water Bill Was Resurrected In Legislature’s Final Hours
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Capital Public Radio News (Sacramento)It was 11:59pm last Friday, and Assembly Bill 313 sat silently in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it had slumbered untouched for weeks. Less than three hours later, it had passed both chambers of the Legislature and was heading to the governor’s desk. This is how the sausage is really made in the California Capitol. Or, […]
Delta Tunnels Project In Jeopardy
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Capital Public Radio News (Sacramento)Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta Water tunnels project faces a major funding hurdle following a critical vote this week. The massive infrastructure project that would move water from the San Joaquin Delta down to Southern California lost support from the Westlands Water District after a vote on Tuesday. Will other water districts follow suit and bury […]
Delta Tunnels Opponents File Third Lawsuit
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Press (Brentwood)Save the California Delta Alliance (STCDA) has filed its third lawsuit to stop the Delta Twin Tunnels, Sept. 15, in Sacramento Superior Court. The Delta Tunnels project, sometimes called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) or California WaterFix, would divert water from the Sacramento River near Hood and carry it underground in twin 40-foot-diameter tunnels, […]