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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Frustration, Friction Flashed Behind the Scenes as Oroville Dam Emergency Grew
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento BeeIn 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 […]
Taxpayer Money Was Wrongly Used to Plan California Water Tunnel Project, Federal Audit Says
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles TimesA 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 […]
BLOG: Why did the Fed Interior Dept misuse $84 million for California Delta Tunnels planning?
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Red, Green, and BlueMary 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 […]
Governor’s Delta Tunnels Scheme Sees $50 Million in Federal Funds Misspent
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Central Valley Business Times (Stockton)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 […]
The US West Had a Snowy Winter, So Why the Fiery Summer?
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Associated Press (As published by Tween Tribune)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 […]
Federal Policy Change Criticized for Giving ‘Free Pass’ to Controversial Desert Water Project
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)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 […]