While Gavin Newsom has tried to shoehorn in the Delta tunnel, state lawmakers have been adamant about not including the project in the state budget. With the July 27 deadline looming to agree to a finalized budget for California, state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom appear to still be split on the controversial Delta tunnel.
There will be no state lawmakers on the Colorado River Drought Task Force, though Capitol leadership has a lot of influence over who is on the panel. The 17-member task force charged with spending the rest of the year studying the Colorado River water crisis to help state lawmakers respond is starting to take shape, with most of the panel now appointed.
After decades of fighting farmers in court over how much water they can take out of California’s rivers and streams, some state lawmakers want to try something different: use taxpayer money to buy out farmers.
A proposal in the state Senate would spend up to $1.5 billion to buy “senior water rights” that allow farmers to take as much water as needed from the state’s rivers and streams to grow their crops.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
