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Bay-Delta VA: A Sweetheart Deal to Subsidize Agribusiness

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
It’s not surprising, given who was in the room negotiating this backroom deal, that the VAs are a sweetheart deal that would subsidize the mitigation obligations of the state’s largest irrigation districts and industrial agribusinesses, undermining the Public Trust.

Honey, the VAs Shrunk the Delta Flows

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
Since the State Water Resources Control Board began its public process to update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan in 2008, the amount of water proposed for the Bay-Delta environment has continuously shrunk.

Who (and What) Are Excluded from Backroom Bay-Delta "Deal"

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
The State’s recent announcement of a proposed voluntary agreement for the Bay-Delta watershed is the result of an illegitimate, exclusionary backroom negotiation that fails to protect the health of the estuary, its native fish and wildlife, and the jobs and…

Drought Shows that CA’s Water Rights System Is Bankrupt

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
The only way out of this cycle of destruction—other than praying for rain, which is not a strategy—is to reduce water deliveries and diversions in order to maintain adequate carryover storage in Shasta and upstream reservoirs this year.

Saving California's Salmon Is Now Up to Governor Newsom

Expert BlogCaliforniaKate Poole
Keeping the Trump administration's biological opinions in place would likely drive California’s wild salmon—as well as their habitat in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary and all who depend on them—into a death spiral from which they may never recover.

California Should Strengthen Commitment to Ropeless Fishing Systems

Expert BlogCaliforniaDr. Francine Kershaw
An updated draft Conservation Plan issued by the state represents a positive step towards reducing entanglements of whales and sea turtles, but the state should do more to advance ropeless (or "pop-up") fishing systems.

Ten New Environmental Laws in California

Expert BlogCaliforniaVictoria Rome

The environmental community continued to chalk up wins in the state legislature despite another unusual year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a gubernatorial recall election.

Biden Admin Takes 1st Step to Undo Trump’s Delta Destruction

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

The Trump Administration’s biological opinions were the result of scientific misconduct, political interference, and bias. The end result is nothing short of a plan for extinction that is playing out before our eyes.

California Enacts Plan for Smart Offshore Wind Development

Expert BlogCaliforniaSandy Aylesworth, Mohit Chhabra

When AB 525 became law last month, California set the standard for floating offshore wind energy development in the United States. The law requires California to develop offshore wind in a way that creates good jobs, protects California's unparalleled marine…

California’s Wildly Inequitable Water Rights System

Expert BlogCaliforniaKate Poole

It's time to put the interests of the community above the interests of the ancestors of a handful of white settlers who staked their claim to our public resources over a century ago.

California Oil Disaster Brings New Urgency to Calls to Ban Drilling

Expert BlogCalifornia, United StatesValerie Cleland

We have to transition away from fossil fuels. That’s why it’s essential that Congress pass budget reconciliation with offshore drilling provisions—and enact President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

PennEast Gas Pipeline Cancelled by Developers

Expert BlogNew York, New Jersey, Delaware, PennsylvaniaSahana Rao

Development of the PennEast Pipeline has been put on hold! This fracked gas pipeline would be disastrous for the Delaware River Basin and would exacerbate the climate crisis—here’s how we can stop the pipeline permanently.