FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com; Twitter: @shopcraft; @MrSandHillCrane; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 barbara@restorethedelta.org; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta
Water Export Tunnel Proponents in “Pay to Play” Scandal
Sacramento, CA – In an opinion piece by Robert Gannon, co-editor of the East Bay Express, Mr. Gannon reveals that in the current Sloat, Higgins lobbying scandal, one of Sloat’s clients has been the Metropolitan Water District (MWD). MWD has been lobbying in recent years for construction of the Delta tunnels.
“…Another of Sloat’s clients is the powerful Metropolitan Water District, which supplies water to much of Southern California. In the past decade, Metropolitan has paid Sloat’s firm $1.89 million, and in the past few years, his primary job on behalf of the district has been to lobby for the construction of two giant water tunnels in the Central Valley that would ship Northern California river water to the south.”
East Bay Express, “Pay to Play in the State Capital,” Feb. 12, 2014 http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/pay-to-play-in-the-state-capital/Content?oid=3836299&mode=print
“This connection to the pay to play relationship between Sloat’s firm, Metropolitan Water District, and Governor Brown may very well explain why Gov. Brown refuses to meet with leaders from the Delta community regarding the Bay Delta Conservation Plan,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. “It may also help explain why Gov. Brown recently said that he has asked President Obama to have Federal scientists ‘cooperate’ with moving the project forward, even though the Environmental Impact Report reveals that it will not protect Delta fisheries or make any additional water for Californians. And it may explain why the governor has failed to call for a comprehensive cost benefit analysis that will show who will pay vs. who will benefit from the project.”