By: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla RECAP: Where The Future Flows – Next Generation Visioning On October 13th and 14th, Restore the Delta held its two-day symposium featuring next generation Delta leaders. Panels addressed: Climate Change Harmful Algal Blooms Sustainable Agriculture  Delta Environmental Justice Needs Tribal and Historical Inclusion Salinity, Water Quality, and Fisheries Delta Recreation and Public Access We cannot recommend strongly enough, why all our supporters should listen to these sessions in their leisure, like a podcast. Video Links – Day One and Day Two.Not only were these panels filled with researched, professional and accurate commentary, but the participants revealed what they want to see for the future of the estuary and within their Delta communities. We need to acknowledge that the Delta’s youth represent those [...]

Updating California Water Policy for Climate Change – West Coast Water Justice on Spotify  Currently, California is on track to lose most if not all native fish species within this century if we don’t adapt to climate change. West Coast Water Justice talks with Clifford Lee;  retired deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice who served the state for 40 years.  Clifford shares his expertise and recommendations for updating California’s water policy to mitigate the effects of climate change. He explains some of the policies that got us here and the nuts and bolts of the agencies that regulate and move water throughout the state. Listen here if you have Spotify. This symposium, sponsored by Restore the Delta, will be led [...]

For Immediate Release: 9/23/22 Contact:Rica Garcia, Environmental Law Clinic, Stanford Law School, (408) 398-4278, [email protected]; Matt Holmes, Little Manila Rising, 415-254-3546, [email protected] Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, [email protected], CA – Represented by the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford, California Tribes and Delta environmental justice organizations this week received a Denial of Request for Reconsideration from the State Water Resources Control Board in response to the coalition’s Request for Reconsideration of the Board decision in June 2022 of denying the coalition’s Petition to Review and Revise the Bay-Delta Water Quality Standards.   The Request urged the Board to address its decades-long failure to update water quality standards as required under state and federal law and its failure to set forth a pathway to remedy the discriminatory effects of that inaction on Indigenous Peoples, communities of color, and [...]

The proposed Tunnel is a 1995 answer to new challenges California faces in 2022.At the end of July, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) dropped the environmental impact report (EIR) on the proposed Delta Conveyance Project. While the Newsom Administration is wasting time and failing to solve serious problems in the present, RTD is busy tackling the massive EIR document for the latest version of the tunnel. We are focusing on operations, climate change, water quality, agricultural impacts, some fishery impacts, flood control, environmental justice, air pollution, and anything that degrades Delta communities. How You Can Help:There will be several official EIR public meetings sponsored by DWR and the DCA during September.Below you will find instructions from DWR on how to make a three-minute virtual [...]

By: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla Tunnel Trauma: Despite knowing for some time that the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) was advancing, when the Department of Water Resources (DWR) dropped the environmental impact report (EIR) for the project at the end of July, we, at Restore the Delta, felt like we were suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. The remnants of CalFed, the Chunnel, BDCP, CA WaterFix, and now the DCP – it is too much. There are so many other issues that need attention to restore the health of the Bay-Delta estuary and California’s rivers, including but not limited to harmful algal bloom research and mitigation, fishery health, habitat restoration, flood control, drought management, preparing for climate change impacts, managing invasive species, heat islands, [...]

For Immediate Release: 8/23/22 Sacramento, CA – Represented by the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford, California Tribes and environmental justice organizations have sent a formal Request for Reconsideration of the State Water Resources Control Board decision in June of this year denying their Petition to review and update water quality standards for the Bay-Delta.   The Request points out the serious deficiencies in the Board’s decision, including its failure to address the Board’s decades-long neglect of its duty to update water quality standards and its failure to set forth a pathway to remedy the discriminatory effects of that inaction on Indigenous Peoples and disadvantaged communities in the Delta. “The State Water Board has made a public commitment to addressing the State sponsored racial inequity baked [...]

This symposium will be led by panelists who are roughly 30 and under. This event will cover various Environmental Justice related topics, such as climate change mitigation as opportunity, Harmful Algal Blooms, EJ communities, public access, cultural and historical resources, and water quality and how they fit in Delta planning. It is vital that we build a base on current issues at home and make sure that the next generation is involved in planning. The event itself will help give voices to the next generation of Delta leaders, including their own concerns for their future and their concerns for the Delta. The plan is to collect data and empower our region by encouraging discussion and inquiry on the above topics.  The symposium will be a [...]

– Tim Stroshane, RTD policy analyst We got the news early Thursday when the Los Angeles Times reported that Governor Gavin Newsom had released a plan to deal with California’s aridification. Might be a new approach!  Newsom, however, did not anticipate the same day the institutional death of 21,000 captive fish under study at the University of California, Davis. Ironically, it appears scientists there were studying these fishes’ response to “environmental stressors.” Chlorine introduced into their “environment” was apparently the cause of their death en mass. “An example of research that was being conducted at CABA involved the investigation of bioenergetics and environmental stressors on fish species, which included green and white sturgeon, as well as endangered Chinook salmon,” reads the university’s media [...]

For Immediate Release: 8/11/22Contact:Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, 209-479-2053, [email protected], CA – Today, Governor Newsom released a significant new water plan “California’s Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future.”Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director, Restore the Delta, said:“The California water supply strategy document released by the Newsom administration today is a step in the right direction. “We are happy to see that many issues we have expressed concern about are being addressed. The challenge in California continues to be the execution of the plans. How do we hold ourselves accountable? How do we actually meet the standards that we set? “We will continue to monitor the planning and implementation of the described projects in this high-level document. We also maintain the voluntary agreements and the [...]