For Immediate Release: June 4, 2021Contact:Tim Stroshane, Restore the Delta, 510-847-7556Tom Stokely, Save California Salmon, 530-524-0315Matt Holmes, Little Manila, 415-254-3546 Sacramento – Today, a coalition of environmental, fishing, and social justice organizations sent to state and federal water officials a formal protest against the proposed “Temporary Urgency Change Petition” (TUCP) submitted by the California Department of Water Resources and United States Bureau of Reclamation.The formal letter of protest sent to agencies today, explains that: The State Water Board has statutory water rights and constitutional authority over what becomes of Petitioners’ supplies that remain. In the service of reasonable protection of public trust resources, sacred and native fish species, and Delta communities from water-borne and aerosol toxins from harmful algal blooms, [...]

Grab a beer after work and some food, and join us for a Restore the Delta General Membership Meeting! DATE: Thursday April 1, 2021TIME: 6:00 PMWe will update our members on government processes, the voluntary agreements, flows, drought, flood, and the tunnel. Also you will meet some of our Climate Water Advocate team!We will answer questions and talk about what lies ahead for the estuary. Registration for this event is required. You can register here.We’ll see you there! We’ve been busy at Restore the Delta. Help us keep our programs going! To make an online contribution, click here.  Or you can print out this form and mail a check to Restore the Delta, 509 E Main St, Stockton, CA 95202. Thank you for your continued support.  

Did you miss our Town Hall on October 20th? No worries! You can watch it here.We updated our members on Delta processes, Delta news, the tunnel, flood planning, harmful algal blooms, Federal legislation, and other Delta issues.  We also had a robust conversation with members regarding these issues.All presentations can be found here. We’ve been busy at Restore the Delta and now we need your help. Restore the Delta did not meet its funding goals for its mid-year campaign. And we understand why. We have adjusted our staffing accordingly – two full-time employees – two very part-time contractors. We have cut our overhead to next to nothing. Yet, we are still scraping the bottom of the barrel as grants have been delayed, and in [...]

Guest Commentary: The Gulf Hurricane is a Call to Action to Protect Californians from Catastrophic FloodsMayor Michael Tubbs of Stockton and former state senator Mike Machado– MAVEN’S California Water 9/24/20“The next state Flood Plan must deliver effective flood solutions for all of Stockton and our neighbors. “The good news is that we know the best way to prevent a flood disaster. Improving local levees is only part of the solution. A main focus of preventing a flood disaster should be to design a flood plan that works with nature to restore rivers while reducing flood risk.  In the Delta, we can do that by building the Paradise Cut bypass. This desperately needed infrastructure can protect Stockton in the South Delta, just as the [...]

Harris, Biden’s VP pick, opposed USMCA, backed farm bill – AgriPulse 8/14/20Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s pick as his Democratic running mate, has gone on record opposing new trade agreements, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and has taken up the interest of farmworkers during her short tenure in the U.S. Senate. Harris, a former California attorney general, was elected to the Senate in 2016 to succeed fellow Democrat Barbara Boxer. Her four-year Senate tenure hasn’t produced a long voting record on agriculture and trade policy, but she supported the 2018 farm bill and took stands on some rural issues….”Senator Harris is a very smart and fair leader,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta in Stockton, Calif. “She will work productively with all parties to help [...]

by Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla In 2007, we produced our first Delta Flows newsletter and began our advocacy for increased flows to improve water quality for the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary.  While tunnel plans come and go (and come back again), we still have not been able to persuade the state that freshwater flows for the estuary aren’t just what is needed for restoring an idealized natural world, protecting certain types of fish, or saving Delta farms – freshwater flows are life. In 2019, Restore the Delta, as a leader of the Stockton Environmental Justice Initiative, made clear to California officials the real threat to public health and the health of the estuary itself as a result of proliferating harmful algal blooms (HABs). [...]

by Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director Last week, the number one box office hit was in the USA was “Jurassic Park” because drive-ins were the only theaters open during the pandemic. Jurassic Park contains some great science quotes that can be applied to efforts by the State Water Contractors, the Design Construction Authority, the Department of Water Resources and the Newsom Administration around the pursuit of a Delta tunnel and overall California water management.  “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” The question the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Design Construction Authority have been busy trying to answer in the affirmative is whether scientists (really engineers) could figure [...]

This is a message from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley. 6/10/20 Good Afternoon, The Water Boards received a report of significant cyanobacteria harmful algal bloom (HAB) occurring in Discovery Bay, including multiple locations at the DANGER level (highest threshold). This afternoon (6/10/2020) State Water Board’s HAB Hotline received lab results of the June 4th water samples collected from Discovery Bay by Central Valley Regional Water Board staff – results are summarized in the table below. Incident Details: • Extensive cyanobacteria HAB throughout the bay with elevated cyanotoxins in the bloom material that accumulates near slow moving areas (e.g. coves, docks). • Multiple cyanobacteria genus (Microcystis and Dolichospermum) detected at all locations sampled. • Microcystins exceeding recommended [...]

Federal Court Enjoins Trump Admin’s Delta Pumping in May – Doug Obegi, NRDC blog 5/12/20“Today’s ruling gives a brief—but vital—reprieve to salmon and other imperiled native fish in the Bay-Delta, and it’s an encouraging sign that Plaintiffs will eventually succeed in overturning these biological opinions.” RTD statement here. After Losing Several Key Battles Over Water, Delta Advocates See Hope in the Last Option Remaining: the Law – Bay Nature 5/13/20“So where are we now? The Voluntary Agreements are a fading dream. Lowered standards for the big water projects, both state and federal, are in force on the books. Everybody’s back in court. Those who want more water for fish and estuarine systems have lost several key battles in a row.” Chair Esquivel. Time to re-start [...]