almonds

Special Report: Retiring Toxic Farmland in San Joaquin Valley

For Immediate Release: July 14, 2015 Contacts: Sandra Lupien, Food & Water Watch, 510-681-3171, [email protected] Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, [email protected] Tom Stokely, California Water Impact Network, 530-926-9727, [email protected]   SPECIAL REPORT: Retiring Toxic Farmland in Western San Joaquin Valley Would Save Water, Environment and Taxpayer Money Land retirement 25x cheaper than Tunnel plan and could save 455,000 acre-feet of water   Sacramento, CA – A new report by EcoNorthwest, an independent economic analysis firm, estimates that 300,000 acres of toxic land in the Westlands Water District and three adjacent water districts could be retired at a cost of $580 million to $1 billion.   Read the report here.   Retiring this land and curbing the water rights associated [...]

LA Times’ George Skelton column knocks the ball out of the park!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; [email protected]; Twitter: @shopcraft; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta In case you missed it…  Los Angeles Times Capitol Journal: Gov. Brown preaches adaptation but ducks big fights By George Skelton 6/14/15 ExercptS:  "…As for the drought, Brown told Beutner that Californians need to "take water and use it and use it again and use it again. The metaphor is spaceship Earth. In a spaceship you reuse everything." “Gov. Jerry Brown speaks passionately about how humans — Californians specifically — must adapt to changing conditions or become extinct. Hopefully he is listening to himself. … “…Brown gets credit for holding back fellow Democrats on spending, although he is plowing ahead with [...]

Our response to Gov. Brown’s SoCal Speaking Tour on California Drought

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 9, 2015 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; [email protected]; Twitter: @shopcraft; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta Tunnels Opponents Respond to Gov. Brown Sacramento, CA- Restore the Delta (RTD), the leading opponents of Gov. Brown’s rush to build massive underground water tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom sustainable farms, salmon and other Pacific fisheries, today responded to Gov. Brown’s continued advocacy of his tunnels. “A month after telling critics of his Delta tunnels plan to ‘shut up,’ Governor Brown is on a Southern California speaking tour to tout his leadership during the drought. This follows on the heels of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s recent op-ed in the LA Times in which she continues to beat the [...]

Our responses to Gov. Brown on drought barriers and renaming of “tunnels” to “pipes”

For Immediate Release: Friday, May 29, 2015  Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; [email protected]; Twitter: @shopcraft;  Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta • Media Release #1: Tunnels Opponents Respond to Gov. Brown • Media Release #2: Tunnels Opponents Criticize Drought Barriers Tunnels Opponents Respond to Gov. Brown Sacramento, CA- Restore the Delta (RTD) and other opponents of Gov. Brown’s rush to build massive underground water tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom sustainable farms, salmon and other Pacific fisheries, today responded to Gov. Brown’s continued advocacy of his tunnels. “In addressing Sacramento business leaders yesterday, Governor Brown said that he is now going to call the Delta tunnels, pipes, because pipes are more popular. His reference here to pipes, and his [...]

WATCH: Will it be San Joaquin Valley almonds or the Bay-Delta estuary?

We released a short video on You Tube to make our drought concerns accessible to the public, calling for favoritism to end in the Brown Administration’s handling of drought measures and efforts to move forward with the Delta tunnels. Watch the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k8LFfpfQhs

Gov. Brown Trampling Laws, Water Quality & Habitat Under Cover of Drought Emergency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; [email protected]; Twitter: @shopcraft; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta Tunnels Opponents: Gov. Brown Trampling Laws, Water Quality & Habitat Under Cover of Drought Emergency No Permit to Build Barrier; No Water Quality Protection; Ineffective Effort to Protect Endangered Garter Snake Stockton, CA- Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Gov. Brown’s rush to build massive underground water tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom sustainable farms, salmon and other Pacific fisheries, along with its partners today made the following statement to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) regarding drought impacts, the installation of a drought barrier in the Delta, and violations of Delta water quality standards since the [...]

Drought Barrier Construction Threatens Giant Garter Snake: Points to Habitat Destruction During Future Construction of Tunnels Project

For Immediate Release: Friday, May 15, 2015 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; [email protected]; Twitter: @shopcraft; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta; Karen-Cunningham 925/354-2599 Stockton, CA – Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Gov. Brown’s rush to build water export Tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom sustainable farms, salmon and other Pacific fisheries, today responded to California Fish and Wildlife’s celebration of the 10th National Endangered Species Day by pointing out the department’s failure to protect the giant garter snake in the Delta. “The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) states that the purpose of the Endangered Species Act is to conserve imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend to prevent extinction,’” said executive director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla. [...]

In case you missed it: Bloomberg, “Save California Farmers From Themselves.”

Bloomberg Save California Farmers From Themselves APR 27, 2015 9:00 AM EDT By Daniel P. Beard You would hope the worsening drought in California would bring out the best in the state’s politicians, particularly those who profess to care about the waste of taxpayers' money. Alas, this isn’t the case when it comes to several important members of California's congressional delegation. Take Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, who is using the dire conditions to call for projects to channel water to a select number of politically well-connected farmers. "I'm from the Central Valley," the Republican congressman said, "and we know that we cannot conserve or ration our way out of this drought."  In fact, we don't know this because California hasn't seriously tried [...]

In case you missed it: Brown urges against finger-pointing as water woes worsen

DROUGHT: Calif. governor urges against finger-pointing as water woes worsen Anne C. Mulkern, E&E reporter Published: Thursday, April 9, 2015 California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) yesterday urged people not to assign fault as the state’s drought worsens. “The key challenge here, aside from getting the water, is to be able to collaborate together and not try to blame other people and point fingers,” Brown said. “This water system in California is extremely complex. It affects different people differently. Some people do much better than other people.” He made the comment to reporters before meeting with representatives from agriculture, major water utilities and environmental groups in Sacramento. That conclave took place a few days after Brown in an executive order required [...]

In case you missed it: “My thoughts on Governor Brown’s reasons for not including agriculture in mandatory water restrictions”

In case you missed it…   From: On the public record Blog   Tuesday, April 7, 2015 My thoughts on Governor Brown’s reasons for not including agriculture in mandatory water restrictions.   Governor Brown lists three reasons in the ABC interview below. The lack of delivery from the water projects and water rights curtailments of junior appropriators is already sufficient cutback. It would end Californian food production and displace hundreds of thousands of people.’ Our historical water rights system gives (some) farmers precedent. 1.  This argument doesn’t impress me much, because we know that farmers are still getting water. They had a cheap surface water cutback, but replaced that supply with groundwater.  About 500,000 acres out of 9,500,000 acres were [...]