Dear Restore the Delta friends,   We need you to express your opposition to the federal drought bill, H.R. 2898, the Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015, by House Rep. David Valadao, a congressman who represents Big Ag in the Central Valley desert.   Please call your senator ASAP – especially Senator Barbara Boxer. If you already called, please continue to call your Senator until this bill dies. Thank you for your dedication.   H.R. 2898 will harm west coast salmon and fisheries, override key environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act, and will ruin Delta water quality for all Bay-Delta users (farmers, drinking water, native fish, and wildlife refuges).   This House bill is fast tracked [...]

“History never really says goodbye. History says, ‘See you later.” – Eduardo Galeano Articles • Gifted RTD alums • Speaking of the CA Water Fix…The Fix Is In Gifted RTD alums Restore the Delta, throughout its nine-year history, has been fortunate to work with brilliant talented people from every age and background – from Delta farmer Alex Hildebrand to local activist Javier Padilla Reyes; from river advocate Jerry Cadagan to League of Women Voters water leader Jane Wagner-Tyack; from fishing advocate Corey Cate to campaign assistant Jessica Iniguez. Some of our friends have passed from this world; some have retired and taken breaks from extreme public advocacy; some have left to further their education. As it has been with those [...]

Dear Restore the Delta friends,  For an update on the federal drought legislation, click here. No Delta representatives or fishery experts were invited to the panel hearing scheduled for June 2, 2015. It's back! We've been keeping track on federal drought legislation that will have horrible impacts on the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas. We need to act fast. We do not have bill numbers/titles yet for the House or Senate versions of the two bills, but we do know that the most recent House draft will harm west coast salmon, override key environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act, and will ruin Delta water quality for all Bay-Delta users (farmers, drinking [...]

Dear friends,  Watch our federal legislation alert. A pro-tunnels drought bill in Washington D.C. will lay the groundwork for water transfers regardless of conditions in the Delta. If this bill is allowed to pass, it will rid all the necessary obstacles to build the tunnels and expedite the project.  However, this drought legislation was made to be folded into other federal legislation, so it's important for you to call Senator Feinstein (202-224-3841) and your congressional representative and tell them you are opposed to over pumping the Delta and/or weakening protections of fisheries, in any Federal legislation under the disguise of drought. Take action today.  An easy tool to find your representative's and Senator's phone number can be done by going to https://www.opencongress.org/people/zipcodelookup — all you [...]

Read original story here. S. Calif. water district exerts heavy influence on legislative negotiations Debra Kahn, E&E reporter E&E Daily: Friday, March 27, 2015 As congressional talks continue over California’s historic drought, one participant in the negotiations has been more influential than it has claimed. Metropolitan Water District, a consortium of 26 public agencies that supplies water to 19 million people in Southern California, sent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) proposals for managing the state’s water that made it into bills that passed both houses last year, according to documents obtained through a California Public Records Act request. Emails between Met staff, Feinstein’s staff and others also reveal extensive negotiations last year over a draft bill [...]

Restore the Delta Responds to Westlands Water District Secret Settlement; Trawl Survey Shows Delta Smelt Population At All Time Low           Taxpayers Should Not Have to Shoulder Westlands’ Water District’s Debt Or Give Up More Water While System Is At Risk Sacramento, CA – Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Gov. Brown’s rush to build Peripheral Tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom sustainable farms, salmon and other Pacific fisheries, today responded to the prospect of a secret settlement of the debt Westlands Water District owes to US taxpayers and the near extinction presently of Delta smelt. Statement by Restore the Delta Executive Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla:            “The idea that the Westlands Water [...]

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” ― Benjamin Franklin Articles A less than tasty appetizer for 2015 A mixed up salad: Learning Delta Water Management The Meat and Potatoes of the Tunnels Project Remembering our friends And Christmas Cookies A less than tasty appetizer for 2015 Federal drought legislation failed to pass in the Senate this year and failed to move forward on the budget despite a Rule Committee waiver to legislate on an appropriations bill. We are grateful to our colleagues in numerous other environmental organizations and our participatory members for making your opposition to this legislation loud and clear to our elected representatives. But, we are not [...]