For Immediate Release: September 21, 2015  Contact: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter:@RestoretheDelta SHADES OF OWENS VALLEY Metropolitan Water District and Westlands Water District Moving to Purchase Delta Property Parcels in Path of Proposed Delta Tunnels Project UPDATED 9/23: Westlands Water District backing out of deal to purchase property parcels — see this story UPDATED 11:22 AM: Note paragraph 3, Westlands Water District is also moving to purchase Delta property parcels Los Angeles – On Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 8:30 AM, behind closed doors, MWD's executive committee has scheduled what appears to be the purchase of parcels for the proposed massive Delta Tunnels project.   The Agenda for the MWD Real Asset and Property Management Committee contains the list of these parcels within its [...]

**Media and public outreach cost money, make a donation to support our work.** Contact: Brian Smith, 415-320-9384, [email protected] Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, 209-479-2053, [email protected] In Case You Missed It… News of Interest Editorial: Twin tunnels plan sounds worse each day – Chico ER Every morsel of information released, discovered or leaked lately about Gov. Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels plan makes the project sound worse. Every new tidbit makes us wonder how and why this boondoggle is even a possibility. California to Seize Farms for Jerry Brown’s Water Tunnels  – Breitbart According to documents obtained by environmental group Restore the Delta, state water exporters and the Delta Design Construction Enterprise (DCE) division of the Department of Water Resources are planning to acquire 300 pieces of [...]

For Release: 8/18/2015   Contact: Brian Smith, 415-320-9384, [email protected] Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, 209-479-2053, [email protected], Twitter @RestoreTheDelta   In Case You Missed It August 17, 2015  Documents: Huge water tunnels not yet approved, but California already planning to take farms By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — State contractors have readied plans to acquire as many as 300 farms in the California delta by eminent domain to make room for a pair of massive, still-unapproved water tunnels proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, according to documents obtained by opponents of the tunnels. Farmers whose parcels were listed and mapped in the 160-page property-acquisition plan expressed dismay at the advanced planning for the project, which would build 30-mile-long tunnels in the delta formed [...]

For release: August 17, 2015 Contact: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, (209) 479-2053 Thomas H. Keeling, attorney for Delta landowners, (209) 474-1818 Conner Everts, Southern California Watershed Alliance, (310) 804-6615 DELTA TUNNELS “Confidential” Documents Reveal State Plans to Take Delta Farms Public opposition & lack of permits don’t deter Department of Water Resources (Delta Design Construction Enterprise) Under Brown Administration Lead   Sacramento – Newly released documents gained through Public Records Actions show that water exporters and the Delta Design Construction Enterprise housed within the California Department of Water Resources have already developed plans to “acquire” family farms and right of way in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta through eminent domain.   The “Acquisition Management Plan,” obtained from the Metropolitan Water District [...]

For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 18, 2015 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; [email protected]; Twitter: @shopcraft; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta; Bill Jennings, CSPA, 209-464-5067 Tunnels Opponents: State Water Contractors Not Satisfied Until They Grab Every Last Drop Out of Delta Watershed Salmon & Other Fisheries Near Extinction, Delta Farmers Reduce Water Use by 25%, State Water Contractors Say It’s Not Enough   <span style="font-size:16px"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 the Metropolitan Water District and the State Water Contractor’s complaint against the State Water Resources Control Board that Delta farmers [...]

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 [...]

Tunnel Critics: MWD Emails Show Water-Takers’ Secret Influence; Move to Gut Endangered Species Act Protections 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 a report in Energy & Environment Daily that shows water-takers are exerting undue influence over legislation, and directing a move to gut Endangers Species Act (ESA) protections. “S. Calif. water district exerts heavy influence on legislative negotiations Debra Kahn, Energy & Environment 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 [...]

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 [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, February 2, 2015 Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; [email protected]; Twitter: @shopcraft; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 [email protected]; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta January 29, 2015 In case you missed it… Brown’s tunnel vision could sink taxpayers Opinion – Orange County Register By Lloyd Billingsley “In his fourth and final term, Gov. Jerry Brown intends to start drilling two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Estimated cost: $25 billion. “Californians might consider the pitfalls of a smaller tunnel project in Seattle, “Each tunnel would be 40 feet high, 35 miles long, and, together, they would cost nearly $25 billion, part of the governor’s plan for the state’s water system. If subject to the same sort of cost overruns as Boston’s Big Dig, [...]