Posted by Barry Nelson in Living Sustainably , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
In many ways, the state currently has two ambitious processes planning the future of the Delta -- the Delta Stewardship Council and the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan process. The creation of the Council was the result of a high-profile debate in...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Living Sustainably , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Around the world, Americans are notoriously energetic and impatient. That’s both good and bad. I learned this first hand when I taught in China after I finished graduate school more than 25 years ago. I was struck by how common...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Living Sustainably , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The CALFED Bay-Delta Program has taken a great deal of abuse in some quarters. I’ve dished out a little myself, for the program’s failure to wrestle with issues like finance. But most knowledgeable people acknowledge that CALFED played a major...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Yesterday, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council voted to allow an extraordinarily limited fishing season in California this year. (The National Marine Fisheries Service will make a final decision within a month.) In the Bay Area, for example, the entire commercial...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The summit the salmon fishing community held yesterday in San Francisco was designed to get their story out to the public and decision-makers – that the future of their industry will be determined to a great degree by water management...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The future of California water policy is usually discussed in stuffy, windowless rooms, filled with veterans of California’s water wars. Frankly, there aren’t many events related to water that can be described as historic or inspiring. Today’s salmon summit, however,...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The extensive media coverage about water policy during the past year has often ignored many of those with the most at stake in the future of California water policy - salmon fishermen and women. Tomorrow, those folks will have their...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Three cheers to the Los Angeles Times for running this column “Deceptive Arguments are Being Made in California’s Water Wars" by Michael Hiltzik about the misleading arguments made by some in the current debate over California water policy and protections...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Living Sustainably , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
There’s a lot to be encouraged about in the Department of Interior’s announcement of initial water allocations for the CVP – as well as the reactions coming from many quarters. The focus of discussions today has been on solutions that...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
There are many complex reasons why legislation to block ESA protections in the Delta would be unproductive. One of the most important reasons, however, is simple: trust. The lack of trust among stakeholders has been a major obstacle to progress...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
For the past year, Central Valley agricultural interests have urged Congress to waive Endangered Species Act protections for San Francisco Bay-Delta fish species that are on the brink of extinction. Congressman Nunes has introduced sweeping legislation (H.R. 3105) to prevent...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
My colleague Kate Poole wrote here about the risk that, should it succeed in its efforts to invalidate current ESA protections in the Delta, the Department of Water Resources would put itself in violation of the California Endangered Species Act...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Yesterday, a federal judge refused the Department of Water Resources’ “nonopposition” to a request to block ESA protections for the delta smelt under the Endangered Species Act. The court, however, has not yet ruled on the request to weaken protections...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Tomorrow, a federal district court in Fresno will hear a request from water users south of the Delta for a temporary restraining order to block protections under the Endangered Species Act for threatened and endangered species that are harmed by...
Posted by Barry Nelson in Living Sustainably , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , U.S. Law and Policy
My post about opponents of protections for the Delta drew a response from the Pacific Legal Foundation, claiming that protections for the delta smelt are unconsitutional. My colleague Kate Poole has responded here with a short history of PLF's unsuccessful efforts...
