Rachel Becker
CalMatters-
Environmentalists and project proponents agree: Infrastructure bills crafted by legislators and Newsom are a good compromise. The package aims to speed up lawsuits for solar farms, reservoirs and other infrastructure, and relax protection of some species. -
The legislation would expand California’s authority to fine water scofflaws who keep pumping. Even if fines had reached $10,000 a day, “I’m not so sure we wouldn’t have done it again,” one rancher says. -
The Newsom administration unveiled a roadmap for bolstering the state water supply. But the plan — which has few details, distant deadlines and scant plans for agriculture — has been met with criticism. -
The California Coastal Commission voted 8-to-2 despite the ecological risks to the Monterey Bay coast, high costs of the water and a divide between affluent and lower-income communities. -
The penalty is the maximum the ranchers — who pumped Shasta River water for eight days — could face under state law. It amounts to about $50 per rancher, which is no deterrent, ranchers and officials agree. -
Imperial Valley farmers and Southern California cities would get 9% less water from the Colorado River than the amount allocated under their senior rights. -
After its driest three-year stretch on record, California braces for another year with below-average snow and rain. Conditions are shaping up to be a “recipe for drought.” -
During one of the driest years on record, California legislators didn’t approve laws to protect depleted groundwater or boost water supplies. -
A standoff over shutting down ranchers’ pumps signals a flareup of water wars as California is gripped by seemingly endless drought. “To hell with it. We’re starting the pumps,” one Siskiyou County rancher said. -
Warning that the supply will shrink by 10% due to climate change, Newsom sets targets for recycled water and increased storage. But deadlines are distant, details are scant and there is no conservation mandate.
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Newsom’s priorities — for the last three weeks of the session — include ramping up targets for greenhouse gas reductions and clean electricity, and creating safety zones around new oil wells. -
The tunnel project, which would cost billions and take decades, aims to help shore up water supplies in much of California. The new environmental impact report outlines the impacts.
