Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Rejecting Federal Proposal, California Lays out Vision for Protecting Endangered Species and Meeting Water Needs
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 5 years ago on
November 21, 2019

Share

California’s water policy can be complex, and — let’s be honest — often polarizing.
Water decisions frequently get distilled into unhelpful narratives of fish versus farms, north versus south, or urban versus rural. Climate change-driven droughts and flooding threats, as well as our divided political climate, compound these challenges.


Wade Crowfoot and Jared Blumenfeld
Special to CALmatters

Opinion
We must rise above these historic conflicts by finding ways to protect our environment and build water security for communities and agriculture. We need to embrace decisions that benefit our entire state. Simply put, we have to become much more innovative, collaborative and adaptive.
For this reason, Gov. Gavin Newsom directed us earlier this year to turn the page on old binaries and develop a broad, inclusive water agenda.
Our agencies and the California Department of Food and Agriculture will take a big step in this direction in December when we release a draft Water Resilience Portfolio for public feedback. It will serve as a roadmap for the Newsom administration with a broad set of recommendations to improve water systems across our diverse state.
Much of what we are attempting has never been tried. Difficult trade-offs have to be made unless we can find creative solutions that balance all water needs. And even then, sometimes tough decisions will have to be made.

We Are Drawing on a Decade of Science

The protection of endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta requires our immediate attention. We have crucial pumping infrastructure that delivers water to two-thirds of our state’s population, but also impacts imperiled fish in the Delta.
In 2018, federal authorities embarked on an accelerated process to update the federal biological opinions, which set rules to operate the Delta pumps to protect endangered fish.
To ensure appropriate protection surrounding that process, those of us who are responsible for water management decided we could no longer rely on the federal process. Instead we are taking a careful, science-based approach to operating the State Water Project.
We are drawing on a decade of science to strengthen safeguards for fish and improve real-time management of the project that delivers water to 27 million Californians in the Bay Area, Central California, and Southern California. It was a departure from past practice, but a necessary one.
After careful review of the federal biological opinions released late last month, our best experts concluded they are insufficient to protect endangered fish. As a result, the state needs to protect California’s interests and values.
We remain committed to finding common solutions with the federal government and all those interested in ending the patterns of the past.

There Are No Magic Fixes

Top of our list is working together to develop a set of voluntary agreements that can implement the State Water Board’s update to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento and San Joaquin River systems and Delta.

Today, policy decisions are routinely portrayed as a win for one interest at the expense of another. Especially so in the environmental arena, where headlines focus on conflict while context and thoughtful nuance are often lost. 
These agreements aim to provide additional water, habitat, and science to improve environmental conditions in the two river systems and the Delta while providing water for other beneficial uses such as agriculture. Importantly, successful voluntary agreements will bring these benefits online quickly while avoiding a decade or more of litigation.
Today, policy decisions are routinely portrayed as a win for one interest at the expense of another. Especially so in the environmental arena, where headlines focus on conflict while context and thoughtful nuance are often lost.
When it comes to water in California, and all of its complexities, there are no magic fixes. What we do have is a strong commitment to move forward and not only adapt to the present but prepare for the future.
We believe there is an urgency to address various challenges, including environmental protection and climate change. It is critical we set forth strategies and tactics that are pragmatic and feasible, and that we forge synergies and linkages between the different people, stakeholders, and areas of our state so that we can rise above rhetoric, and truly work hand-in-hand toward one common goal on this issue. When it comes to water, California demands and deserves no less than our best effort.
About the Authors
Wade Crowfoot is California Secretary for Natural Resources, secretary@resources.ca.gov. Jared Blumenfeld is California Secretary for Environmental Protection, SectyBlumenfeld@calepa.ca.gov. They wrote this commentary for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.
[activecampaign form=31]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

DON'T MISS

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

DON'T MISS

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

DON'T MISS

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

DON'T MISS

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

DON'T MISS

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

DON'T MISS

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

UP NEXT

Trump Is a Revolutionary. Will He Succeed or Fail?

UP NEXT

We Need Proof of Life for the Makeup Artist Trump Sent to El Salvador

UP NEXT

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

UP NEXT

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

UP NEXT

Given Its Failures, Can California Manage a Transition to a Carbon-Free Future?

UP NEXT

Over a Century Later, California May Need Another Revolt Against Its Utility Companies

UP NEXT

California’s Economy Was Already Sluggish Before Trump’s Global Tariffs

UP NEXT

Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is Ours

UP NEXT

What if There’s No Way to Stop Trump’s Approach to Power?

UP NEXT

Zakaria Draws Parallels Between Trump’s Tariffs, Failed 1930s Economic Policies

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

1 day ago

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

1 day ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

1 day ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

2 days ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

2 days ago

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

2 days ago

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

2 days ago

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

2 days ago

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

2 days ago

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

2 days ago

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

It was with brash confidence that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that by 2035, the only new cars and light trucks sold in California would be e...

16 hours ago

16 hours ago

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

1 day ago

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

1 day ago

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

1 day ago

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

1 day ago

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

1 day ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

2 days ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

2 days ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend