The NAS-NRC Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay-Delta committee met in closed session today to discuss our final report.
One of the things my colleagues and I found surprising about yesterday's open meeting was the revelation that the Delta has a watermaster. I believe it came about matter-of-factly. All the presentations we've had in 18 months and this never came out. Granted, the appointment was not made until July 2010. The position was created by Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 (SB X7 1).
The man in the video is attorney Craig Wilson, the Delta's watermaster. He explains what his job is.
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Not everyone was thrilled with the appointment.
"The Delta watermaster is tasked with essentially harrassing long-standing senior-water-rights holders in the Delta whose rights go back, in many cases, 130 years," said Carolee Krieger, president of the California Water Impact Network. "Corporate agribusiness, with junior water rights in the Central Valley, are driving the recent Delta water legislature and the watermaster's agenda with complaints that the watermaster must investigate."
"We're really distressed," she said.
I also rediscovered the Little Hoover report on water management in California.
The Executive Summary: Download ExecutiveSummary201
More light reading. I'm glad school is about done.
Time to go home. Good two days.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo (Walt Kelly)
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