California

The Fix is In – Steinberg Shuts Wolk Out of Water Bill Conference

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Just caught this press release by State Senator Lois Wolk, and my jaw dropped:

SACRAMENTO-Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) has withdrawn her authorship of Senate Bill 458 that would establish a Delta Conservancy.   The action came in response to being notified by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) that her legislation would be amended in a Conference Committee with provisions Senator Wolk and the five Delta counties opposed.  Wolk has been replaced with Senators Steinberg and Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) as the authors of SB 458.

“When I learned that the Conference Committee intended to alter key provisions of the bill, as well as other pieces of the water package, it was clear I could no longer carry this legislation,” said Senator Wolk.  “What began as a sincere effort to create a state and local partnership to restore the Delta and sustain the Delta communities and economy is becoming, day by day, amendment by amendment, a tool to assist water exporters who are primarily responsible for the Delta’s decline.  It is regrettable.  Without the Delta communities as working partners in this effort it is unlikely to succeed.”

Neither Lois Wolk, nor Mariko Yamada, nor any other politician representing the Delta have been allowed into the committee, and it looks for all the world like they’re gearing up for a peripheral canal deal that screws the Delta so that the hydraulic status quo can be stretched along a little bit further into the future. A region and an ecosystem long marginalized in favor of powerful interests has just had the last line of political defense stripped away.

Forget it, Lois, it’s Sacramento.

originally at surf putah. h/t Davis Vanguard.

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UPDATE – The Delta Counties Coalition now opposes the bill and wants it killed:

“To be perfectly clear, the Delta Counties Coalition opposes the Delta package, as currently drafted, and believes that the Legislature should not bring the package up for a vote today.  The number of changes required to make the package acceptable to Delta Counties is not possible in the time remaining.”

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The Fix is In – Steinberg Shuts Wolk Out of Water Bill Conference

Just caught this press release by State Senator Lois Wolk, and my jaw dropped:

SACRAMENTO-Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) has withdrawn her authorship of Senate Bill 458 that would establish a Delta Conservancy.   The action came in response to being notified by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) that her legislation would be amended in a Conference Committee with provisions Senator Wolk and the five Delta counties opposed.  Wolk has been replaced with Senators Steinberg and Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) as the authors of SB 458.

“When I learned that the Conference Committee intended to alter key provisions of the bill, as well as other pieces of the water package, it was clear I could no longer carry this legislation,” said Senator Wolk.  “What began as a sincere effort to create a state and local partnership to restore the Delta and sustain the Delta communities and economy is becoming, day by day, amendment by amendment, a tool to assist water exporters who are primarily responsible for the Delta’s decline.  It is regrettable.  Without the Delta communities as working partners in this effort it is unlikely to succeed.”

Neither Lois Wolk, nor Mariko Yamada, nor any other politician representing the Delta have been allowed into the committee, and it looks for all the world like they’re gearing up for a peripheral canal deal that screws the Delta so that the hydraulic status quo can be stretched along a little bit further into the future. A region and an ecosystem long marginalized in favor of powerful interests has just had the last line of political defense stripped away.

Forget it, Lois, it’s Sacramento.

h/t Davis Vanguard. originally at surf putah

Uncategorized

The Fix is In – Steinberg Shuts Wolk Out of Water Bill Conference

Just caught this press release by State Senator Lois Wolk, and my jaw dropped:

SACRAMENTO-Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) has withdrawn her authorship of Senate Bill 458 that would establish a Delta Conservancy.   The action came in response to being notified by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) that her legislation would be amended in a Conference Committee with provisions Senator Wolk and the five Delta counties opposed.  Wolk has been replaced with Senators Steinberg and Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) as the authors of SB 458.

“When I learned that the Conference Committee intended to alter key provisions of the bill, as well as other pieces of the water package, it was clear I could no longer carry this legislation,” said Senator Wolk.  “What began as a sincere effort to create a state and local partnership to restore the Delta and sustain the Delta communities and economy is becoming, day by day, amendment by amendment, a tool to assist water exporters who are primarily responsible for the Delta’s decline.  It is regrettable.  Without the Delta communities as working partners in this effort it is unlikely to succeed.”

Neither Lois Wolk, nor Mariko Yamada, nor any other politician representing the Delta have been allowed into the committee, and it looks for all the world like they’re gearing up for a peripheral canal deal that screws the Delta so that the hydraulic status quo can be stretched along a little bit further into the future. A region and an ecosystem long marginalized in favor of powerful interests has just had the last line of political defense stripped away.

Forget it, Lois, it’s Sacramento.