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Chance of Rain blog: Thunk Tank – Laugh, cry, move to somewhere wetter, but believe it: Among the architects of the plan to save the Delta are many of the same brains behind the QSA

Posted by: Maven on January 19, 2010 at 7:34 am

co river mapFrom Emily Green at the Chance of Rain blog:

“Next Monday, the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water and Power will be holding a local hearing at the Los Angeles offices of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The subject?

“California drought solutions.”

If that seems an odd thing to be contemplating during a deluge, it’s not. Most of our water does not come from local rainfall, but from other places, which, if not in a drought, are definitely in a jam. Last week, that jam became orders of magnitude worse as Sacramento judge Roland Candee struck down something called the Quantification Settlement Agreement.

This 2003 wad of contracts profoundly affects how California may legally divide and manage its share of the Colorado River, which is along with Owens Valley in the Eastern Sierra and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Northern California one of the three main sources of fresh water for Southern California.

Candee’s voiding of the QSA last week is scary for at least two reasons. First, Southern Californian cities could lose vast amounts of water secured in trades under the agreement. Second, and, most nerve-wracking for this writer, the geniuses behind the QSA are in many cases the same brains behind the much-vaunted package of bills that we’re told will “fix” the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. These bills are due to come before California voters in November in the form of an $11bn ballot measure. … “

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January 19, 2010 · Filed Under Salton Sea

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