Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Water Agency News Category
Click here to view all posts

On the Public Record blog: Maybe Cheney’s fourth branch of government can save Westlands.

Posted by: Maven on February 21, 2010 at 8:09 am

From the On the Public Record blog:

“Everyone is all “powerful corporate agribusiness pulling strings in Congress for WATER GRAB!!!” but what this Feinstein/Westlands ploy shows me is that Westlands is pretty well out of options, and they don’t have enough power to pull off the options they try.

This move, Sen Feinstein adding a rider onto an entirely different Congressional jobs bill. What does it show? First, that the state courts aren’t getting it done for Westlands. They’re fighting in Judge Wanger’s court, and between the two listed species (smelt and salmon) and the two species protection laws (federal and state), Judge Wanger’s efforts can’t get both sets of pumps turned on for more than a couple days. They can’t get any traction elsewhere in the state. Gov. Schwarzenegger may take pictures with the faux Latino Water Coalition, but he doesn’t have the clout to sway anyone on anything; the speaker from the Little Hoover Commission at the water law symposium said he sees little political will to change the ESA (state or federal); the farthest the legislature is willing to go is to create a separate panel to (maybe) OK a Peripheral Canal (in ten years) so long as every single legislator is bought off with some nice watershed projects in her district. … “

Continue reading this post from the On the Public Record blog by clicking here.

February 21, 2010 · Filed Under Water Agency News

Comments

Leave a Reply