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On the Public Record blogs on the Delta Stewardship Council: Yet another boring explanation.

Posted by: Maven on March 12, 2010 at 5:22 am

From the On the Public Record blog:

“Was reading through this story on the oversight hearings for the new Delta Stewardship Council. Sounds like it was fairly exciting, as committee hearings go. Reading it, I am prepared to agree on some things up front:

1. I am perfectly happy to believe that Gov. Schwarzenegger and Sec. Snow are trying to stack this council, push through documents and hire consultants in service of building a Peripheral Canal.

2. I have no love for former CALFED, which I think went off track way back in the beginning when it believed its own talk about win-win solutions. Then it got weird for interpersonal reasons, which were an additional burden and hastened the end. (This is from rumor and distant observation, mind you. I wasn’t close and can’t absolutely vouch for that.)

3. I agree that presenting an incoming council with a whole bunch of nearly completed work is an extremely powerful way to set their agenda and narrow the field of potential outcomes. I do wonder at the issue of near-simultaneous deadlines, but can’t be bothered to sort through whether they’re really a problem. If the Legislature is bugged by the conflict, they can give clear direction. Mostly, though, I hope that when the full Delta Stewardship Council is seated and faced with pre-made decisions (as looks inevitable), they will keep the doctrine of sunk costs in mind.

So if you’re looking for proof of conspiracy that there’s an AGENDA, I’ll grant you all of those. But I do want to object to this one: … “

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March 12, 2010 · Filed Under Delta Issues

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