News Articles

L.A. Times-Take a good look because you won't see this often: The Legislature's majority party trying to surrender power.

San Diego Union-Tribune-Prowling the halls of the Capitol, San Diego business leaders cornered lawmakers and ranking aides to the governor to press their case.

San Jose Mercury News-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he wants President Barack Obama to reconsider sending federal disaster aid to help California's drought-stricken communities.

Martinez News-Gazette-The professionally printed demonstration signs held by hundreds of Hispanic farm workers mingled with Tea Party Patriot banners on Thursday at a protest rally at U.S. Rep. George Miller’s Concord office.

Newsweek-Playing cards and a small wad of dollar bills sit on a pool table at Los Kiki, a dusty pool hall at the end of the main drag in Mendota, Calif. A breeze blows through a broken window, past six men hunched over the table, beer bottles in their hands. It is middle of a Wednesday afternoon.

Sacramento Bee-This has been a long, ongoing battle but there isn't anything more important to the people of this state, or our economy or our place in the world, and quite frankly the security of the United States, in my opinion, than a safe and secure, clean and abundant water supply for California and the businesses that rely on it.

Sacramento Bee-The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is in crisis. The Delta is the largest estuary on the West Coast, a fragile wildlife habitat and the crucial transition point for Northern California water flowing to the Bay Area and Southern California.

Contra Costa Times-August started out with a big step forward for the governor's plan to address twin crises in water supply and the environment when water officials, regulators and environmentalists belatedly published a 200-page outline of a key part of the plan.

Sacramento Bee-The debate over the peripheral canal – or the "conveyance" as it is euphemistically called these days – is the hottest issue in California since Proposition 13. Everyone has something to say about it, and all kinds of appointed commissions have done studies on it. And now, because opposition is so solid, the governor is talking about giving the whole thing to a commission, instead of the voters, to decide.

Sacramento Bee-The Delta is in crisis. All the water that flows from the northern Sierra and the Cascades to Southern California and parts of the Bay Area moves through the Delta, and the movement of that water south is blamed for damage to habitat that has threatened chinook salmon and Delta smelt. The courts have curtailed water shipments to save the fish.

Fresno Bee-With salmon on the California coast disappearing, I wonder how many billions of dollars will be spent on hatcheries, habitat restoration, fish ladders and even trucks in an attempt to save the species.

Riverside Press-Enterprise-California does not need another year of stalemate on water policy. The Legislature should not let old ideological battles again block progress on the primary water challenge facing the state: ensuring a reliable supply for the future.

Merced Sun-Star-We had hoped that the latest round of hearings on California's troubled water system would produce a comprehensive solution in the Legislature. But it appears that key Democratic lawmakers would rather talk about water than solve the problem.

Los Angeles Times Column – The "water buffaloes" like to frame their fight as farmers vs. fish. It is not. It's about farmers and fishermen.

The Washington Times – Supporters of California agriculture called on the Obama administration and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday to lift water restrictions that were imposed to protect the endangered delta smelt, saying the fish is putting farmers out of business.

The New York Times – SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta ecosystem is busted.

San Francisco Chronicle – The pitched battle over California's water crisis shifted from desiccated Central Valley farm fields to the Capitol Tuesday, with state lawmakers debating how to fix the maze of rivers, pipelines and state laws responsible for delivering water to millions.

Los Angeles Times – The chances that Sacramento will break the stalemate on California water policy this summer grew dimmer Tuesday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would not sign legislation that doesn't include bonds for new reservoirs and dams.

Stockton Record – SACRAMENTO - Legislators on Tuesday began vetting a package of water bills that could forever change the face of the Delta. But there is little time and lots to argue about, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has already threatened to wield his veto pen.

Sacramento Bee – The Legislature's fight over water is evolving into a fight over money.

Fresno Bee – SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday said he will reject any proposal to overhaul state water policy that fails to include funding for new dams.

Fresno Bee-Lawmakers say they are determined to start solving the state's water problems this week.

Woodland Daily Democrat-With California mired in a third year of drought and thousands of farm acres lying fallow, lawmakers are turning their attention from the state's budget crisis to another issue that is equally as charged: state water policy.

Mercury News-With the state's budget resolved for now, lawmakers this week will take up a comprehensive reform package that is the most ambitious attempt in at least a decade to revamp management of the increasingly unreliable Delta.

Sacramento Bee-What was billed as a "million boat float" to protest plans to build a peripheral canal in the Delta looked like it might wash up short Sunday. A rubber dinghy carrying protest signs was the only boat obviously connected to the event at a riverside press conference at Sacramento's Robert T. Matsui Waterfront Park.

S.F. Chronicle-The California Legislature reconvenes today, after a three-week break following a bruising budget battle, to face some of the state's thorniest issues: water, prisons and spending.

The Desert Sun-With California mired in a third year of drought and thousands of farm acres lying fallow, lawmakers are turning their attention from the state's budget crisis to another issue that is equally as charged: state water policy.

San Diego Union-Tribune-Democratic lawmakers in the state Legislature have proposed five bills intended to overhaul how the state manages its water supplies.

Sacramento Bee-Gov. Pat Brown's proudest achievement was California's historic water system, including Oroville Dam – the nation's highest – on the Feather River and the California Aqueduct that carries water south to San Joaquin Valley farms and millions of Southern California homes.

Sacramento Bee-In the July 26 Viewpoint article "To save Delta: Ditch the groundwater myth," Mike Eaton paints a picture of the Cosumnes River that is largely inaccurate. The Cosumnes River is the last wild and undammed river west of the Sierra.