News Room: SB 27: Delta Water Project

SACRAMENTO - The California State Legislature has approved a package of legislation which aims to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and ensure an adequate supply of water for California in the years ahead. A key element of the package is Senate Bill 1 (in the Seventh Extraordinary Session), authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D- Palo Alto). Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D- Sacramento) is a joint author. read more ...

Sacramento – Governor Schwarzenegger today signed legislation to address the needs of the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta in the event of an emergency. Senate Bill 27, authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), requires the Office of Emergency Services to convene a Multi-Hazard Coordination Task Force that is responsible for emergency response planning in the Delta. Simitian said his goal with SB 27 is, “to make sure that at the moment of emergency, we know who’s in charge and what’s to be done; and that folks are properly trained for a successful response.” read more ...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers have nothing to show from last year's special legislative session on water strategy for California. But there's one challenge that cannot be put off any longer: fixing the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. read more ...

It's easy to get lost in California's delta, a vast network of channels, islands and marshes. Mercifully, GPS readings and marine patrols rescue befuddled boaters. But rescue missions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta itself -- where an environmental and economic disaster is unfolding -- are another story. While fish, farms and drinking water are all endangered, proposals to fix the delta drift into political swamps, never to be seen again. read more ...

ONCE the answer to many of California’s water worries, the problem-plagued Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta now faces so many question marks itself that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger advocates building new reservoirs and some variation on the old peripheral canal idea to ensure adequate future water supplies.

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Given the many issues the Delta faces, relying on it for two-thirds of the state’s water supply is risky. So much so that the Public Policy Institute of California has identified a canal as one of five strategies the state should contemplate. And, State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, has authored a bill that would require the state to consider a new management course for the Delta by January.

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Amid judicial threats to shut down water pumps to protect endangered fish, Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled legislation that would set a deadline for consensus for how California should maintain its largest source of fresh water -- the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. read more ...

Sacramento – Senate Democrats unveiled legislation today to improve the management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Senate Bill 27 will, among other things, bolster emergency preparedness, identify levees that need strengthening and enhance wildlife restoration. read more ...