The Environmental Water Caucus:

The Mission of the Environmental Water Caucus is to achieve comprehensive, sustainable water management solutions for all Californians. EWC and its members employ political, legal and economic strategies to restore ecological health, improve water quality and protect public trust values throughout the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta estuary and the Central Valley/Sierra Nevada watersheds.

The EWC was formed in 1991. Active members include most groups advocating for equitable and sustainable California water resource use.

EWC Responds to the Delta Plan DEIR

In 2009, the California legislature created the Delta Stewardship Council to devise a plan for the Delta, that would achieve the coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protect, restore, and enhance the Delta ecosystem. The Delta Stewardship Council released a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on their proposed Delta Plan in November 2009.
Unfortunately, the Plan, and the DEIR are so flawed that the EWC calls for them to be withdrawn, rewritten, and re-circulated.
Even though the DEIR evaluated an alternative (Alternative #2) to the proposed plan that purports to be suggested by the EWC, the Delta Stewardship Council loaded the alternative with so many poison pills that it might not be recognized as coming from the EWC.
Some of the DEIR's most egregious flaws are:

  • It perpetuates the myth that existing water exports are sustainable;
  • It suggests that 'water supply reliability' is shorthand for a policy to increase Delta water exports;
  • The proposed Delta Plan is patently inconsistent with the increased Delta outflows recommended by the State Water Board; and
  • The Proposed Project does not comply with state law.
See the Executive Summary and our full comments on the DEIR here.

A Better Delta "Fix" Cost Estimate

The EWC has estimated the costs of proposed "improvements" to the Delta water delivery and eco-systems envisioned by the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (which includes transporting Sacramento River water around the Delta for export through a canal or tunnel capable of carrying 15,000 cubic feet/second) at 60 billion dollars. This figure is more than 3 times the current Bay Delta Conservation Plan's cost estimate for "fixing the Delta". The assumptions behind the EWC estimate are described here.

Water Use Efficiency and Jobs

A recent report by the Los Angeles Economic Roundtable found that public investments in water use efficiency projects stimulate economic activity that is twice as great as the initial investment. One person-year of employment is created for each $72,400 that is invested.

California Water Solutions Now

California Water Solutions Now, Third Edition, is a game-changing report published by a broad coalition of 27 fishing, public health, conservation, environmental justice, and tribal organizations. It includes comments related to the state water policy legislation that was passed in November 2009 as well as further discussions of water supply options.

The groups have released this report to inform the ongoing debate about the methods for supplying water to the state, particularly in light of the $11 billion water bond that is scheduled to appear on the 2012 state ballot. The report, in fact, proposes water delivery and ecosystem recovery actions that can be achieved in a more fiscally responsible and environmentally protective manner than the proposed bond measure.

California Water Solutions Now shows that, with real reforms, California can have a sustainable water future.

Download a copy of the complete report, or a powerpoint presentation of the report.

Para descargar una version en espanol del informe que trata los problemas y soluciones del agua en la comunidad Latina, pulse aqui.

Current EWC Campaigns: