Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 20, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Essence of life informs lawyer's practice, passion
Riverside Press Enterprise
Donn Zea and Jeffrey Kightlinger: Canal would help ailing Delta to recover
Sacramento
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Donn Zea and Jeffrey Kightlinger: Canal would help ailing Delta to recover
Sacramento
By Donn Zea and Jeffrey Kightlinger
Donn Zea is president and chief executive officer of the Northern California Water Association. Jeffrey Kightlinger is general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
It's been more than a quarter of a century since
When it comes to reviving and repairing the state's most important estuary and the heart of its water supply system, it isn't surprising that views tend to vary. Yet the importance of the Delta to the state's environment and economy is creating powerful motivators to find a solution.
As legislators in the coming months get further into the Delta issues, they will find something remarkable and historic among key leaders in the water community. There's now a broad, expanding consensus on the various elements of a Delta solution, including the need to physically isolate a recovering ecosystem from the movement of water supplies to two-thirds of
The bottom line is that it isn't enough to improve the Delta's outdated water system or to restore portions of the ecosystem. There must be a plan that addresses all the Delta's fundamental problems while honoring the water rights of
The estuary suffers from numerous wounds – invasive species, a collapse of the aquatic food web, pollutant discharges and the inevitable problems of trying to move large quantities of fresh water through a tidal estuary. Key fish species are at record low populations. New lawsuits and new water supply restrictions are narrowing the opportunities to move water supplies across the Delta from the
Some extraordinary work by the
A Delta canal is vital because it will restore the water system's ability to reliably transfer water captured in wet periods for use in dry ones. It will dramatically reduce the loss of fish from the effects of pumping. The key is to protect both wildlife and the water supplies for our farms and cities.
Improving flood management is critical. So is reducing the population of non-native predatory species that consume threatened fish such as salmon and smelt, and expanding water conservation statewide. Studies for new surface and groundwater storage proposals must be completed, such as a proposed Sites Reservoir in the
For
As for financing, those who benefit from a new project should pay. The public water agencies that would be supplied by a new Delta canal are on record as prepared to pay for this new conveyance facility out of their pockets, not those of all state taxpayers. The California Legislature will play a crucial role in finding the funds to underwrite the broad public benefits of restoring the ecosystem.
Undoubtedly there will be different perspectives among water leaders and other key stakeholders along the way. But we are farther along on this journey than many may realize. It's time to see this journey to a successful end so that water policy in
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1714583.html
Pioneering ecologist to head NOAA
Jane Lubchenco of
By Kenneth R. Weiss
The Senate gave its blessing late Thursday to key members of President Obama's science team, including an
The Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harvard physicist John Holdren as Obama's top science advisor and
Lubchenco said she was eager to get started because of pressing burdens on the economy and the environment, including global warming, polluted coastal waters and severely depleted fish populations.
"We really don't have a choice," she said in an interview. "We have to move rapidly ahead because of chronic problems that need immediate solutions."
Lubchenco, 61, will take a leave from her 40-member laboratory at
Her immediate agenda includes pushing for a National Climate Service to coordinate federal research into greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and shifting climatic patterns.
She said the logical home for a climate service is NOAA, because of its experience running the National Weather Service and its deep bench of climate researchers. And she cited increasingly sophisticated models that can help government and businesses make longer-term plans to cope with climate change.
"It's an idea whose time has come," Lubchenco said.
Obama announced Lubchenco's appointment soon after his election, along with other key science advisors including Holdren, who will lead the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy.
By including the new NOAA administrator as part of his core science team, Obama gave a boost to NOAA scientists who have long lamented the agency's low stature in
Lubchenco said Obama has declared it "a new day" for scientists at NOAA and other federal agencies.
"There will be no muzzling or muffling or distortion of science, or delays in science in this administration," Lubchenco said. The best available science will guide policy decisions, she said, and discoveries or updates will be shared "whether they meet our preconceived ideas or meet our agenda."
Lubchenco said she didn't seek the job but was won over by Obama's persistence.
When she met with the president-elect in December, she said, "I shared with him my ideas for how NOAA could provide the country with the best climate-change science, how we might restore the vitality of the oceans, recharge the economy and help the nation transition to a more sustainable way of living. His comment to me was, 'Let's do it.' "
Lubchenco said she and former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, who is in line to be her boss as Commerce secretary, are in sync on their priorities for NOAA. One shared concern is restoring the West Coast's salmon fishery. Their backgrounds and interests may signal a westward shift of focus in an agency best known for tangling with
Lubchenco's core expertise is marine ecology; most recently she led an examination of a newly emerging low-oxygen “dead zone” off the
She joined the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, which gave poor grades to the Bush administration's plan to restore oceans.
>From her experiences, she said, she learned what Americans want from the ocean: "It boils down to clean beaches, safe and healthy seafood, abundant wildlife, stable fisheries and vibrant coastal communities -- not just now but in the future, to share with our kids and grandkids. That's where we need to go. NOAA needs to lead the way."
Andrew A. Rosenberg, a NOAA official under President Clinton who is now at the University of New Hampshire, said that NOAA for the first time will be led by an acclaimed scientist who can articulate a vision for ocean restoration and isn't averse to difficult policy decisions.
"I would never underestimate Jane," he said.
Lubchenco earned a Ph.D. in ecology from Harvard and joined the faculty. She gave up her tenure-track job after two years to move to
She eventually went full time and has garnered awards that include a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, a Pew Marine Fellowship and the Heinz Award for the Environment. She is also past president of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, the International Council for Science and the Ecological Society of America. #
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-noaa-chief20-2009mar20,0,373783.story
Essence of life informs lawyer's practice, passion
Riverside Press
Eric Garner says people often give him funny looks when he tells them he's a water lawyer, and he understands why.
Turn the tap. Water gushes out. Who needs a lawyer?
In reality, water agencies, farmers, homeowners and businesses are constantly locking horns over water: how much of it they get and how much they pay for it.
The tug-of-war between these competing interests has intensified as the state supply shrinks due to drought, climate change and environmental regulations protecting fish species, and as demand grows due to population growth.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for instance, is considering whether to extend critical habitat protections to a rare fish in the
Therein lies the need for water lawyers, such as Garner, 46, who has carved a reputation as one of the state's leading water law experts.
Water Law Author
Garner, managing partner at Best Best & Krieger, has represented public agencies and private clients in numerous surface and groundwater disputes all over the state and is co-author of "California Water," a detailed guide to the state's water laws. The book was published in 1995 and updated in 2007.
In 2006, California Lawyer magazine named Garner Lawyer of the Year in the environmental law category for his work on a decade-long groundwater dispute between urban and rural water users in the
Respected
Wayne Lemieux Sr., a lawyer who represented the owners of about 10,000 acres of farmland in that case, said he spent about six months hammering out an agreement in face-to-face negotiations with Garner and other lawyers.
"Eric is old school. He's honest. He's dispassionate and capable," Lemieux said in an interview. "We had cross words once. It wasn't that cross. We got over it."
Garner's work has also taken him overseas, where he helped draft water laws in several developing countries.
In 1997, he was part of a panel of lawyers helping post-Apartheid
A few years later, he was hashing out a water law in the Punjab
International issue
This year, he began serving a two-year term as chairman of the International Bar Association's water law committee, which, Garner says, seeks to increase understanding of water law and improve communication between countries.
Although water disputes can take years to resolve, Garner said he is drawn to water law because it is such an intellectually, economically and politically charged issue.
It can be emotionally-charged, too, he said, right up there with gun control and abortion.
Garner, who grew up next to a stream in
"Practicing it seemed a better way to do environmental law than defending toxic dumpers," he said.
Garner cited Greg Wilkinson and Art Littleworth, other partners in the firm, as his mentors.
Drought, Access
Littleworth was appointed in 1987 by the United States Supreme Court to be a special master in what would turn out to be a long-running dispute between
As California grapples with a third consecutive year of drought, Garner says the state will need to adopt a host of solutions that includes increasing water storage and boosting recycling and conservation efforts.
He says he's confident the state will get through the drought, as it has done before.
"I think people do amazing things when asked," he said.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_garner20.3b39704.html
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