FRESNO, CA— California Water Commissioners are under fire for the recent vote to reject funding the Temperance Flat Dam; San Joaquin Valley elected officials rallied together in a press conference last week at Fresno’s City Hall to express their dismay, disorientation, and disappointment in the 4-3 voted decision.
Watch full video of the above press conference to get the full gist of how elected officials really feel about the vote against the water project in which they were seeking $1 billion in state-bond funding.
The California Water Commission consist of nine members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Seven members are chosen for the general expertise related to the control, storage, and beneficial use of water and two are chosen for their knowledge of the environment.
Current members include chair Armando Quintero of San Raphael who is the executive director of the University of California Merced Sierra Nevada Research Institut; vice chair Carol Baker of Sacramento who was chair of the California Fish and Wildlife Strategic Vision Blue Ribbon Citizens Commission in 2011 and an independent water policy consultant; Andrew Ball of Berkeley is a partner with a consulting firm specializing in real estate development services, project design, and pre-construction and construction management for large commercial projects; Joseph Byrne of Los Angeles is in counsel attorney and is a member of the firms environmental and natural resource law; Daniel Curtin of Sacramento has served as director for the California Conference of Carpenters since 2001; Joe Del Bosque of Los Banos is president and CEO of a diversified farm in the San Joaquin Valley; Maria Herrera of Visalia, CA who has been a community development specialist since 2014; Catherine KeIg of Pasadena, who has served as the interim Exposition Park manager at the California Science Center in 2014 and the CWC executive officer is Joe Yun who earned his bachelor of science degree in environmental toxicology from the University of California Davis.
During their meetings held at the state of California Energy Commission in Sacramento, CA, the,commission determines funding for each project based on staff presentation, applicant presentation, public comment, and commission deliberation and preliminary PBR (public benefit ratio) determination.
In 2014 California voters passed Proposition 1 which is the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014; it delivers $7.5 billion in water bond that will make needed investment in the state’s water management systems. The bond also dedicated $2.7 billion for investment in water storage projects and designated the California Water Commission as the agency responsible for appropriately allocating these funds. Eligible projects must provide measurable benefits to the Delta ecosystem or its tributaries.
On the contrary, public officials during the press conference confirmed that they had the adequate data to show the public benefits and the Delta ecosystem benefits.