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Lynn Barris' Archived Water Matters Columns

Water Matters: Cal Fed
This article first appeared in August 1999. It is posted here for archival purposes. Some material on this page may be dated.by Lynn BarrisCalFed is coming to town on September 15. CalFed is the group of resource agencies, from both the state and...

Water Matters
by Lynn BarrisOn August 10, 1999 a petition signed by nearly 5,000 people was turned in to the Butte County Board Supervisors. This petition was in the form of an advisory petition. It was simply a way to inform our Board of Supervisors that many people in the county think the direction the...

Water Matters
by Lynn Barris CALFED and the Governorâ€™s Water/Park BondBay Area environmentalists are fuming over Wilsonâ€™s new water bond and so should the rest of Northern California, but probably for different reasons. The very narrowly-focused Bay Delta Advisory Council environmentalists do not want...

Water Matters
by Lynn BarrisCalFed Adds Watershed Management to Core ElementsRegardless of which of the three alternatives CalFed chooses there are six common programs that will be implemented. Originally there were only 4 common programs: Water Quality, Water Use Efficiency, Ecosystem Restoration, and Levee...

Water Matters: Butte County Water Commission
This article first appeared in September 1999. It is posted here for archival purposes. Some material on this page may be dated.by Lynn BarrisThe Butte County Water Commission met Tuesday, September 7. It was the first time they have met since almost 5000 people signed a petition saying that they...

Water Matters
by Lynn BarrisThere were a couple of interesting water-related items in the Chico Enterprise-Record in December. Lets put the whole picture together.December 2Metropolitan Water District, which serves the Los Angeles area, agrees to give Western Canal Water District in Butte County $2.73...

Water Matters
by Lynn Barris Bad Ag is at it again. Westlands Water District, in the San Joaquin valley, is one of the most politically influential water districts in the nation. They have BOUGHT and been using the flow from the Trinity River, decimating the whole river! Then because they farm in an area of...

Water Matters:
Using DWR to plunder county water, Part 1by Lynn BarrisThe Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Supplemental Water Purchase Program was mailed out from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in January. Program EIRs are general documents containing very little analysis, yet they...

Water Matters
by Lynn Barris This article first appeared in September 1999. It is posted here for archival purposes. Some material on this page may be dated.You donâ€™t have to be clairvoyant to know that most northern agricultural/rural communities will tell CALFED this month that they want large water...

Water Matters: Farming
This article first appeared in September 1999. It is posted here for archival purposes. Some material on this page may be dated.Farming is a tumultuous business. One year there is a huge crop with good market prices and itâ€™s as if youâ€™ve won the lottery. The next year Mother Nature is unkind...

Water Matters
by Lynn BarrisThe POWER (Public Officials for Water and Environmental Reform) Conference was held last week in Los Angeles. The focus of the conference was integration. The Key Note speaker was Amory Lovins. Mr. Lovins has just published a book with Paul Hawkens. The title is Natural Capitalism. Mr....

Water Matters: CalFed Hearing
by Lynn BarrisThis article first appeared in September 1999. It is posted here for archival purposes. Some material on this page may be dated. On September 15, 1999 CALFED held their public hearing in Chico. Butte County turned out about 250...

Water Matters
by Lynn Barris WatershedsThe watershed concept is not a new one. People have been practicing watershed philosophies for a long time in other states. As California and Butte County are not on the cutting edge in water resource management neither are they very experienced in watershed issues. It...

Water Matters: Conflict of Interest
by Lynn BarrisThere's not a Butte County Water Commission meeting that "conflict of interest" does not raise its head in some fashion. The majority of the commissioners are people who belong to the organizations that sell water, partner with insurance companies (who are the notorious bad-boys of water selling)...

Water Matters
by Lynn Barris Last Friday people representing watersheds from around the state met in Sacramento to discuss some new legislation concerning watersheds and the financing of watershed projects. Last December, Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt suggested it was time California and CALFED started looking...

Water Matters
by Lynn BarrisOn the Local FrontAt a Butte County Water Commission meeting held in Paradise, Commissioner Priscilla Hanford made a motion to change the number of votes needed to sell Lake Oroville water, then pump groundwater to make up for the sale (that's called conjunctive use). Currently it...

Water Matters
by Lynn Barris The California State Legislature recently approved a $1.97 billion water bond. This bond looks much better than the voter approved 204 Water Bond passed in 1996. This new bond proposition will be given the number 13 on the March ballot. Nearly three-quarters of Californians polled said...

Water Matters: Fall/Winter 1997
Conflict of Interest There's not a Butte County Water Commission meeting that "conflict of interest" does not raise its head in some fashion. The majority of the commissioners are people who belong to the organizations that sell water, partner with insurance companies (who are the notorious bad-boys of water...