Bay Delta Conservation Plan: DC Briefings Held

On May 25 and 26, participants in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) held briefings in Washington, D.C. to update Executive and Legislative Branch officials on the latest developments regarding BDCP.  The participants included John Cain, American Rivers; Dan Castleberry, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Campbell Ingram, The Nature Conservancy; Ann Hayden, Environmental Defense Fund; Laura King Moon, BDCP PRE Program Manager; Karla Namath, California Natural Resources Agency; David Nawi, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Department of Interior; Roger Patterson, MWD of Southern California;Jason Peltier, Westlands Water District; and Brent Walthall, Kern County Water Agency.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is a planning and environmental permitting process seeking to recover key aquatic and terrestrial species and improve water supplies for 25 million Californians and several million acres of farmland. Federal and state agencies, environmental organizations, fishery agencies, water agencies, and other organizations are working together to develop the Plan. When completed, the BDCP would provide the basis for the issuance of endangered species permits for the operation of the state and federal water projects. Because of state and federal requirements, especially those in the recently passed state water legislative package, the implementation of the BDCP needs to be coordinated at the state and federal levels.

The draft BDCP should be ready for public review and comment by November 2010. Issues discussed during the briefings included: The emerging federal role for the BDCP, progress on biological goals and objectives, an update on conveyance sizing analysis, science involvement in effects analysis, near term strategy, funding needs for early habitat projects, and key outstanding issues.

More information on the BDCP can be found here.

Documents distributed at the briefings are attached below.