What ‘President Trump’ Might Mean For Delta

Details

Publish Date:
November 9, 2016
Author(s):
Source:
Stockton Record
Related Person(s):

Summary

The joke on social media after Donald Trump’s victory early Wednesday was that the tears of liberal Californians would refill the state’s reservoirs and end the drought.

Since that doesn’t seem to have worked, it’s now a matter of waiting to see what policies the president-elect might push after Inauguration Day.

“If you assume that there’s the possibility of changes in the way that the Endangered Species Act is implemented, or changes in the law itself, then that changes the dynamics of the Delta controversies,” said Barton “Buzz” Thompson, senior fellow with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

The impact on the Delta tunnels is unclear. The tunnels must be permitted by federal agencies before they can be built; a Trump administration could loosen the terms of those permits and may be more inclined to pitch in federal funding, Thompson said.

On the other hand, water users might see relaxation of the endangered species rules as a preferable alternative to paying for the giant tunnels, he said.

Read More