LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, releases the following statement on the announcement by the California Natural Resources Agency on the state process to permit State Water Project operations and litigation challenging the federal biological opinion for SWP and Central Valley Project operations.
“We as a state and nation find ourselves in a highly charged political environment on many issues, including natural resources, yet both governments operate water projects in the Delta to maintain the California economy that must coexist on a daily basis. We have a fabric of agreements and regulations that have managed this coexistence peacefully and orderly for decades. Today the state agencies have outlined a workable path to crafting a state permit to dictate operations of the State Water Project under state Endangered Species law. Likewise, we believe that the recent federal biological opinion under the federal Endangered Species Act advances important new ways to adapt fishery protections and water operations based on real-time information. The state and federal governments have more in common than differences in terms of approaches to managing these projects. Finding that common ground is more important today than ever, or real progress in water policy in California will be simply impossible.”
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, provide water for nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.
