Water Diversion Plan Irks Northern Californians

A plan to divert water from Northern California to the state's agricultural heart in the drought-stricken Central Valley has residents and officials on the offensive.

1 minute read

February 13, 2010, 1:00 PM PST

By Nate Berg


The move is being pushed by Senator Dianne Feinstein, and it has angered some officials who claim the proposal was concocted in private.

"Feinstein wants to attach the proposal as an amendment to a fast-tracked Senate jobs bill. She is pitching the plan as a jobs measure to address the economic calamity in the Central Valley. It would increase farm water allocations from 10 percent last year to 40 percent this year and next, an amount that farmers say is the bare minimum they need.

Bay Area Democrats were livid, accusing Feinstein of concocting the plan in secret, upending fragile water negotiations that Feinstein has supported and pitting California's Central Valley against its coast."

Friday, February 12, 2010 in San Francisco Chronicle

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