It is just as well that I am not writing water commentary until May. The forces in play right now really aren’t water related. Devin Nunes has been our own special topic here for nearly a decade, and now he might be brought down for covering up Russian infiltration in the Trump White House? Friends, I ask you. Be fair. How was I supposed to predict that? Just last week I thought I’d point out that Nunes has an unusual amount of leverage, as Majority Chair of the Intelligence Committee, and that if San Joaquin Valley growers want any particular kind of immigration enforcement from the Trump administration, they were almost uniquely positioned to get what they want. Growers used to own every inch of Nunes, and he had a bargaining chip that few others have. But that was last week. Now we know that Nunes is wholly Trump-owned and I’m glad I didn’t write that post.
So I don’t see the major stories in Water being about water this year. I wonder how the State Water Contractors are going to pay for repairs and structural improvements to Oroville Dam. Besides that, I’m watching the labor shortage play out and waiting for news of a trade war. If I weren’t scared of a nuclear war, I could almost enjoy myself.
On the public record 
Ha, that’s what you think! The CVP power customers are going to pull out of their CVP/WAPA power contracts in 2024 and significantly cut payments to BOR starting in 2020. CA’s renewable energy bonanza has undercut the market for expensive CVP power. It’s the beginning of the end of the CVP’s house of cards with water subsidies, as well as the CVPIA restoration fund. Some good, mostly bad. More later. Tom Stokely Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315 tstokely@att.net
See? Another story of a large scale force (cost of renewable energy) playing out in the water arena.
SWP contractors are unlikely to pay for the majority of Oroville repairs. Much of the cost will be subsidized by the Federal government through the likely soon to be approved Presidential major disaster declaration. The rest… I would be surprised if it isn’t covered by state emergency funds and the DWR. Either way, it will be tax payer funded.
It is very interesting! Thank you!