This could be an improvement, but the shaping of the new strategic plan, and how they modify the peripheral canal, will let us know for sure.
An excerpt.
CalFed reorganization includes new Delta plan
By Mike Taugher
CONTRA COSTA TIMES, Monday July 3, 2006
The foundering CalFed effort to fix the Delta and stabilize its delivery of water across the state will be reorganized by the new state budget, with the disbandment of the agency that runs the program and the launch of a new Delta strategic plan.
The strategic plan will be developed by Sunne McPeak, secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing, and Mike Chrisman, state secretary of Resources.
This year's budget legislation also moves the approximately 67 employees of the California Bay-Delta Authority to other departments, where they will have mostly the same duties. It puts the CalFed program under the authority of the resources secretary.
The reorganization partially addresses criticisms that oversight of the program is so diffuse there is no accountability for its performance.
The new state budget includes $246 million for CalFed, the foundering effort a decade ago to restore the Delta and stabilize water supplies from it. The funding level is about the same as last year, when lawmakers upset with CalFed's lack of progress slashed it to "life-support" level.
As part of the budget deal, Chrisman and McPeak will head up a new strategic plan that will set out measurable goals to achieve a sustainable Delta. The plan will include not only the Delta's ecosystem and the demand placed on the Delta for water, but also land use, recreation and infrastructure within the Delta.
Lawmakers left the governing board of the Bay-Delta Authority intact for the time being. The future of CalFed and the Delta are expected to be shaped over the next 18 months, and lawmakers apparently did not want to delve into more complex questions about the governance of the program until its direction becomes clearer.
In addition to the new strategic plan to be developed by Chrisman and McPeak, state officials are conducting a study of flood risks and will make several key decisions -- including whether to revisit a modified version of a peripheral canal.
