Yet another canal

As I noted in the previous two posts, the Public Policy Institute of California has just released a new report that is being used by everyone who has a mega-project idea for the solution to California's Water Problems. Today, it was the subject of the first hour of discussion on Forum (KQED's call in talk show). Panel consisted of:

• Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director for Restore the Delta
• Ellen Hanak, associate director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California
• Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute

It was a very informative hour. The biases were easy to see. I was glad that Peter Gleick made the point that the environmental view is a weak player in the game of allocating water. The PPIC Report calls for the abandonment of many acres of prime farm land.

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla did a good job of pointing out the economic issues that had not been considered in the report.

I would urge everyone to listen to the report later in the day or tomorrow. It is not yet available online, but will be.