Following Wednesday night’s hearing by the California State Water Board on its proposal to increase water flows into the Pacific Ocean, former rancher turned State Senator – Jim Nielsen – issued the following statement:

“At what point do we say enough is enough? This water grab would take millions of gallons of drinking water, and water to grow food crops.

“Multi-millions of gallons of water have been diverted from drinking water and farming to the rivers and into the ocean.

“Clearly, the state needs a better solution than to continue its failed water-grab policy of pouring more water into the Delta.

“Postponement of this ill-conceived proposal is not enough; the State Water Board needs to abandon this idea of increased water flows and use science to create a better policy for the coequal goals of ecosystem restoration and water supply reliability that were established for the Delta.”