Environment | Daily Report

Stoel Rives LLPCraig M. Wilson

California’s State Water Resources Control Board chose Craig M. Wilson, an attorney at Stoel Rives LLP, to fill the newly created Delta watermaster position.

Wilson was the state water board’s chief council from 2000 until 2005. According to a press release from the water board, he has worked with the water board for more than 30 years.

The position is required by the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 (SB X7 1). The Delta watermaster is given authority to monitor and report, as well as take enforcement actions within the Delta. The position is also ceded a great deal of independence from the board in issues such as implementing and enforcing existing water-rights laws.

“In Craig Wilson we have found an expert with long experience who clearly understands the interests and views of the competing parties as well as the science and law of water in the Delta,” said water board chair Charlie Hoppin in a press release. “It is no exaggeration to say that the state’s environmental and economic future may stand or fall on how California deals with the Delta in the next few years. Craig will play a key part in that chapter of our water history.”

Not everyone is thrilled about the appointment.

"The Delta watermaster is tasked with essentially harrassing long-standing senior-water-rights holders in the Delta whose rights go back, in many cases, 130 years," said Carolee Krieger, president of the California Water Impact Network. "Corporate agribusiness, with junior water rights in the Central Valley, are driving the recent Delta water legislature and the watermaster's agenda with complaints that the watermaster must investigate."

"We're really distressed," she said.

The following is a snippet of a commentary Wilson submitted to the Sacramento Bee in 2009:

It is a gross understatement to say that an overall solution to Delta water issues has proved to be elusive. This unfortunate situation rests largely on the assumption that the multiple objectives of a Delta “solution” are competing. Solutions to these multiple objectives can be complementary and supported as an overall “fix” of the Delta.

It is clear that no single action can resolve the Delta’s problems. A portfolio of actions is needed. There is pretty clear consensus on the elements of an overall Delta fix: salinity control, ecosystem restoration, water quality protection, water supply reliability, Delta land use protection and levee stability.

Where consensus breaks down is how to achieve each of these objectives in a way that does not do harm to the other objectives. For example, it is clear that a water supply conveyance facility around the eastern edge of the Delta – call it a peripheral canal or not – would improve water supply reliability.”

Wilson will start his four-year position within 30 days and will put together a staff.

The state water board will also soon consider a report on water flow through the Delta, which is currently being assembled by board staff based on the findings of a variety of scientific experts.