Catching up

Plenty of water happenings during my long getaway weekend. I suppose it’s old news by now, but to sum up:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the National Academy of Sciences — kind of like the Supreme Court for scientists — will review new rules protecting salmon and smelt from Delta water exports to determine if the rules are scientifically sound. This review is what water agencies had been calling for after seeing their deliveries this year reduced mostly due to drought, but also due to the protections in question.

Circle this date on your calendar: March 15, 2010, when the first of two NAS reports on the Delta is due to be finished.

Salazar said the feds are also moving forward on other projects, including “Two Gates,” which could improve water supply.

Reactions, both pro and con, are flooding the inboxes of water reporters across the state after the Legislature’s water deal last week. We’ll be diving into the nitty-gritty of the new policy, and the $11 billion bond, in the coming weeks.

And finally, in case you missed today’s story by my colleague Daniel Thigpen, Assemblywoman Alyson Huber on Monday delivered a tub full of anti-peripheral canal postcards to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. It’s a heavy topic in  more ways than one.