The Challenge
Californians face a constant barrage of opinions, arguments and assertions of ‘facts’ about water and the environment. Making sense of all this is extremely difficult to do!
One good solution is Maven’s Notebook, which has a proven track record of providing timely news and information without being an advocate for any particular solution or approach. Maven’s Notebook has been cited by DWR’s Water News Clips, BC Water News, The Delta Stewardship Council’s News Clips, and many other publications and water policy blogs, and it is available on a daily basis.
Maven’s Notebook is the chronicle of record for our generation’s debate over water and the environment. An informed public and equally informed set of policy-makers are essential to resolve these linked problems. Although there is no charge for the Notebook, it is through the generosity of our sponsors that we exist.
Meeting the challenge
Maven’s Notebook does the following:
Carefully follows and reports on major planning/regulatory efforts such as the Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Plan, the State Water Resources Control Board’s Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan, and the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. These complex processes are often highly controversial, of great interest to Delta stakeholders, legislators, environmentalists, and the public, but mostly unreported in the mainstream media.
Tracks what agencies are doing: The Department of Water Resources, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Water Board, and others are always sending out press releases which are meant to inform other agencies, organizations, and the public about planning processes, regulatory changes, and other events that they need to know about. Maven’s Notebook is a source of information about the activities of state agencies.
Follows scientific developments in the Delta: Maven’s Notebook follows scientific developments in the Delta, providing updates on important scientific research, meetings and other things of interest to scientists working in the Delta. Only Maven’s Notebook has extensively covered the development of the Delta Science Plan by the Science Program of the Delta Stewardship Council.
Provides a source of timely information: Maven’s Notebook posts breaking news, provides weekly updates on reservoir and hydrologic conditions, and provides a daily news aggregation of relevant Delta news, articles, and commentary, as well as a calendar of meetings and events that are of interest to readers.
Maven’s Notebook let’s the folks engaged in water disputes talk for themselves! No spin, no snippy summaries or editorial comments. The Notebook quotes the participants directly --- and at greater length than conventional media coverage. You are the judge of how successful they are in making their case.
Achieving better outcomes
Maven’s Notebook helps cut through the complicated and controversial details of water flow, water supply and water quality and environmental disputes, leading to more rational outcomes that will benefit the environment. Maven’s Notebook aspires to be a source of objective and understandable information about these often complex and multi-faceted issues.
