The National Research Council (NRC) announced the formation of an ad hoc panel to review the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The NRC explains that "[t]he panel’s review will be related to but be conducted separately from the on-going, more broadly focused NRC study entitled ‘Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay-Delta.’" Provisional appointments to the panel, including Dr. Henry J. Vaux of the University of California, Berkeley as Chair, are provided here. There is a 20 day public comment period on the appointees that commenced on November 12, 2010.
The NRC indicates that the draft BDCP is currently scheduled for release on November 24, 2010. As we reported here, it is uncertain when a draft BDCP will be released. The ad hoc panel is scheduled to meet December 8 – 10, 2010 in San Francisco, California, at the same time that the Committee on Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay-Delta is meeting. There is substantial overlap between the list of provisional appointments and the standing Committee.