Delta Stewardship Council picks new executive

SACRAMENTO
September 21, 2012 11:36am

Chris Knopp is “experienced in contentious large-scale projects,” according to his new employer.

Well he had, since he is now the new executive officer of the Delta Stewardship Council.

Mr. Knopp succeeds Joe Grindstaff, who is retiring.

He takes over at a time when California’s never-ending water wars are heating to a fever pitch over the governor’s plans for massive tunnels to suck water away from the Sacramento River before it can enter the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and ship it to water contractors in the San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.

“The Delta Stewardship Council was formed to achieve the coequal goals of California: a more reliable water supply, and a restored and protected Delta ecosystem,” says DSC Chairman Phil Isenberg. “Chris is not an aging water warrior, but a smart guy who can take a fresh look at old problems. The Council is very impressed with his management style, sense of humor and judgment, as well as his ability and experience in dealing with complex natural resource issues.”

Mr. Knopp says his new job “represents the challenge of a lifetime.”

And he says success will require balance and compromise – “and sound science so the nature of the compromises can be known and understood.”

Mr. Knopp retired from the U.S. Forest Service in November 2011 after a 34-year career that included leading the ecosystem conservation group at Lake Tahoe and the National Watershed Program in Washington, D.C. His last appointment was as a supervisor for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona, where he helped create and develop the 2.4 million acre Four Forest Restoration Initiative, the largest restoration project in the American West.