Healthy Delta Communities Plan
As mentioned in our December post, Restore the Delta is releasing its Healthy Delta Communities Plan throughout 2008.
In today’s post, we are featuring a special report authored by Tom Zuckerman, an attorney with the Central Delta Water Agency and resident expert on the California Delta and California water needs. Mr. Zuckerman’s A Water Plan for the 21st Century:
Regional Self-Sufficiency Scenario is the substance behind Restore the Delta’s assertions that the restoration of floodplains could significantly increase water storage during rainy periods which could then be drawn on during dry periods for agricultural use.
Such water management practices and storage options would not only help to reduce current levels of water exports, which ironically increase when the Delta needs the water the most, but such programs would also improve reserves and delivery of water for agriculture use in dry periods. We believe that the implementation of Mr. Zuckerman’s plan could be an important component of innovative water management practices that would protect the Delta’s ecosystem and save the state the multi-billion dollar expense of building a peripheral conveyance system.
Download Report:
A Water Plan for the 21st Century: Regional Self-Sufficiency Scenario
Interviews with Delta Residents
Below you will find the first installment of the Healthy Delta Communities Plan – a series of interviews conducted with Delta residents, policy statements from California Delta water experts, and plans for water use and storage designed by Restore the Delta senior advisors.
Our goal is to use this plan to give voice to the people of the Delta – from everyday citizens to experts on California water policy residing within our community. We are a grassroots campaign and feel that the observations, analysis, comments, and history of the people of the Delta gives direction to the work of Restore the Delta staff. We will, however, continue with our newsletter Delta Flows to keep readers up-to-date on what is happening in terms of the political response to the crisis within the Delta.
Dave Hardwick – Longtime Delta Resident
Interviewed by Restore the Delta Volunteer Barbara Bowers July,
2007
Barbara Bowers: What do you do in the Delta?
Dave Hardwick: I use the Delta for recreation and riding my motorcycle.
Barbara Bowers: How long have you lived in the Delta?
Dave Hardwick: I have lived in the Delta for 44 years.
Barbara Bowers: What does the Delta mean to you?
Dave Hardwick: The Delta means cool weather, breezes, agriculture that is close-by, and boating opportunities.
Barbara Bowers: What would you like to see for the future of the Delta?
Dave Hardwick: For the future of the Delta I would like to see more fresh water flowing through the Delta, from Friant Dam and all other sources. I think the debris could be removed so it would be cleaner.
Barbara Bowers: What is your greatest concern for the Delta?
Dave Hardwick: What scares me the most is a peripheral canal that would draw more water away from the Delta. My other concern is the collapse of levees.
Jeff Hart – Delta Nursery Owner
Interviewed by Restore the Delta Volunteer Barbara Bowers on
June 30, 2007
Barbara Bowers: What do you do in the Delta?
Jeff Hart: I do habitat restoration and also have a nursery with native plants that are sold to the public. In addition I provide eco-tours using Tule Queen II. In the future I intend to grow organic vegetables with a plan to open a restaurant and incorporate them into the menu.
Barbara Bowers: How long have you lived in the Delta?
Jeff Hart: I have lived in the Delta for nine years. My wife, Toni, grew up in Rio Vista.
Barbara Bowers: What is your family’s history with the Delta?
Jeff Hart: My family owned a fishing resort on the Sacramento River near the town of Grimes.
Barbara Bowers: What does the Delta mean to you?
Jeff Hart: The Delta means home, community, place of business. It also means a troubled estuary that divides a lot of people regarding the direction it should be taken.
Barbara Bowers: What would you like to see for the future of the Delta?
Jeff Hart: I would like to see the future of the Delta have sustainable practices. There would be no loss of soil in farming. Carbon would be sequestered with native plants on Delta levees. This could be a carbon offset so it could also be run for profit. Currently, grass on the levees is burned and soil erodes. Levees need “green engineering”.
Barbara Bowers: What is your greatest concern for the Delta?
Jeff Hart: Political stupidity is what scares me the most. My greatest concern is that people will remain wedded to an ideology and not be open to new ideas. Whether we retain the pumps or go around the Delta with a canal, there needs to be a quantity and quality of water that will sustain life in the Delta.
