Delta Flows -- Weekly Highlights from Restore the Delta for the Week of July 16, 2007
“So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.”
- Adrienne Rich
Governor Schwarzenegger Ramps Up Publicity Effort to Push For a Peripheral Canal
T
oday, Monday, July 16, 2007, while local Delta stakeholders are making presentations regarding the future of the Delta to the Delta Vision Stakeholders Panel, Governor Schwarzenegger held a press conference at the San Luis Reservoir announcing his water plan for the state. The Governor called once again for the building of additional water conveyance from the Delta (a.k.a. peripheral canal) and the building of additional dams. However, in explaining his five-point plan, he did not utter a word about a long term strategy for maintaining and improving Delta levees so as to deal with the state’s identified threats to the Delta including seismic activity and sea level rise.Restore the Delta staff is incensed that the Governor held his first press conference in the heart of the Westlands Water District - the primary area in California where land irrigated with Delta water does not drain properly resulting in polluted local groundwater tables - rather than embracing what local Delta stakeholders have to say as they participate in the public process that he mandated. Clearly, by going on tour to call for the building of the peripheral canal, the Governor has chosen to cast his lot with large corporate water interests, rather than with Delta family farmers, citizens, fishermen, wake boarders, water skiers, yachting enthusiasts, local business owners, rowers, duck hunters, agricultural workers, nature lovers, and soccer moms who simply care about what kind of environment their children will inherit.
What is even more disturbing for Restore the Delta staff is that the Governor will be holding a similar press conference in the Delta some time this week, but his office will not release the time and location of the event. After a week of courting the national press on his environmental leadership record, Governor Schwarzenegger does not have the courage to admit publicly to local Delta stakeholders that his water plan is centered on providing more Delta water to special water interests and corporate agriculture in the southern part of the state. Without a doubt, the Governor is embracing a policy that would be the final death blow for Delta fisheries and, thus, has lost the right to claim the title of environmental governor. He has bought into and is selling the notion that the peripheral canal is the environmentally superior method for water conveyance from the Delta.
Restore the Delta Opposes the Peripheral Canal Because…
1) Water quality will deteriorate even further leading to the death of the Delta’s ecosystem - the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of both North and South America.
2) The local water supply will become so saline that Delta agriculture can no longer be sustained, thereby undoing our region’s economy, culture, history, and way of life.
3) Delta water quality will never meet Clean Water Act standards.
4) The Delta recreation industry will cease to exist as we know it. Sports fishing will be a thing of the past, and other water sporting activities will be cease to be pleasurable in such polluted waters.
5) There will be no incentive to fix Delta levees or to create a flood management plan that will protect Delta people, Delta property, and Delta infrastructure, such as railways and gas lines. In the event of a natural disaster, the Delta will be written off in the same way that New Orleans was abandoned after Hurricane Katrina.
6) State and Federal water agencies have proven time and time again over the last thirty years that they do not operate water projects in a way that protects the Delta’s ecosystem or the needs of local Delta communities. Why should we trust these same institutions to operate a new water conveyance system in a way that will be compatible with Delta values?
Instead, Restore the Delta Maintains…
1) Freshwater is essential for the health and vitality of the Delta community, economy and ecosystem. Both immediate actions and long-term solutions must be founded on protecting the Delta as a public trust resource. Therefore:
· Exports of water from the Delta must immediately be reduced to a level compatible with protecting Delta values.
· All proposals for long-term Delta management must be based on a firm understanding of Delta freshwater needs and must include strong protection for sufficient flows of water necessary for healthy Delta communities, including Delta agriculture. Strong assurances must be made for such protections, with appropriate and sustainable water export reductions before any proposals for alternative export conveyance or diversion methods are considered.
2) A comprehensive flood plan and an emergency readiness plan must be immediately prepared to protect the people, property, and infrastructure and provide for a healthy ecosystem of the Delta. A comprehensive plan to improve essential project and non-project levees must be immediately prepared and fully funded in consultation with local Delta experts.
3) To restore the health of the California Delta while maintaining a reliable water supply for our neighbors throughout California, state and regional water agencies must aggressively implement regional water self-sufficiency measures, such as water conservation, reclamation, and water recycling.
4) All Delta planning must be designed to minimize the regional impacts of climate change. Specifically, plans must address increased flood risks, sea level rise, and peak river inflows that are likely to result from climate change. These plans must also allow for incremental responses to ecosystem changes resulting from climate change.
5) All land use decisions, including potential island reconfiguration must be guided by local Delta expertise. Delta landowners and residents must have an active role in development and implementation of all plans affecting their community.
6) To help preserve the unique cultural and environmental resources of the
California Delta, the state should immediately establish a California Delta Conservancy, as well as assist with obtaining a federal and/or state level protected status for the Delta region (i.e. park, monument, or recreational area). Such programs should be developed in consultation with local Delta landowners and stakeholders, and should help to protect Delta agricultural interests.
On the efficacy of public action…
A number of Restore the Delta supporter attended the July 2nd House of Representatives Resources Subcommittee hearing "Extinction is not a Sustainable Water Policy: The Bay-Delta crisis and the implications for California water management.” Subcommittee Chair, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), indicated that this hearing (in which a number of Delta water agency officials were questioned with vigor on water operations decisions harming the Delta) would not be the end of inquiry or action.
Restore the Delta staff would like to thank Congressman George Miller for his advocacy on behalf of the Delta during this hearing. Restore the Delta staff would also like to extend a special thanks to Restore the Delta supporters Betsy Reifsnider, Larry Nelson, Joshua Stark, Ron Forbes, and James Rexroth. Your fine work displaying banners, signs, and pamphlets created Restore the Delta’s positive image at the hearing.
Sincerely yours,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
