Preserving a 'Way of Life'
Letter to the Editor - Stockton Record
November 18, 2006
A Nov. 13 article in The Record ("Delta pumps fear the freeze" didn't fully examine the consequences to our region of pumping fresh water from the San Joaquin Delta to Central Valley farms and Southern California municipal users.
Scientific findings released at the CALFED Science Fair in October indicated the large water pumps at Tracy do, indeed, destroy small fish and their larvae.
However, for other groups working to protect the Delta, seeking a reduction in water exports isn't only about protecting fish.
Extensive freshwater exports also have a negative impact on Delta agriculture.
As more fresh water is pumped out of the Delta, increases in salinity in irrigation water occur, contributing to decreases in crop yields.
In addition, having attended last week the first session of the Delta Visioning Conference, at the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, I heard water exporters make comments such as, "How much would it cost to buy out all the Delta landowners?"
This comment was made in response to a discussion on the resources needed for levee repairs and preparations needed to deal with a sea-level rise in the Delta.
In another instance, a water exporter approached one of the leaders of the Bay-Delta Authority and asked, "Why don't those people up there know that the Delta isn't sustainable and that we need their water?"
The Delta is under attack.
The continuation of excessive water exports will lead not only to the extinction of Delta fish but also will have negative consequences on Delta agriculture.
Our local boating and recreation industry, which contributes millions of dollars each year to our economy, is dependent on the sustainability of the Delta.
Unchecked water exports will undo the Delta way of life.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Restore the Delta
Stockton
NOTE:
Restore the Delta is a grass-roots activist group dedicated to "making the (Sacramento-San Joaquin) Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable and farmable by 2010."