Delta Flows – Weekly Highlights from Restore the Delta
For the Week of March 12, 2007 (Information on Legislative Hearings, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the Delta Vision Process, and the Upcoming Restore the Delta Supporters Event)
Legislative Hearing on the State of the Delta – March 15, 2007
A number of Restore the Delta supporters have been or will be receiving calls about the upcoming legislative hearing this Thursday, March 15th. The focus of the hearing will be on the state of the Delta as it relates to the Delta Vision Process. While we understand that public comments may be kept to a minimum, Restore the Delta is working to create a presence in the audience.
The hearing will begin roughly at 9:30 a.m. (when the day’s session adjourns), room #4202 at the Capitol. If you are interested in attending and have not been called yet, please call Barbara at 209-479-2053.
Much is at stake for the future of the Delta, and this is a great opportunity to make our presence known.
Update on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) – Speed Dating Comes to Mind
The staff at Restore the Delta has spent some time thinking of ways that we could best explain what is happening at the Steering Committee Meetings of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan – especially to our supporters who care about the Delta, but find public meetings tedious. The answer: speed dating.
Speed dating is a new cultural phenomenon in which people looking for love attend a business-type mixer. During the mixer, a bell rings about every five minutes, and with each ringing of the bell, attending individuals change stations so as to "interview" all possible dating partners before the close of the mixer. At the end of the event, nobody is rejected, but rather cards are exchanged through a third party for future dating contacts. Needless to say, speed dating is not about making a thoughtful or well-informed choice. It’s all about surface response – albeit polite – but still without depth or understanding of the other individual.
The staff at Restore the Delta believes that the equivalent of environmental "speed dating" is what is happening at the Steering Committee Meetings of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. Traditionally, habitat restoration plans first call for a thorough and thoughtful independent review of related science so that those at the table can make well-informed decisions (conservation strategies) that will not only protect, but restore threatened species for many decades to come.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan Steering Committee, however, is already poised to begin examining nine possible conservation strategies for "protecting" existing fisheries, before the independent review of science has even been conducted. Forget letting Steering Committee members find the best possible solution for restoring Delta fisheries from thoughtful deliberation and complete and accurate science. There are nine possible strategies suggested by the Public Policy Institute Report on the Delta, which are being bent and construed by water contractors to support the development of the peripheral canal.
Like speed dating, the outcome, if this process continues, will not be based on any real understanding of the Delta’s ecosystem and will result in a bad environmental "marriage." Of those nine possible strategies being considered by the BDCP Steering Committee, only one considers the possibility of reducing water exports from the Delta – which Restore the Delta knows is the best way to restore fisheries and protect water quality for Delta recreationists, residents, and farmers. And what’s even worse is that Westland’s Water District, one of the primary beneficiaries of Delta water exports, is driving the process so that they can secure 30 to 50 years of fresh water delivery assurances from the Delta – all at the expense of the Delta ecosystem and Delta residents.
While new Steering Committee members from the environmental community and San Joaquin County agriculture are asking the right questions about the ways in which this process is moving forward, the lack of even representation from local Delta stakeholders on the Steering Committee is disturbing – especially when one considers what is at stake for our region. Consequently, at the end of this newsletter, you will find a brief letter that we are asking our supporters to send off to Secretary Chrisman of the Resources Agency with a copy to the Governor.
**Upcoming dates for Restore the Delta supporters to attend Bay Delta Conservation Plan Steering Committee Meetings are: March 23rd, April 6th, and April 20th. Full meeting information visit including location and time here.
The Delta Vision Process – Another Run Away Train Heading Toward the Delta
As with the BDCP, recent meetings of the Blue Ribbon Task Force of the Delta Vision Process and the Delta Stakeholders Panel indicate that, once again, the alternatives for fixing the Delta are being driven by the Public Policy Institute of California’s report, Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As indicated in our last newsletter, Restore the Delta has serious concerns over the notion of increased fluctuating salinity as put forth in the PPIC report.
Thus, at the last Delta stakeholders meeting, Restore the Delta made it clear that a complete and accurate historical ecology of the California Delta needs to be researched and written so as to provide the Blue Ribbon Task Force and the Stakeholders Panel with a complete history of fluctuating salinity and freshwater flows into the Delta prior to the implementation of water exports. We questioned relying on the PPIC report which did not contain a historical analysis based on state and county water records, and we expressed our disappointment that the authors of the report did not work hand-in-hand with Delta environmental and agricultural experts to see if their suggested alternatives could work with on-the-ground realities.
The Delta Vision Process is another place where we encourage local Delta stakeholders to become engaged. While it takes work to sit through long meetings as an observer in order to offer limited public comments, we noticed that several stakeholders began questioning if all the best information has been or will be presented to their panel after public presentations. Also, as with the BDCP Steering Committee Meetings, it seems that those serving on the Task Force and the Stakeholders Panel will be expected to make key decisions on the fate of the Delta before full science and technical reports on specific issues will be made available. Thus, we must work to alter the process.
**Upcoming dates for Delta Vision Stakeholder Panel meetings include: April 3rd and 4th; May 23rd and 24th; and June 13th and 14th. Please call Barbara at 209-479-2053 if you are interested in becoming a Restore the Delta watchdog.
Restore the Delta’s Early May Community Event
Restore the Delta will be holding an event for existing and new supporters either the first Wednesday or Thursday evening in May. Please keep your calendars open. Over the next week or so, we will send out the final date, time, and location.
This event will include; an overview of what Restore the Delta has accomplished over the last six months; a fun exercise on Delta history; a highly informative and visual presentation by Bob Twiss of the US Geological Department on threats to the Delta; a panel discussion on solutions to Delta problems by Restore the Delta environmental and agricultural experts; and a plan for action.
We urge you to attend this event and become involved in Restore the Delta activities. By doing so, you can have a hand in articulating our vision for the future of the Delta.
Pass Delta Flows to Your Friends –
And let them know how to sign up for the newsletter at www.restorethedelta.org
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Letter to Secretary Mike Chrisman
(Your Name)
(Your Address)
(Your City, State and Zip Code)
(Date)
Secretary Mike Chrisman
Resources Agency of California
1416 Ninth Street, Suite 1311
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Secretary Chrisman:
As a member of Restore the Delta, I am writing to express my concern regarding the development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
It seems that nine conservation strategies have been set as possible alternatives for achieving species protection and restoration within the California Delta. However, as is customary in such planning processes, a full review of existing (and possibly new) science that relates to Delta species has not yet been conducted.
Because the cart has been set before the horse, the BDCP Steering Committee cannot possibly move forward making accurate decisions regarding the restoration of Delta fisheries. What is even more troubling is that discussion is underway for giving water contractors 30 to 50 years of water export assurances in exchange for agreement to restoration based on such a strategy. We cannot help but wonder whose Delta interests are really being represented.
Last, those of us who live in the Delta know that a reduction in water exports is essential to the preservation and restoration of the California Delta. If the Bay Delta Conservation Plan is going to truly restore threatened fisheries, then a reduction water exports must be the foundation on which this habitat conservation plan must be built.
Thank you for your attention to our concerns.
Respectfully yours,
(Your name)
Cc: Governor Schwarzenegger
(Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814)
