Two Important Meetings for the Delta Need Attendance by Restore the Delta Supporters This Wednesday, March 20, 2013!
While all eyes are on the Bay Delta Conservation Play, people cannot forget that the Delta cannot be restored if flows are not restored on the San Joaquin River. The State Water Resource Control Board is receiving public comments and testimony on March 20, 2013, regarding flows for the San Joaquin River as part of the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) Program, Phase I. This three-day hearing begins at 9 a.m., with public comment time scheduled for that morning. The hearing will be held at the Cal EPA Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento.
While fish and wildlife resources on the San Joaquin River require nearly 60% river flows, the SWRCB is proposing to increase flows from less than 30% to 35%, saying that 35% is a balance between the needs of water users and fisheries.
It is time to let the State Water Resources Control Board know that a token increase in flows will not help to restore the West Coast’s largest and most important estuary, or help to protect the farm economy in the south Delta. It is time to let the SWRCB that the public will hold them accountable for inadequate and poorly thought out decisions, and lack of enforcement, regarding the Delta. Moreover, when we consider the SWRCB’s willingness to recommend inadequate flows on the San Joaquin River, how can we have confidence in their decisions regarding flow standards to be set in 2014 and tied to the operation of the twin tunnels?
Consequently, we need people to be the eyes and ears for the Delta at this important hearing as we prepare for the fight going forward.
And after a quick lunch that same day…
Join us at the BDCP Public Hearing on the Administrative Draft, Chapters 1-5, starting at 1:30 p.m. at the Ramada Inn, 1250 Halyard Dr., West Sacramento. There, we will be able to ask questions such as why is the state ready to embark on a project that will cost tens of billions of dollars that is based on hypothesis and testing, rather than certainty, and that won’t produce a drop of new water for the State?
Again, it is important to establish a public record from the Delta communities as this process unfolds throughout 2013.