Delta Flows- Media Alert for September 23, 2009
Articles in Stockton Record-9/23/09
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When it comes to Valley ag, Sean Hannity is all wet
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| By Michael Fitzgerald Sean Hannity parachuted into the San Joaquin Valley last week to broadcast another diatribe about the “man-made drought.” And the maleficent minnow to blame for it. Why, a meaningless guppy, in cahoots with environmentalists, and an activist judge – wackos who put fish before people – aided and abetted by Barack Hussein Obama, are turning the Valley into a Dust Bowl and God-fearing farmers into the Joads. “To defend this little 2-inch Delta smelt fish,” Hannity marveled, they have decided that the farmers come second and the Delta smelt comes first!” To my astonishment, the “fish vs. man” hoax has hardened into an article of faith on the right. Could anybody really believe the state’s establishment gob-smacked its most politically powerful interests in arbitrary defense of a smelt? Surely this fringe interpretation would swiftly be dispelled, I thought at first. The truth would come out. Hannity was a rebuke to such naïveté. The truth will not come out, because guys like Hannity, playing the rage of the right like a piano, are fabricating an alternate reality. Where to begin? Hannity’s show was set in a cotton farm outside Huron. The farm is fallow for lack of water. The Grapes of Wrath, Part II: The Joads of Huron. Only those ignorant of the oceanic amounts of water needed to farm cotton are oblivious to the irony. If water’s scarce, cotton shouldn’t even be farmed. “Turn the water back on!” Hannity intoned over and over, sounding like Moses crying “Let my people go!” In fact, the water has been “turned on” since June 30. Last Sunday – to cite a typical day – the state and federal pumps exported 13,626 acre-feet of water from the Delta. The pumps sucked hard enough to make Old River, Middle River and the San Joaquin River at Stockton flow backwards. To read the article in its entirety click here.
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Delta plan has other risks
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| Stockton Record- 9/23/09: By Alex Breitler The peripheral canal gets all the publicity, but plans to radically revamp the Delta include other controversial and far-reaching strategies – including converting 80,000 acres of farmland into tidal marsh and flood plain habitat over the next four decades. Tuesday’s workshop, which attracted close to 200 participants and included an anti-canal rally earlier in the afternoon, addressed a 200-page draft of just one of what will eventually be 13 chapters. To read the entire article click here. |
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Rally Before Stockton BDCP Workshop
SACRAMENTO – Delta activist groups will gather at the Martin Luther King Park in Stockton on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 3 pm to protest the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) water meeting, taking place across the street at the Civic Auditorium later that afternoon.
WHO:Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta
WHERE:Martin Luther King Park (across from the Civic Auditorium) Stockton, CA
WHEN:Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
After opposing a package of water bills that neglected to provide the people of the Delta communities with a voice and would have allowed for the construction of a peripheral canal, Delta groups will protest the BDCP water meeting. The BDCP meetings have a preordained outcome – the construction of a peripheral canal and the members of the Delta community will have their voice heard in this fight.
RESTORE THE DELTA RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEGISLATIVE WATER SOLUTIONS
Sacramento – Today, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Campaign Director for Restore the Delta, called on the California Legislature to include 9 ideas in future water package discussions following the failure of the Joint Water Conference Committee to pass a package of water bills during the final weeks of the 2009 Legislative session.
“While we are pleased attempts to rush a package of flawed water bills through the Legislature this session were unsuccessful, Restore the Delta strongly believes a solution is needed to fix California’s complex water problems,” Barrigan-Parrilla said. “We have always agreed that water is one of the highest priority issues for our state, but it must be done in the right way. We would like to see the following 9 points included when water talks resume.”
There has been speculation of a special session on water this Fall or, at the least, continued discussions when the next session begins in January. In either event, Restore the Delta would welcome the opportunity to work with the Legislature to craft a water package that is good for the State and good for the Delta.
Restore the Delta would like to see the following ideas included in any water package as discussions resume:
1. A Habit Conservation Planning Process that looks at all the hydrological alternatives: including limited exports, no exports and other alternatives. That process would compare these alternatives using independent science to new conveyance. This process should include Delta representation, fisheries representation, tribal representation, and environmental justice representation at the Steering Committee Level and not just be a process driven by water contractors.
2. A full economic analysis of the value of Delta fisheries, farming, and other Delta assets to the state economy.
3. A real push for funding local water projects that will create more water for other California communities, including educating Californians on how to alter their water management practices to benefit the State. According to “California Water Solutions Now,” a report released in August by the Environmental Water Caucus (EWC), the State “has already developed enough water supplies to satisfy our needs into the foreseeable future by utilizing existing infrastructure and existing cost effective technologies.” The report notes that the level of reduction can be “as much as 5 million acre feet a year by 2030 compared with current trends.”
4. The creation of a Delta conservancy as proposed by Senator Lois Wolk.
5. A strengthened Delta Protection Commission.
6. A fully funded State Water Resources Control Board, that will enforce water quality standards for the Delta, as well as the superior water rights held by the Delta and in areas of watershed origin.
7. Emergency preparedness and flood prevention funding for the Delta – to protect urban communities and assets in the Delta.
8. A humanitarian package for Central Valley farm workers that will include emergency aid, economic development and job training for their communities.
9. If through these processes, it is decided that some type of new governance is needed to manage the Delta, then this new structure must include adequate local Delta representation to create a viable state-local partnership. Without local support and participation, any new plans and programs for the Delta will not succeed.
“Restore the Delta is optimistic the California Legislature can bring groups together to find common ground on these complex issues,” Barrigan-Parrilla added. “But that is true only if they commit to addressing the real water policy issues that impact all Californians. We look forward to working with them this fall and winter.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: ROGER SALAZAR (for Restore the Delta) PHONE: (916) 444-8897
Oppose Delta Water Package and $12 Billion Water Bond
Restore the Delta is asking you to take special action on behalf of protecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Dear Friend of the Delta,
Whether you are a Delta farmer, a member of the business community, a boater, a fisherman, or a Delta soccer mom, the current water policy and bond package if implemented will deal the final death blow to the our home, the Delta.
The vote on these crucially important matters is hours away. That is why we are asking each and every one of you to send the following letter drafted by the Environmental Water Caucus to our California Assembly Members and Senators.
The text of the letter can be found at the following clicks. You need to fill it out five times to send to all of California’s legislators.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Steinberg Moves to Revamp California Water Policy in the Dark of Night
Restore the Delta staff members have been busy attending Conference Committee meetings on water policy and the five bill package reshaping the future of the Delta this last week. The end result: the Conference Committee failed to meet its own deadline yesterday. The Conference Committee report might be published later on today.
This, however, has not slowed down Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg who political insiders say is trying to push through a last minute water bill that will have elements from the previous bills and a new water bond. It is our understanding that Senate President Steinberg will introduce the bill on the floor this week to be voted on at the last minute without public vetting. The bill will require a 2/3 vote so that a referendum cannot be set into motion by the public.
Here’s what we need each and every one of you to do.
Call your State Senate and Assembly representatives and let them know that they must not only vote against Steinberg’s water bill, but they need to tell their colleagues to do the same. Also, call Senate President pro Tempore Steinberg and let him know what you think of policy legislation that is being written in the middle of the night without input from the Delta farming and fishing communities. Let him know what you think of a new water bond at a time when the state is billions of dollars in debt and education is being gutted. He can be reached at 916-651- 4006.
To say that Restore the Delta is exasperated by the events of the last two weeks is an understatement. Through the Conference Committee process it became apparent that not only were our expert Delta legislators, like Senator Lois Wolk (5th Senate District), shut out of the process, but that testimony committees were stacked with “experts” from outside the Delta, and that testimony from in-Delta interests was being ignored by the Conference Committee. Even more disturbing was a point during Monday’s hearing when some Delta advocates were actually taken to task by Senator Flores and Senate President Steinberg for calling into question the behind-the- scenes negotiations process. Never mind that representatives from the Westlands Water District and the Metropolitan Water District were busy working a deal with Senator Steinberg and a limited number of legislators and representatives from the Governor’s administration. Never mind this was happening behind closed doors, as a way to safeguard authorization of new conveyance that would deplete the Delta of the freshwater that it needs all under the banner of co-equal goals for water management in California. Never mind that these policies are being crafted so that Western Central Valley Agribusiness can have all the water it wants, despite its junior water rights, and contracts written years ago indicating that they were only entitled to extra Delta water during wet years.
Take action today. Let your legislator know that the people of the Delta want real solutions that will create regional self-sufficient water supplies throughout California, reduced Delta exports, and an equal seat at the governance table for our region.
Poll Results on Water Issues
Take a look at the statewide voter survey on water issues conducted on behalf of Restore the Delta by EMC Research of Oakland, CA.
Delta Water Poll
Be part of our very own blog poll
Delta Flows Newsletter Week of August 31, 2009
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Quantity Over Quality Legislation
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| Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is trying to push through a water package (the five proposed bills that are now moving into the conference committee process) that would reshape California water policy. The similarities between this backroom water deal , which has left Delta communities and fishing representatives out of the process, and energy deregulation are startling. The proposed package would allow the legislature to give up their authority on oversight and costs regarding future decision regarding the Delta (including new conveyance) to a seven member appointed council, with six of the appointees coming from outside the Delta.
The Council would have the authority to authorize the construction of the peripheral canal, a project that is estimated to cost between 10 and 40 billion dollars before environmental mitigation costs. The canal, a 48-mile long ditch comparable in size to the Panama Canal, won’t make more water for California. It will just ship water from the north to Western Central Valley Agribusiness – at the expense of Delta fisheries and Delta family farmers. Even though Senator Steinberg didn’t author the legislation, his partipcation in moving it through the building leads us to ask the following: 1) Why is he selling out Sacramento (his district) to send water to Western Central Valley Agribusiness? 2) Why isn’t he protecting the Delta? 3) Why is he willing to spend so much money on a peripheral canal that won’t make more water? 4) Does he think what’s in the water bond doesn’t matter because it won’t get funded? Doesn’t he know that Californians want permanent solutions for the state budget and water management practices? There are better ways in terms of cost and environmental effectiveness to make more water for California, such as water recycling, floodplain restoration, groundwater cleanup and desalinization, stormwater capture and reuse. This needs to be the center of California’s water policy, especially in an era of excessive deficits. Please contact Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to make clear your displeasure with his promotion of this water package. His Capitol office number is (916) 651-4006. |
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To Validate What We Are Saying
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| Restore the Delta staff have known intuitively for some time that their calls for breaking dependence on Delta water exports through regional water self-sufficiency programs have resonated well with the public. Nonetheless, there comes a time when one must quantify one’s assertions. Consequently, the following letter and poll results were sent to all legislators this morning from Restore the Delta. Dear Legislator: Attached you will find a copy of a statewide voter survey on water issues conducted on behalf of Restore the Delta by EMC Research of Oakland, CA. EMC Research conducted 800 telephone interviews among registered voters statewide in California from August 23-27, 2009. The poll indicates that while voters are concerned about water and ensuring a long-term reliable water supply is a “very high priority,” all segments of voters are strongly opposed to a Peripheral Canal and very close to half oppose a bond for new dams, reservoirs or other water infrastructure projects. It is clear there is very little support among the electorate for many of the elements included in the 2009 legislative water package. As the data clearly indicates, voters appear poised to reject the legislation should it appear before them in 2010 either directly (in the form of a bond) or indirectly (as the result of a referendum, for example.) We hope this information is of value to you as you consider the 2009 legislative water package. Sincerely, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
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