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| Special Edition for December 17, 2009 |
For December 17, 2009
"What is without periods of rest will not endure." ---Ovid
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Restore the Delta December Rest Break
Restore the Delta staff members will be working limited hours starting today through January 4, 2009. If you have any questions regarding membership or contributions, Jessica Iniquez can be reached through email at Jessica@restorethedelta.org.
Through January 4, 2009 media and policy calls will be handled by Jane Wagner-Tyack. She can be reached at 209-642-5105.
To book Restore the Delta for 2010 events, please contact Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla after January 4, 2009.
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League of Women Voters Delta Water Forum
League of Women Voters Delta Water Forum
On January 23 in Antioch, the Diablo Valley League of Women Voters and the San Joaquin County League will co-sponsor a program on Our Delta Water. Panelists scheduled to participate are
The League is nonpartisan and is committed to voter education. Delta counties residents and their representatives will not want to miss this chance to advance the education effort by asking informed questions and providing informed answers about ongoing issues in the Delta, including the impacts of the new legislation.
Time and place: Saturday, January 23, 2010
10 am-1 pm
Antioch Historical Society Hall - 1500 W. 4th St. Antioch, CA.
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Update on the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan
By Jane Wagner-Tyack
While the legislature has been duct-taping together the misshapen pieces of its disastrous water package, ordinary citizens have been working on the first stage of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP), being done as part of the FloodSAFE California program.
In meetings facilitated by consultants, work groups are advising DWR on regional conditions in five regions: the Upper and Lower Sacramento River regions, the Upper and Lower San Joaquin River regions, and the Delta.
The Delta Regional Conditions Work Group has been asked to review draft documents that could have been written by the PPIC.
There is the fragile, failing Delta with its unreliable levees. There is the talk about "restricted water supply diversions." There is the emphasis on water supply availability and reliability for "major demand centers south of the Delta."
In the description of Likely Future Conditions, Delta agriculture gets a brief nod. Infrastructure in the Delta isn't even mentioned.
Question: How do you plan for flood management in the Delta when you're told to plan around another Panama Canal?
About half of the Delta Regional Work Group members said, "We won't do that." At the beginning of the process, they asked the consultants and DWR staff to talk to the Resources Agency about putting canal planning (the BDCP) on hold while they figure out how to plan for flooding and emergency response in the existing Delta.
Last month, Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman sent the Delta work group a memorandum that wouldn't reassure anyone who has been paying attention to how the State has managed the Delta for decades.
Then DWR sent Jerry Johns, DWR's Deputy Director of Delta and Statewide Water Management, to meet with the flood protection plan work group. Johns told the group that the plan is to build a canal that doesn't depend on Delta levees. But they want to coordinate habitat protection. Sounds like an "abandon the Delta" strategy, doesn't it?
Challenged on the claim that the BDCP is first and foremost a habitat conservation plan rather than a water supply project, Johns pointed out that the Potentially Regulated Entities would have to meet habitat requirements to get their water. Delta people know the history of that kind of assurance.
It remains to be seen how the Work Group will proceed. No one would argue with Jerry Johns' statement that the Delta in 50 years will not be what it is today. The question is, whose vision will shape the way the Delta responds to the changes Nature is sure to throw our way?
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Federal Legislation to Weaken the Central Valley Project Improvement Act
Daily, it seems that another effort commences to weaken Federal laws that project Delta fisheries, and Delta water quality and quantity standards. Restore the Delta wants to express its sincere appreciation to Friends of the River, Sierra Club California, and Friends for the Trinity River for doing an outstanding job monitoring these Federal initiatives and for writing an excellent letter in opposition to S 1759 (Feinstein and Boxer's Water Transfer Facilitation Act). In summary, S 1759 would pave the water-way for increased water transfers to Central Valley agribusiness, and, thus, increase water exports at the expense of Delta fisheries. We commend these groups for protecting Delta water needs.
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Donate Now
Restore the Delta is working everyday through public education and
citizen activism to ensure the restoration and future sustainability of
the California Delta. Your general contribution can help us sponsor
outreach events, enable us to educate Californians on what makes the
Delta so special, and assist us in building a coalition that will be
recognized by government water agencies as they make water management
decisions.
Restore the Delta is a charitable 501(c)3 organization. Donations are tax deductible.
Click on the button below to go to our secure PayPal account.
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Restore the Delta is a grassroots campaign committed to making the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable to benefit all of California. Restore the Delta - a coalition of Delta residents, business leaders, civic organizations, community groups, faith-based communities, union locals, farmers, fishermen, and environmentalists - seeks to strengthen the health of the estuary and the well-being of Delta communities. Restore the Delta works to improve water quality so that fisheries and farming can thrive together again in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Sincerely,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Restore the Delta
Email: barbara@restorethedelta.org
Web: http://www.restorethedelta.org
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