| California Governor Jerry Brown and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on December 19 reaffirmed their "strong mutual resolve" to moving forward with the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build a peripheral canal, in spite of strong opposition by Delta advocates.
They also "reinforced their joint commitment to effective action to achieve the dual goals of a healthy San Francisco Bay Delta ecosystem and a reliable water supply for California," the same dual goals that doomed the CalFed program to failure.
Brown and Salazar announced several minor changes that they claimed will "ensure a fair, open and transparent process" and "a full opportunity for input by all interested parties" in the development of a plan to address the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. These changes included revisions to the draft BDCP Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that they contend are "responsive to the comments received by a wide range of water stakeholders in recent weeks.
"It is clear that our Delta ecosystem needs repair and restoration," said Governor Brown. "We shouldn't wait for a natural disaster to force our hand. This agreement takes us in the right direction to protect California's water supply."
"Successfully developing a science-based Bay Delta Conservation Plan holds the promise of breaking from the unsustainable status quo and being a game-changer for California," said Secretary Salazar. "That is why the Obama administration is joining with Governor Brown and recommitting funding and technical assistance to support what could become the largest restoration project in history." (http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Governor-Brown-and-Secretary-Salazar-Reaffirm-Commitment-to-Bay-Delta-Conservation-Plan.cfm)
However, Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) wasn't impressed with the Brown and Obama administration claims that they were going to "ensure a fair, open and transparent process" under the BDCP.
"I am disappointed and upset that the Department of the Interior has decided to move forward with this Memorandum of Agreement," said McNerney. "Despite a few changes, the MOA remains deeply flawed and is an affront to the people of the Delta communities."
"From its inception, the Bay Delta Plan has been crafted by, and for, water exporters from Southern California. They have used their economic power to influence the state and federal governments, and the Delta communities will suffer as a result," said McNerney.
"Make no mistake, the Delta communities and I will never accept a Bay Delta Plan that includes a peripheral canal that was conceived without our input. I will continue to stand with the families, farmers, and small business owners of the San Joaquin Delta whose livelihoods would be destroyed by a peripheral canal," emphasized McNerney.
Incredibly, Brown and Salazar issued their statement claiming that they would ensure "a fair, open and transparent process" just days after I revealed that an employee of the Westlands Water District is currently working "on loan" for the Department of Water Resources (DWR) on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan!
Documents obtained by this reporter under the California Public Records Act reveal that Susan Ramos, Deputy General Manager of the Westlands Water District, was hired in an inter-jurisdictional personal exchange agreement between the Department of Water Resources and Westlands Water District from November 15, 2009 through December 31, 2010. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/12/14/westlands-official-working-for-dwr-on-delta-plan)
The contract was extended to run through December 31, 2011 and again to continue through December 31, 2012. The maximum amount to be paid in the agreement for the entire period is listed as $652,180.54.
Ramos "will serve as a liaison between all relevant parties surrounding the Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program (DHCCP) and provide technical and strategic assistance to DWR, in cooperation with all appropriate Federal and State Water Contractors, on a variety of matters based on her experience working with the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, federal contractors and others," according to the agreement (Contract 4600008672).
The justification for contracting out Ramos, rather than employing a current state employee in the position, was provided in the contract signed by Richard Sanchez, the Chief of the DWR's Division of Engineering, on September 14, 2011.
"Ms. Ramos possesses specialized knowledge and has experience working with the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and federal contractors. The technical and strategic assistance that will be provided by the Contractor cannot be performed satisfactorily by State civil service employees," the contract stated.
If Brown and Salazar are so committed to ensuring "a fair, open and transparent" BDCP process, why did it require a California Public Records Act Request to find out that Westlands' Deputy Manager was surreptitiously inserted into the Department of Water Resources to guide writing the permit that would give more of the public's water to Westlands?
The news of Ramos' service on loan from Westlands followed the disturbing disclosure that the California Department of Water Resources hired Laura King Moon, the Assistant General Manager of the State Water Contractors, to assist in the completion of the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/10/25/state-hires-water-contractor-rep-to-help-oversee-bay-delta-plan/)
Delta residents, fishermen, Indian Tribes, conservationists, family farmers and environmental justice advocates are opposed to the peripheral canal because it would result in the export of more northern California water to corporate agribusiness and southern California. The canal's construction would likely lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon and other imperiled species. |
