Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Thursday that a delay in the $11.14 billion water bond until 2014 is likely, though no definitive decision has been made yet on postponing the measure.
Near the end of Steinberg's press availability on March 22, he said it was a "likelihood" that the water bond would be delayed after he was asked by a reporter if there was any update on the water bond status.
"The stakeholders are still meeting with one another," said Steinberg. "There's some public opinion research that's been ongoing, but no, I don't have any update. I think in all likelihood the water bond will be put off 'til 2014, that's what I think."
"It's not ... I think we want to leave a 2012 option open, but everything is focused on passing a revenue measure, that's the number one priority on the November ballot," said Steinberg.
Steinberg had said a few weeks ago that the stakeholders would be meeting and trying to figure out potential compromises to pare down the dollar amount or determining if it was best to delay the bond until November 2014.
Delta advocates said the bond should go before the voters in November 2012 as planned so the people of California can overwhelmingly reject it like they did the peripheral canal in 1982.
"The water bond was a bad idea in 2009 when the Legislature created it, it was a bad idea when they pulled it from the ballot in 2010 and it's still a bad idea in 2012," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. "And it will still be a bad idea in 2014 because the bond was badly written."
"California voters deserve the right to vote on the bond this year and to speak their mind against it once and for all," she emphasized. "Delaying it will not make it better because the bond supports boondoggle projects and does not address California water needs."
While the water bond does not specifically fund the construction of the peripheral canal, it provides support for boondoggle projects like the canal. It is estimated that approximately $4.5 billion of the bond supports the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal, according to Barrigan-Parrilla.
Delta advocates oppose the peripheral canal because it is designed to facilitate the export of more Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta water to Southern California and corporate agribusiness. Since healthy fish populations depend on substantial freshwater flows through the Delta, canal opponents believe the facility's construction will lead to the extinction of imperiled Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail, striped bass and other species.
The fast-tracking of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan by the Brown and Obama administrations is opposed by a broad coalition of Delta residents, recreational and commercial fishermen, family farmers, Indian Tribes, consumer advocates, grassroots environmentalists, business owners and elected officials.
Ironically, Steinberg made his comments on International World Water Day. The day is commemorated annually as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
The House of Representatives on February 29 voted 246-175 to approve a water grab by powerful corporate agribusiness interests in the San Joaquin Valley that will reverse decades of laws that protect fish and water supplies, but President Barack Obama has indicated he will veto the legislation if it ever passes through the Senate.
The Obama administration, in a statement on February 28, said it "strongly opposes" H.R. 1837, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act, because the bill "would unravel decades of work to forge consensus, solutions, and settlements that equitably address some of California's most complex water challenges."
The bill is sponsored by Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) and cosponsored by Representatives Jeff Denham (R-CA) Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) - and opposed by over 200 organizations including fishing groups, Indian Tribes, environmental groups, family farming organizations and California businesses.
"H.R. 1837 would undermine five years of collaboration between local, State, and Federal stakeholders to develop the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan," according to the White House. " "It would codify 20-year old, outdated science as the basis for managing California's water resources, resulting in inequitable treatment of one group of water users over another. And, contrary to 100 years of reclamation law that exhibits congressional deference to State water law, the bill would preempt California water law," the statement continued.
The bill also would reject the long-standing principle that beneficiaries should pay both the cost of developing water supplies and of mitigating any resulting development impacts, and would exacerbate current water shortages by repealing water pricing reforms that provide incentives for contractors to conserve water supplies, according to the Administration.
"Finally, H.R. 1837 would repeal the San Joaquin River Settlement Agreement, which the Congress enacted to resolve 18 years of contentious litigation. Repeal of the settlement agreement would likely result in the resumption of costly litigation, creating an uncertain future for river restoration and water delivery operations for all water users on the San Joaquin River," the White House stated.
"The Administration strongly supports efforts to provide a more reliable water supply for California and to protect, restore, and enhance the overall quality of the Bay-Delta environment. The Administration has taken great strides toward achieving these co-equal goals through a coordinated Federal Action Plan, which has strengthened collaboration between Federal agencies and the State of California while achieving solid results. Unfortunately, H.R. 1837 would undermine these efforts and the progress that has been made. For this reason, were the Congress to pass H.R. 1837, the President's senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill," the Administrationconcluded.
Bill opposed for the wrong reason
I am glad that the Obama administration is officially opposed to HR 1837 - and has pledged it would veto the bill.
Unfortunately, the administration is opposed to Nunes' job-killing legislation for the wrong reason - because it would undermine the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral canal to export more water to corporate agribusiness and southern California.
Since he assumed office in 2009, President Barack Obama has conducted an unprecedented campaign to eviscerate protections for fish, fishing communities and the environment.
First, the Obama administration has fast tracked the FDA approval of the first genetically engineered animal, AquaBounty's Atlantic salmon, for human consumption. These "Frankenfish," if they escaped into the wild, would devastate imperiled West Coast and East Coast salmon populations.
Second, the Obama's NOAA Administrator, Jane Lubchenco, has promoted the adoption of economically and environmentally destructive "catch shares" programs in an effort to privatize ocean resources. Wherever these programs have been introduced, the consolidation of fisheries into a few corporate hands and the devastation of marine ecosystems have occurred.
Third, Obama's Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, a strong backer of California's controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, has authorized a series of U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington that will harm dozens of protected species of marine mammals-southern resident killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises-through the use of high-intensity mid-frequency sonar.
Fourth, the Obama administration is the first one to officially endorse the peripheral canal, a scheme to deliver more Delta water to corporate agribusiness and southern California at the expense of Delta farms, communities and fish. The export of more water would likely lead to the extinction of imperiled Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and striped bass populations.
Nunes and his corporate welfare Republicans, through HR 1837, are trying to steal northern California water outright, with no "habitat restoration" to greenwash the water grab as in the case of the BDCP.
Either way, with HR 1837 or the peripheral canal, Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are likely to become extinct. We must oppose both the canal and HR 1837 - and not fall into the trap of ever supporting the BDCP because it would be "better" for fish and the environment than Devin Nunes' horrible legislation.
The corporate welfare Republican support of HR 1837 and the corporate welfare Democrat support of the peripheral canal shows the complete bankruptcy and corruption of our political system.
The House of Representatives, dominated by big government/corporate welfare Republicans, passed one of the worst job-killing bills in U.S. history, HR 1837, the "San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act," on February 29.
The House voted 246-175 to approve a water grab by powerful corporate agribusiness interests in California's San Joaquin Valley and reverse decades of laws that protect fish, wildlife and water supplies. The bill will lead to the loss of thousands of jobs in the recreational and commercial fishing industries in the Delta, coastal communities and the Central Valley, adding more economic devastation to communities already ravaged by the Wall Street-engineered economic collapse.
"Today's vote is an enormous victory for the people of California," proclaimed Representative Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the bill's author. "With House passage, we are halfway through the legislative process and now can look to the Senate for their response. Will our Senators help restore our property rights and end the death grip of radicals over California's water supply or will we have to look to others in the Senate to lead the charge?"
In reality, H.R. 1837 will take away 260 billion gallons of water used for saving salmon and other conservation purposes each year and deliver it to wealthy Central Valley water contractors, including the Westlands Water District and Beverly Hills billionaire Stewart Resnick, the owner of the massive Paramount Farms in Kern County.
The legislation eliminates badly-needed environmental protections for salmon, Delta smelt and other endangered species in the San Francisco Bay-Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. "Unless stopped or changed by the Senate, the legislation would likely result in the extinction of California's economically valuable salmon runs," according to a statement from the Center for Biological Diversity.
This job-killer bill nullifies existing water rights to guarantee water for politically connected corporations, ends restoration of the San Joaquin River and prevents revival of its salmon runs, overturns broadly supported water-use agreements, and threatens California's public water supplies - all to benefit wealthy corporations.
"This was a vote for pure greed and boosting corporate profits for some of the world's wealthiest agribusinesses, in exchange for sacrificing Central Valley salmon runs and overturning laws that protect water, the environment and ultimately California's people," said Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. "It's up to the Senate to stop these water tycoons from trashing environmental protections and flushing decades of salmon restoration efforts and water allocation down the drain."
Delta advocates were outraged by the passage of the legislation - but hopeful that the bill will be stopped in the Senate.
"In a vote that was almost straight down party lines, HR 1837 passed the Republican controlled House today," commented Jim Cox, charter boat captain and President of the California Striped Bass Association West Delta Chapter. "This horrible legislation that could well spell the end of the Delta as a viable estuary now must pass the Senate. Let's hope the same partisan politics will prevail in the Democratic-controlled Senate and end this bill."
"Congressman Jerry McNerney, Congressman John Garamendi, Congressman Mike Thompson, and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano were heroic in their attempts to defend the Delta from the Congressional led assault on our communities via HR 1837," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. "The bill passed the House of Representatives, so now our California Senators will be taking the lead to protect water rights and the public trust in California. Many, many thanks the good leaders from California who gave it all they had."
The corporate welfare Republicans in the House voted for the extinction of native Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinoook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, striped bass and southern resident killer whales, which feed upon salmon. They voted for this job-killing legislation in spite of massive opposition to it from the majority of Californians, who fear the loss of thousands of jobs in the recreational and commercial fishing industries and Delta agriculture and tourism if the legislation passes through the Senate.
Southwick and Associates, one of the most prominent outdoor economists in thecountry, estimated that the shut down of ocean and Central Valley river salmon fishing in 2008 and 2009 caused a loss of 23,000 jobs and a $1.4 billion loss to the California economy annually. The same study showed that if the salmon stocks are rebuilt, 94,000 jobs will be created and the economic contribution to the state will be over $5 billion annually, according to a letter from the Golden Gate Salmon Association submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board in February.
A huge, diverse coalition of 190 environmental, environmental justice, tribal and fishing organizations from around the state sent comments in opposition to H.R. 1837 to Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. California Indian Tribes opposing the legislation include the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Karuk Tribe and Modoc Nation. (http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102037578231-135/HR+1837+Opposition+Letter+Final.pdf)
Sixteen Delta-region environmental, business, and municipal organizations also signed a letter to House Speaker John Boehner voicing strong opposition to H.R. 1837 (http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102037578231-134/Signon+Letter+to+Speaker+Boehner+opposing+HR+1837.pdf)
Hopefully, the "water grab for corporations bill," HR 1837, will be stopped in the Senate. These corporate welfare Republicans, for their first time in their lives, need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get off the federal dole!
And the Congressional Republicans' masters, the corporate agribusiness welfare bums and Wall Street banksters, need to also pull themselves up by their bootstraps, get real jobs, and wean themselves off welfare from the federal government! Decades of entitlements and subsidies from the taxpayers have made these welfare cheats and bums unable to stand on their own two feet!
At the same time, the Corporate Welfare Democrats in the Brown and Obama administrations are engaged in their own "Delta Destruction Derby" by fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build a peripheral canal or canal designed to increase Delta water exports to corporate agribusiness and southern California. The construction of the canal, like the implementation of the provisions of HR 1837, will lead to the extinction of Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations.
HR 1837's Job-Killing Provisions
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the legislation will:
• Gut the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, requiring 800,000 acre-feet of water per year currently directed to conservation to be delivered instead to Central Valley water contractors (pp. 18 and 20);
• Eliminate protections for salmon in the San Francisco Bay-Delta and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers while guaranteeing massive water exports from the Delta to politically connected special interests;
• Invalidate the San Joaquin restoration agreement, a bipartisan, court-approved settlement to restore the San Joaquin that ended 18 years of litigation after the San Joaquin River Restoration Act was approved by Congress in 2009 (p. 25);
• Mandate that the Endangered Species Act be considered "fully met" by the project and require new federal permits that can be no more restrictive on water pumping than a 1994 Bay-Delta standard, ignoring 20 years of federal attempts to secure enough water flow to prevent salmon from going extinct (p. 21);
• Prohibit the Fish and Wildlife Service from distinguishing between naturally spawned and artificially stocked salmon and steelhead for the purposes of Endangered Species Act compliance (pp. 31-32);
• Require the Department of the Interior to approve new water projects and permits within a 45-day window and prohibit the secretary of the Interior from imposing any mitigation for projects harming endangered species, while giving water contracting agencies approval authority (pp. 4-5);
• Preempt the state's ability to regulate and control the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project for Endangered Species Act conditions, preempting application of the public trust doctrine for state law as well (p. 22);
• Allow privately controlled "joint power authorities," including those involved in water grabs and privatizing public water (such as the Kern Water Bank) to obtain federal funds to build or expand storage projects - a giveaway of taxpayer money to billionaires such as Stewart Resnick and his Kern Water Bank (p. 24);
• Rob the Fish and Wildlife Service of restoration funding by directing any difference in income from selling agricultural water to municipalities to be kept in a "restoration fund" controlled by water contractors, and for the first time, enable the use of federal funds to construct privately controlled storage facilities (pp. 6, 15 and 31);
• Require the Fish and Wildlife Service to provide water contractors with additional 100 percent replacement of "restoration flows" used for fish and wildlife conservation in the San Joaquin river within a year of enactment and prohibit use of any water not from the San Joaquin for that purpose (pp. 28 and 29);
• Preempt state authority to regulate water quality in the San Joaquin River beyond the flows and mitigation specified in the new bill (p. 24).
Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA), a Member of the House Natural Resources Committee and former Deputy Interior Secretary under President Bill Clinton, said in a press release on February 28 that he is "doing all he can to prevent reigniting another California water war."
On February 27, Garamendi sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to all Members of Congress urging his Democratic and Republican colleagues to vote 'nay' or 'present' on H.R. 1837, the so-called San Joaquin Water Reliability Act.
There is broad and substantial opposition to H.R. 1837 in California among urban, agricultural, conservationist, and recreational water stakeholders. A huge, diverse coalition of 190 environmental, environmental justice, tribal and fishing organizations from around the state sent comments in opposition to H.R. 1837 to Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. California Indian Tribes opposing the legislation include the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Karuk Tribe and Modoc Nation. (http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102037578231-135/HR+1837+Opposition+Letter+Final.pdf)
The "water grab" is also opposed by the Western States Water Council, which consists of representatives appointed by the governors of 18 western states.
"I urge you to either vote "Nay" or "Present" on H.R. 1837, because it would turn upside down 150 years of California water law and use the power of the federal government to preempt our state law and constitution," Garamendi wrote in his letter to fellow Members of Congress.
"Water law is sacred in the western United States. If you represent the western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming, then H.R. 1837 is especially alarming because it grants the federal government power to override a state's water law. A "Nay" or "Present" vote is a states' rights vote," emphasized Garamendi.
The Sacramento Bee also published an op-ed by Congressman Garamendi on H.R. 1837 entitled "Water bill in Congress promotes division, destroys state consensus."
"In addition to a blatant water grab, HR 1837 also creates sweeping exemptions from federal laws protecting our water and pre-emptively prohibits state lawmakers from striking a consensus-driven compromise. It would be more accurate to call HR 1837 the State Water Rights Repeal Act," Garamendi wrote in the op-ed.
"Now is not the time to reignite the California water wars of the past. Now is not the time to pit Californians against each other for short-term gain. There is a more constructive way forward for California. We must focus on responsible, science-based water management, with conservation, storage and recycling playing a prominent role - balancing our water needs and creating jobs across the Golden State," he stated.
At the same time that Representatives Devin Nunes, Tom McClintock and Jeff Denham are attempting to ramrod HR 1837 through the House, the Obama and Brown administrations are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal.
If built, the canal would lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales. The canal would also result in the eradication of striped bass, now officially classified as a native species by the California Fish and Game Commission.
This morning (February 29) the House of Representatives will be voting on HR 1837; stay tuned for the results of the vote. For the journal of the day's proceedings, go to: http://clerk.house.gov/floorsu...
Garamendi's letter and op-ed are below.
Letter to Colleagues: Protect States Water Rights
From: The Honorable John Garamendi
Date: 2/27/2012
Vote "Nay" or "Present" on H.R. 1837
I will be voting "Nay" on H.R. 1837. I urge you to either vote "Nay" or "Present" on H.R. 1837, because it would turn upside down 150 years of California water law and use the power of the federal government to preempt our state law and constitution.
Titles 1 and 2 of the bill rewrite complex federal water law without sufficient bipartisan collaboration, expert analyses or stakeholder engagement. Without Democrats and Republicans working cooperatively to address California's water challenges, no solution will be achieved.
H.R. 1837 is not broadly supported in California among urban, agricultural, conservationist, and recreational water stakeholders. Several notable groups have not taken a position on the legislation because it lacks consensus. Most of the state's leading editorial boards are opposed. H.R. 1837 is dividing us, instead of uniting us.
Water law is sacred in the western United States. If you represent the western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming, then H.R. 1837 is especially alarming because it grants the federal government power to override a state's water law. A "Nay" or "Present" vote is a states' rights vote.
Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Office reports that "H.R. 1837 would impose intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by preempting state laws and requiring or prohibiting some activities related to water management and wildlife preservation. The bill would require the state of California to change how it manages a state system for storing and delivering water. It also would prohibit the state from restricting existing water rights in an effort to protect any species affected by the operations of the water projects in the state. Similarly, it would prohibit restrictions on water rights that are designed to protect, enhance, or restore the value of public water resources. Finally, the bill would preempt several other state laws related to water management and wildlife preservation."
H.R. 1837's unintended consequences are too great and its unanticipated uncertainties are too risky. What happens in California won't stay in California no matter what Title 5 of this bill says. This bill, if it ever becomes law, will ignite California's next water war and the fights will spread across the West.
Don't get roped into voting "Yea" on H.R. 1837 by leadership. Vote "Nay" or "Present", protect states' water rights and let those of us in California work together to reach solutions to our water challenges.
Sincerely,
JOHN GARAMENDI
Member of Congress
Sacramento Bee Op-Ed: Water bill in Congress promotes division, destroys state consensus
By Rep. John Garamendi
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
As early as Wednesday, Congress is voting on a dangerous bill that would turn upside down 150 years of California water law. House Resolution 1837, the so-called San Joaquin Water Reliability Act, removes all environmental protections for the Delta and Central Valley rivers while allowing destructive exports of water from the Delta to politically connected San Joaquin Valley farmers.
As President Bill Clinton's former deputy interior secretary and as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am intimately familiar with California water policy. During discussion of HR 1837 in committee, I offered a series of amendments that would have made this legislation better, but all my amendments were rejected.
We need to bring this bill back to the drawing board. That's why I'm doing all I can to stop this bill, partnering with farmers, fishermen, outdoor enthusiasts and conservationists to tell Congress to stop HR 1837. This legislation is opposed by the state of California, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, local governments, and editorial boards across the state. And the list of opposition is growing.
Water storage and water recycling are important components of water policy, and they're lacking in HR 1837. This bill threatens thousands of jobs for salmon fishermen and Delta farmers. These workers have already suffered from the creeping salt water from the bay caused by excessive pumping of Delta water.
While agribusinesses in parts of the San Joaquin Valley claim to be suffering from an absence of water, the facts tell a different story. Farmers in these areas pay some of the lowest rates despite their distance from water sources. Unemployment in these parts of the state has been a chronic issue even in wet years.
Recent job losses have been mainly caused by the collapse of the construction and housing sector after the financial crisis. In addition, even at the height of the financial crisis and drought, California farmers were able to post record sales.
In addition to a blatant water grab, HR 1837 also creates sweeping exemptions from federal laws protecting our water and pre-emptively prohibits state lawmakers from striking a consensus-driven compromise. It would be more accurate to call HR 1837 the State Water Rights Repeal Act.
This bill also destroys California's 2009 comprehensive water package by isolating the Delta. The state's dual goals of water supply reliability and ecosystem restoration cannot be met if this bill becomes law.
It's possible to craft a balanced approach that satisfies the needs of everyone in California. HR 1837 isn't a balanced approach, however. If it were implemented, it would destroy waterways throughout Northern California, and it would take away California's ability to control our own water destiny.
Now is not the time to reignite the California water wars of the past. Now is not the time to pit Californians against each other for short-term gain. There is a more constructive way forward for California. We must focus on responsible, science-based water management, with conservation, storage and recycling playing a prominent role - balancing our water needs and creating jobs across the Golden State.
Instead of threatening the Delta and river communities throughout Northern California, I hope my colleagues in Congress will come back to the negotiating table. We can improve water access for Central Valley farmers without throwing out more than a century of water law. We can unite as Californians and invest in American-made water recycling and storage, from the Delta to the Bay Area to the Central Valley and farther south. We can create thousands of jobs throughout the state without destroying thousands of jobs in the Delta. We can embrace consensus instead of fostering division.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, is a member of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Organizations throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta region have united against a horrible piece of legislation that would upend water rights in California, gut protections for imperiled Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations, and halt a historic plan to restore salmon to the San Joaquin River.
According to a news release from Restore the Delta, sixteen Delta-region environmental, business, and municipal organizations have signed a letter to House Speaker John Boehner voicing strong opposition to H.R. 1837, "The San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act," sponsored by south San Joaquin Valley Congressman Devin Nunes and scheduled to be heard by the House on February 29. (http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102037578231-134/Sign on+Letter+to+Speaker+Boehner+opposing+HR+1837.pdf)
Opponents have also written to area congressional representatives Tom McClintock and Jeff Denham, both of whom support the measure, a water grab by the Corporate Welfare Kings of the San Joaquin Valley.
"The environmental community, fishing groups, and the Building Industry Association of the Delta all recognize how dangerous this bill is," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. "It would strip away 150 years of water rights law and public trust protections in California."
H.R. 1837 would relax water pumping restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These restrictions have been the last line of defense for protecting water quality for Delta farming and urban users.
"The bill would create a new system that would give a handful of southern San Joaquin Valley corporate farmers all the water they want at any time at the expense of Delta farmers, urban communities, and fisheries," she added.
Co-signers of Restore the Delta's opposition letter include the California Striped Bass Association, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the California Delta Chambers and Visitors Bureau, the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, and the City of Stockton.
A huge, diverse coalition of 190 environmental, environmental justice, tribal and fishing organizations from around the state also sent comments in opposition to H.R. 1837 to Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. California Indian Tribes opposing the legislation include the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Karuk Tribe and Modoc Nation. (http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102037578231-135/HR+1837+Opposition+Letter+Final.pdf)
"It is rare for so many diverse groups to be on the same page about an issue," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "That's a clear indication of just how bad this bill is."
Supporters of big government subsidies and corporate welfare for rich agribusiness interests, including the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, California Water Alliance and the Family Farm Alliance, are backing HR 1837.
"Organizations from across the country are calling for passage of H.R. 1837, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act, legislation to prevent future California man-made droughts," claimed a press release from Nunes' office. "This comprehensive solution will bring water supply certainty to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, protect 30,000 jobs, generate millions in federal revenue, and decrease reliance on foreign food sources."
At the same time Nunes, McClintock and Denham are attempting to ramrod HR 1837 through the House, the Obama and Brown administrations are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal.
If built, the canal would lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales. The canal would also result in the eradication of striped bass, now officially classified as a native species by the California Fish and Game Commission.
For more information, contact: Contact: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Phone (209) 479-2053, Restore the Delta, 10100 Trinity Pkwy, Suite 120, Stockton, CA 95219, Email: Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org, http://restorethedelta.org.
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) has just released a new report, "California 2025: Planning for a Better Future," touching on an array of issues including water.
Other topics included in the report (http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=895) are budget, climate change, economy, education, housing, population and the workforce
Those hoping that the PPIC might break with its past reports calling for the construction of the peripheral canal to export more Delta water to corporate agribusiness and Southern California will be disappointed, since the report includes a rousing endorsement of the peripheral canal as the "solution" to both ecosystem restoration and water supply needs in California.
Like in its previous reports, the PPIC describes California's "biggest water challenge" as "Instability in the Delta," using the threat of catastrophe from the "looming collapse" of the Delta levees from an earthquake or sea level change as the reason to proceed ahead with the construction of a peripheral canal.
"As the fragile hub of California's water supply, the Delta now poses serious risks to the economies of the Bay Area, Southern California, and the San Joaquin Valley," the report claims. "Sea level rise and earthquakes threaten the weak Delta levees that keep salt water at bay."
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, countered this absurd contention.
"If you understand the status of levees now, a moderate investment in Delta levees would create a robust levee system that will protect the Delta's $20 billion worth of infrastructure, according to the Delta Protection Commission Economic Sustainability Report," she said.
"Historically, Delta levees have never been in better shape because of the improvements made in the last 30 years," she added. "Most of the historic levee failures discussed in materials distributed by the PPIC and state of California refer to levee collapses from a long time ago."
In a statement that could have come out of a press release of the Department of Water Resources or the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, an agribusiness Astroturf group founded by three executives from billionaire Stewart Resnick's Paramount Farms, the report claims, "Environmental measures are also having an effect on water supplies."
"Since 2007, the collapse of native fish species has led to court-ordered cutbacks of pumping from the southern Delta. The Delta's physical deterioration will not be delayed by political indecision: the state faces inevitable, fundamental change in this region," the report states.
"A peripheral canal is the best approach for addressing both ecosystem and economic risks," the document continues. "Instead of pulling water through the Delta to the pumps (the current system), a peripheral canal (or tunnel) would tap water upstream on the Sacramento River and move it around (or underneath) the Delta to the pumps.
This change would be good for native fish: fewer would be trapped in the pumps and most would benefit from an increase in natural tidal flows within the Delta. It would also be good for the economy, improving both water quality and water supply reliability. Dual conveyance (a peripheral canal combined with continued through-Delta pumping) is a potential near-term solution."
However, Barrigan-Parrilla noted that if the state builds the intakes for the canal in the north end of the Delta near Hood, that will negate any benefits to fish provided by the flooding of the Yolo Bypass most years.
She also emphasized that if the state has to date failed to install state-of-the-art fish screens on the Delta pumps as they were required by the CalFed process 10 years ago, it is hard to conceive of them building new screens on the Delta intakes that will effectively protect migrating salmon, steelhead and other species.
"We don't have proper fish screening of the pumps now - do we really think they would provide proper screening for fish in the six new intakes on the Sacramento River proposed for the canal?" she asked.
Delta advocates find it hard to believe that the construction of the canal will lead to any benefits for imperiled species, based on the state and federal government's abysmal record of protecting fish at the pumps over the past several decades.
The Brown and Obama administrations authorized the export of a record amount of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in the 2011 water year. The water export total, including water diverted by the Contra Costa Canal and North Bay Aqueduct, was 6,633,000 acre-feet in 2011 - 163,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005, according to DWR data.
The record pumping from the Delta in 2011 - used to fill billionaire Stewart Resnick's Kern Water Bank and southern California reservoirs - resulted in a huge, unprecedented fish kill at the Delta pumps. Agency staff "salvaged" a total of 11,158,025 fish in the Delta water pumping facilities between January 1 and September 7, 2011 alone. Scientists estimate that the actual amount of fish lost in the pumps is 5 to 10 times the "salvage" numbers.
Approximately 9 million Sacramento splittail, the largest number ever recorded, were "salvaged" during this period. The previous record salvage number for the splittail, a native minnow found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, was 5.5 million in 2006.
Finally, the report contends, "To ensure that the canal is managed for environmental benefits and to prevent a 'water grab' by those who rely on Delta exports, safeguards are needed. For example, giving fish managers a share of conveyance capacity can provide environmental safeguards."
You got to be kidding! Do the apparently "faith-based" report authors really believe that the canal is anything but a water grab for more water from the Delta that will result in dramatically less flows for fish - and in the likely extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and southern resident killer whales?
With the state and federal government's abysmal management of Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations over the past several years, do we really believe that the Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Water Resources officials are going to suddenly and magically transform themselves from fish killers to veritable "John Muirs" and "Rachel Carsons" the moment that construction of the canal is completed?
Who is the report funded by? In the past, the PPIC reports promoting the peripheral canal have been funded by the Stephen Bechtel Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund and David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
The Resources Legacy Fund and David and Lucile Packard foundation also fund the controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create so-called "marine protected areas" on the California coast, a process that is filled with numerous conflicts of interests. The MLPA Initiative, under the "leadership" of a big oil lobbyist, created a network of questionable "marine protected areas" that went into effect in Southern California waters on January 1, 2012.
This time the report is funded by the "Donor's Circle." I couldn't find any information in the report or on the PPIC website (http://www.ppic.org) that revealed exactly who these "donors" actually are, but it would be interesting to find out which individuals have contributed to the latest effort by the PPIC to greenwash the construction of the peripheral canal.
For more information about Restore the Delta and the campaign to stop the peripheral canal, go to: http://restorethedelta.org.
Caleen Sisk, the Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, will speak during a four person panel on the state of salmon in California at the Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture's 39th Annual Fisheries Forum scheduled for today, Feb. 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 4202 in the State Capitol in Sacramento.
Sisk's Tribe is opposing the Obama administration's plan to raise Shasta Dam and state/federal plans to build the peripheral canal. Sisk recently slammed as a "dehumanizing document" the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's controversial draft report claiming that a $1.07 billion plan to raise Shasta Dam by 18-1/2 feet is "feasible" and "economically justified" because it would flood the Tribe's sacred sites on the McCloud River and pave the way for more water exports to corporate agribusiness and southern California.
"How do they justify flooding the Winnemem Wintu people out twice?" asked Sisk. "They still haven't fulfilled the 1941 Act of Congress that said they are to provide like lands and pay for all the allotment and communal lands. They still haven't fixed the cemetery problems as it's still illegal for us to bury our people in the cemetery they set up, because it is held by the Bureau Land Management instead of the Bureau of Indian Affair like the Act called for. And the Shasta Dam is still not paid for by the public."
The dam raise occurs in the context of Obama and Brown administration plans to export more water from northern California, including the McCloud River, to southern California water agencies and the "Corporate Agribusiness Welfare Kings" on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Delta advocates believe the construction of the canal will lead to the extinction of Central Valley steellhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales, which feed on the salmon.
Sisk and the Tribe are working on an ambitious project with the New Zealand government, Maori Nations and NOAA Fisheries to restore winter run chinook salmon, now thriving in the Rakaira River in New Zealand, to the McCloud above Lake Shasta.
Appearing on the salmon panel with Sisk will be Dave Bitts of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association, Linda Sheehan from the Earth Law Center and Victor Gonella from the Golden Gate Salmon Association.
Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D - North Coast), who chairs the Fisheries Committee, explained the reason for the annual forum.
"The Fisheries Forum is the primary opportunity in California for those involved in fishing and aquaculture to come together and speak directly to the Legislature about issues of critical importance to them," said Chesbro. "California's fisheries and aquaculture industry are vital to the state's economy and serve as an indicator of the health of our entire aquatic environment."
After opening remarks by Chesbro and other legislators who serve on the Committee, the agenda includes presentations from Charlton Bonham, director of the state Department of Fish and Game; Sonke Mastrup, executive director of the California Fish and Game Commission and Rod McInnis, regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The forum will also feature reports from the California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout, the California Salmon Stamp program, the California Dungeness Crab Task Force, the Sea Urchin Commission and the Aquaculture Development Committee.
"We will also hear from many of our hardworking fishing men and women, members of the aquaculture community, and conservation groups," Chesbro said.
Former Senate Majority Leader Barry Keene started the annual hearing, formerly known as the Fishermen's Forum, in 1973. Initially established to address issues confronting North Coast commercial fishermen, the Forum has since expanded to cover issues statewide concerning commercial and sport fisheries, aquaculture and fisheries research. Since 1981 the Forum has been hosted by the Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. Many laws protecting fisheries, aquaculture and marine interests were developed as a result of information gathered at past Forums.
The public is welcome to attend the Forum. There is no cost. There will also be time for public comments.
Record fish kill and exports, MLPA Initiative are not on agenda
While many good topics will be covered at the forum, missing from the agenda are specific panels covering three of the biggest, most controversial fishery issues in California in 2011 - the record fish kill and record water exports at the Delta pumps, the Brown administration's decision to forge ahead with Arnold Schwarzenegger's privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, and the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral canal.
Hopefully, these huge issues will be covered during the other panels, but it would have much better to feature these issues as specific agenda items to be discussed by speakers from different perspectives.
Today I reiterate my call to DFG Director Chuck Bonham, who will speak first on the agency panel, to show some courage and take the following crucial actions to save our imperiled fish populations and fishing communities.
1. Bonham should call for an investigation into the record "salvage" of over 11 million fish, including 9 million imperiled Sacramento splittail, during 2011, a export record pumping year, and direct staff to find a way to stop or at least reduce the carnage at the predatory state and federal export pumping facilities in the South Delta. Scientists estimate that the actual amount of fish lost in the pumps is 5 to 10 times the "salvage" numbers.
2. He should support the call by anglers, grassroots environmentalists and advocates of openness and transparency in government to suspend the corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, including the so-called "marine protected areas" created under the leadership of South Coast MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force Chair Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association. The initiative creates so-called "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture, wind and wave energy projects and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering.
The DFG wardens would be very happy to hear that they don't have to enforce new "marine protected areas" when they don't have enough staff or boats to patrol the existing ones. That's why the California Fish and Game Wardens Association has repeatedly called on the Fish and Game Commission not to approve any new marine protected areas until the Department has enough staff and money to enforce the existing MPAs.
3. He should urge the Brown and Obama administrations to halt the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal, a project that will lead to the deaths of more Central Valley chinook salmon, steelhead, striped bass, American shad, Sacramento splittail, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, largemouth bass, white and green sturgeon and other species than all of the poachers in the state combined could possibly kill.
Below is the final agenda for the forum. The California Channel will webcast the entire forum live, and archive the broadcast at its website, http://www.calchannel.com.
39th Annual Fisheries Forum
Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture
State Capitol, Room 4202
February 22, 2012 9:30am - 5pm
I. Welcoming Remarks
Chairman Wesley Chesbro
Opening Statements by Members of the Joint Committee
II. Agency Updates - Priorities for 2012
Charlton Bonham - Director, Department of Fish and Game
Sonke Mastrup - Executive Director, Fish and Game Commission
Rod McInnis - Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service
III. Committee Reports
California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout - Vivian Helliwell
California Salmon Stamp Committee - Mike Ricketts
California Dungeness Crab Task Force - Mike Cunningham
California Sea Urchin Commission - Tom Trumper/Bob Bertelli
Aquaculture Development Committee - Tony Schuur
IV. Ocean Science and Monitoring
Dean Wendt Ph.D. - SLOSEA, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, CPSU
Dave Rudie - San Diego Oceans Foundation
V. Tuna/Herring/Abalone
Wayne Heikkila - Western Fishboat Owners Association
Ernie Koepf - California Herring Association
Jim Martin - Sonoma County Abalone Network
LUNCH
VI. California Fisheries - Permits, Sustainability and Fishermen Initiatives
Ronnie Pellegrini - Humboldt Fisherman's Marketing Association
Pete Halmay - San Diego Fishermen's Working Group
Stephanie Mutz - Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, Inc
Mike McCorkle - Southern California Trawlers Association
Kenny Belov - FISH Restaurant
VII. Groundfish
Zeke Grader - Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
Roger Thomas - Golden Gate Fishermen's Association
VIII. Marijuana Cultivation Impacts on Watersheds and Fish
Nancy Foley/TBD - Department of Fish and Game
Greg Giusti - UC Forest Advisor
Scott Greacen - Friends of the Eel River
Break
IX. Salmon
Dave Bitts - Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
Linda Sheehan - Earth Law Center
Victor Gonella - Golden Gate Salmon Association
Caleen Sisk - Winnemem Wintu Tribe
X. Aquaculture Development
Ken Beer - The Fishery
Greg Dale - Coast Seafood Oyster Co.
Mark Drawbridge - Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute
Don Kent - Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute
I wrote this song, "Privatize Everything in the Universe," back in 2000. The song was meant as political satire, but unfortunately, many of these lyrics have already become reality in recent years.
The oceans are being privatized under NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco's "catch shares" program that concentrates ocean fisheries in fewer, increasingly corporate hands.
Ocean conservation management has been privatized under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative's creation of so-called marine protected areas in California that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture, wind and wave energy project and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chairs the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force that imposed the "marine protected areas" that went into effect in Southern California waters on January 1, 2012.
The water in Central Valley rivers and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is being privatized though the Obama and Brown administration Bay Delta Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal, designed to increase water exports to corporate agribusiness interests, including Beverly Hills billionaire Stewart Resnick and the Westlands Water District, and Southern California. Habitat "restoration" and infrastructure "improvements" under this corporate water grab will be funded through the $11.4 billion Water Bond.
Monsanto and Obama's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are leading the charge to privatize the food supply and life itself by fast-tracking the approval of genetically engineered foods. The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering an application by Aqua Bounty Farms to permit sales of genetically engineered salmon, "Frankenfish," for human consumption in spite of the tremendous risk these fish pose to imperiled salmon populations and public health.
When you add the current campaign to privatize the prisons, public education, health services, military operations and public services in the U.S. and around the world, it is so clear that the Wall Street 1 percent and corporate leaders, in collaboration with corrupt government officials, are indeed well on their way to "privatizing everything." To save the country and the planet, everybody who cares about democracy, human rights and the environment must resist and stop the insane plan to "privatize everything!"
To resist the privatizers, help to stop the Corporate Water Grab in California by opposing the $11.4 billion Water Bond for three reasons.
(1) The bond, scheduled for the November ballot, would sink California's budget. California is already facing a $13 billion budget deficit that has resulted in huge cuts to public schools and other essential services, according to Food & Water Watch.
(2) It will establish corporate control of water. Corporate agribusiness giants would get more taxpayer-subsidized water that they could resell to developers for huge private profits.
(3) It is bad for the environment. The bond busts the budget for local water projects and degrades the San Francisco Bay Delta ecosystem. In tandem with state and federal plans to build the peripheral canal, the bond will lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento river chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail, southern resident killer whales (that feed on salmon) and other imperiled species.
Privatize Everything in the Universe (by Dan Bacher)
We'll privatize the water, we'll privatize the air
We'll privatize the oceans, we'll privatize your hair
We'll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we'll privatize everything in the universe!
We'll privatize fish in the sea, we'll privatize the whales
We'll privatize sea turtles, we'll put 'em up for sale
We'l lprivatize the world as we sing this verse, we'll privatize everything in the universe!
We'll privatize the corn and wheat, we'll privatize all seeds
We'll privatize all life forms, we'll privatize all weeds
We'll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we'll privatize everything in the universe!
We'll privatize the prisons, We'll privatize the schools
We'll privatize the highways, we'll privatize car pools
We'll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we'll privatize everything in the universe!
We'll privatize your secret thoughts, we'll privatize your genes
We'll privatize your emotions, we'll privatize your schemes
We'll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we'll privatize everything in the universe!
We'll privatize the sun so bright, we'll privatize the moon
We'll privatize the Galaxy, we need more living room
We'll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we'll privatize everything in the universe!
We'll privatize religion, we'll privatize all souls
Instead of God, we'll appoint, One Big, Bad CEO!
We'll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we'll privatize everything in the universe!
The federal government on February 9 approved a landmark California proposal banning the discharge of more than 22 million gallons of treated vessel sewage to shorelines and shallow marine waters in California every year, drawing praise from environmental and shipping industry groups alike.
U.S. EPA's Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld signed a rule that will finalize EPA's decision and approve a state proposal to ban all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going ships to state marine waters along California's 1,624 mile coast from Mexico to Oregon and surrounding major islands.
The action established a new federal regulation banning even treated sewage from being discharged in California's marine waters.
"This is an important step to protect California's coastline," said Governor Jerry Brown. "I want to commend the shipping industry, environmental groups and U.S. EPA for working with California to craft a common sense approach to keeping our coastal waters clean."
"By approving California's 'No Discharge Zone,' EPA will prohibit more than 20 million gallons of vessel sewage from entering the state's coastal waters," said Jared Blumenfeld. "Not only will this rule help protect important marine species, it also benefits the fishing industry, marine habitats and the millions of residents and tourists who visit California beaches each year."
This action strengthens protection of California's coastal waters from the adverse effects of sewage discharges from a growing number of large vessels, according to an announcement from the the U.S. EPA.
"Several dozen cruise ships make multiple California port calls each year while nearly 2,000 cargo ships made over 9,000 California port calls in 2010 alone," the EPA stated. "EPA estimates that the rule will prohibit the discharge of over 22 million of the 25 million gallons of treated vessel sewage generated by large vessels in California marine waters each year, which could greatly reduce the contribution of pollutants still found in treated vessel sewage."
Senator Joe Simitian authored Clean Coast Act
State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) authored Senate Bill 771, the Clean Coast Act that prohibits all commercial ships from dumping hazardous waste, sewage sludge, oily bilge water, "gray water" from sinks and showers, and sewage in state waters. Simitian's SB 771 also required California to petition the federal government for a 'No Discharge Zone' to enforce the bill's anti-dumping provisions.
"This is a great day for the California coast, which is far too precious a resource to be used as a dumping ground," said Simitian. "This 'No Discharge Zone' - the largest in the nation - protects our coastal economy, our environment and our public health."
"California's coastal waters will no longer serve as a sewage pond for big ships," said Cal/EPA Secretary Matthew Rodriquez. "For too long, pollution from these vessels has endangered our marine environment, jeopardized public health and threatened the coastal communities that rely on recreation and tourism dollars. I commend U.S. EPA for helping us ensure that our coastline remains pristine."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already implemented similar vessel sewage discharge bans in the four California marine sanctuaries that it oversees. Recreational and commercial uses of California's coastal waters are equally important. Seventy-seven percent of the State's population lives on or near the coast and annually, over 150 million visitor-days are spent at California beaches.
California ranks first in the nation as a travel destination and its beaches are the leading destination for tourists. California's commercial and recreational fishing industry also relies upon clean water to help preserve and restore coastal fisheries.
Under the Clean Water Act, states may request EPA to establish vessel sewage no-discharge zones if necessary to protect and restore water quality. In 2006, following passage of three state statutes designed to reduce the effects of vessel discharges to its waters, the State of California asked EPA to establish the sewage discharge ban.
After releasing the proposed rule in 2010, EPA considered some 2,000 comment letters from members of the public, environmental groups, and the shipping industry before finalizing the regulation.
"California's economic health is tied to the health of our oceans and beaches," said Charles Hoppin, Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board. "Pollution from cargo and cruise ships directly threatens public health, marine life and our economy. This led to our request to declare the whole coastline a no discharge zone so that we could provide equal water pollution protection along our precious coastline."
Today's prohibition is unprecedented in geographical scope. In contrast to prior no-discharge zones under the Clean Water Act, which apply in very small areas, the new ban applies to all coastal waters out to 3 miles from the coastline and all bays and estuaries subject to tidal influence. Other California no discharge zones for ten bays and marinas remain in effect for all vessels.
Shipping industry and environmental groups praise ban
Both the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and environmental organizations such as Friends of the Earth applauded the ban.
Consistent with the State's request, the prohibition applies to all passenger ships larger than 300 tons and to all other oceangoing vessels larger than 300 tons with sewage holding tank capacity.
"The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association shares the concern for protection of California's marine environment. Our member companies are dedicated to the facilitation of trade while also minimizing any associated environmental impacts," said John Berge, Vice President of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.
"Big ships make for big pollution but unfortunately, responsible disposal of sewage from ships hasn't always been a given in California," said Marcie Keever, oceans and vessels project director at Friends of the Earth. "The actions taken by the U.S. EPA, the State of California, and the thousands of Californians who supported the Clean Coast Act mean that cruise lines and the shipping industry can no longer use California's valuable coastal and bay waters as their toilet."
In addition to the discharge prohibition, other vessel sewage discharges will continue to be regulated under existing Clean Water Act requirements, which generally require sewage to be treated by approved marine sanitation devices prior to discharge. The State is also continuing to implement and strengthen other efforts to address sewage discharges from smaller vessels, including recreational boats, to state waters.
"California's coastal waters are home to a wide variety of unique, nationally important marine environments that support rich biological communities and a wide range of recreational and commercial activities," the EPA stated. "Four national marine sanctuaries, a national monument, portions of six national parks and recreation areas, and more than 200 other marine reserves and protected areas have been established to protect California's unique marine resources."
Greater effort needed to fully protect ocean and Delta from pollution and water diversions
I laud Senator Joe Simitian for sponsoring the legislation banning sewage discharge from cruise ships - and for the Brown and Obama administrations for implementing the "No Discharge Zone" to clean up the state's ocean waters.
However, while this is a good first step, much more action is urgently needed to protect California's marine waters and the San Francisco-Bay Delta Estuary, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. California's controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative creates so-called "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, pollution, corporate aquaculture, wind and wave energy projects, military testing and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering.
The questionable "marine protected areas" that went into effect in Southern California waters on January 1, 2001 were created under the "visionary leadership" of Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association and chair of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast. Now that fishermen have been kicked off large areas of the South Coast, Reheis-Boyd has been relentlessly lobbying for new oil drilling off the California coast, the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the evisceration of environmental laws.
The failure of the MLPA Initiative to comprehensively protect California waters occurs at a time when the military is planning to expand its training exercises in West Coast waters. A broad coalition of conservation and tribal organizations on January 26 sued the Obama administration for failing to protect thousands of whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions from U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.
Earthjustice, representing the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the San Juans, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and People For Puget Sound, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service's approval of the Navy's training activities in its Northwest Training Range Complex.
"These training exercises will harm dozens of protected species of marine mammals-southern resident killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises-through the use of high-intensity mid-frequency sonar," said Steve Mashuda, an Earthjustice attorney representing the groups. "The Fisheries Service fell down on the job and failed to require the Navy to take reasonable and effective actions to protect them." (http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/30/groups-sue-over-navy-sonar-impacts-on-marine-mammals-94811)
One of the reasons why this and similar lawsuits are so necessary is because the "marine protected areas" created under the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative - in reality "no fishing zones" that are falsely portrayed by MLPA advocates as "Yosemites of the Sea" and "underwater parks" - fail to protect the ocean from military testing and all other human impacts on the ocean than fishing.
Ironically, the same Brown and Obama administrations that announced the welcome ban on sewage discharge from larger cruise ships on February 9 are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal to export more California Delta water to southern California and corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
Delta advocates believe the construction of the peripheral canal will lead to the extinction of Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon, southern resident killer whales and other imperiled species.
So while state and federal officials tout the creation of the New "No Discharge Zone" off the California coast, they are proceeding forward with a canal plan that will kill many more fish and other species that the MLPA Initiative's "marine protected areas" or the "No Discharge Zone" would ever "save."
More Information:
To view the electronic media kit for the U.S. EPA announcement including photos and a copy of the final rule please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/med...
Media Contacts:
U.S. EPA Media Contact: Mary Simms, simms.mary [at] epa.gov, 415-947-4270
Cal/EPA Deborah Hoffman, Director of Communications 916-324-9670 dhoffman [at] calepa.ca.gov Cal/EPA Lindsay VanLaningham, Deputy Director of Communications, 916- 324-9670, LindsayV [at] calepa.ca.gov
State Water Resources Control Board - George Kostyrko, Director of Public Affairs 916- 341-7365 gkostyrko [at] waterboards.ca.gov
Sen. Simitian's office, Lisa Gardiner, lisa.gardiner [at] sen.ca.gov, 916-651-4011
Marcie Keever, Friends of the Earth, Oceans & Vessels Project Director, 415.544.0790 x223, mkeever [at] foe.org
We do not believe that the proposed Delta Plan and EIR will result in the recovery of fish and other wildlife in the Delta; it will not stabilize and recover the Delta in a way that provides an ongoing and healthy environment for fish and other species; and it will not provide a sustainable foundation for a viable Delta community," according to the Environmental Water Caucus.
The EWC comments were issued at a time when the Obama and Brown administrations are pushing for the construction of a peripheral canal or tunnel to export California Delta water to southern California and corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Delta advocates believe that the construction of the canal will lead to the extinction of Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon, southern resident killer whales and other imperiled species.
Dan
For Immediate Release: February 8, 2012
A Realistic Plan for the Delta
In late 2009, the legislature created the Delta Reform Act which established a suite of requirements and basic goals for the Sacramento-San Joaquin-San Francisco Bay Delta. These included a more reliable water supply for California, protecting, restoring and enhancing the Delta ecosystem, and developing a legally enforceable Delta Plan to achieve these goals. The newly created Delta Stewardship Council has now produced a Delta Plan and a 2,300 page Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that fails to achieve these basic goals.
The Environmental Water Caucus (EWC) and our many affiliated organizations has responded with written comments to that proposed EIR and told the Delta Stewardship Council that they need to reissue an Environmental Impact Report that meets the mandates of the state legislature. This revised EIR should be fact based and clearly establish the specific actions that will put the Bay Delta and its declining fish and wildlife on the road to recovery. In a nutshell, here's what the EWC said:
• "Water supply reliability" does not mean increased exports from the Delta, and is shorthand for a policy to increase Delta water exports for the benefit of San Joaquin Valley farming corporations and Southern California developers.
• The proposed Delta Plan is patently inconsistent with the increased Delta outflows recommended by the State Water Board for the health of the Delta.
• The EIR abrogates the Delta Stewardship Council's duty to carefully evaluate and protect public trust resources.
• The proposed Delta Plan fails to enforce existing water quality laws.
• The provisions of the secretly negotiated Monterey Amendments need to be analyzed for their impact on water supply for Southern California.
• There is a complete lack of quantifiable data to evaluate the alternatives discussed.
• It is inconceivable that such a major undertaking as the Delta Plan so far contains no information on the costs of the alternatives; yet a Proposed Project has been selected with no references to costs or benefits.
• The Environmental Water Caucus' superior alternative should be more accurately reflected in the EIR and then selected as the Proposed Project.
• The Draft EIR should be significantly revised into a legally compliant and enforceable Delta Plan.
We do not believe that the proposed Delta Plan and EIR will result in the recovery of fish and other wildlife in the Delta; it will not stabilize and recover the Delta in a way that provides an ongoing and healthy environment for fish and other species; and it will not provide a sustainable foundation for a viable Delta community.
The Delta Stewardship Council needs to produce at least two additional components for this to be considered an adequate and legal EIR: 1. A water availability analysis to determine if sufficient water is even available for each of the analyzed alternatives, and;
2. A socio/economic analysis to provide the information fundamental to allocating a scarce resource and to balancing the public trust, as required by the State of California.
The EWC alternative, based on the EWC report California Water Solutions Now (http://www.ewccalifornia.org/home/index.php), which was presented to the Council and "evaluated" in the EIR, calls for the following specific actions:
• Reduced exports from the Delta
• Increased flows for the Delta and its connected Central Valley rivers
• An aggressive statewide water conservation and efficiency program to partially compensate for the reduced exports
• Increased reliance on regional water solutions
• Elimination of irrigation water for impaired lands in the San Joaquin Valley
• Maximum use of existing facilities and improved fish screens in the Delta
• Restoration of approximately 18,000 acres of Delta ecosystems
• Reinforcement of existing core levees to higher standards in order to reduce the impacts from projected sea level rise or potential earthquake risks
• Examination of Tulare Basin water storage
• Floodplain and river integration
• Fish passage for Central Valley rim dams
• Cold water for fish in those reservoirs
• User fees to fund agencies,
The combination of these EWC recommended actions would eliminate the need to construct a Peripheral Canal or Tunnel under the Delta and the need for major new surface storage dams as contemplated by the Delta Plan and the upcoming water bond.
These two actions alone would save taxpayers at least $20 billion in new costs.
That would be a more realistic and economically viable Delta Plan.
Contacts:
Bill Jennings, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Deltakeep [at] me.com, 209-464-5067
Jonas Minton, Planning and Conservation League, jminton [at] pcl.org, 916-719-4049
Jim Metropulos, Sierra Club California, jim.metropulos [at] sierraclub.org, 916-557-1100, Ext 109
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org, 209-479-2053
Dr. Mark Rockwell, Endangered Species Coalition, Federation of Fly Fishers,
mrockwell [at] stopextinction.org, 530-432-0100
Tom Stokely, California Water Impact Network, tstokely [at] att.net, 530-524-0315
Nick Di Croce, Lead Author: California Water Solutions Now, troutnk [at] aol.com, 805-688-7813
Delta group blasts canal plan as 'Brown legacy, green disaster
by Dan Bacher
In his State of the State address on January 18, Governor Jerry Brown confirmed what everybody knew anyway: the construction of conveyance (a peripheral canal or tunnel) to export more Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta water to corporate agribusiness and southern California is a huge priority for him.
"Last week, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar - met here in Sacramento with those in my administration who are working to complete the Bay Delta Conservation Plan," proclaimed Brown. "Together we agreed that by this summer we should have the basic elements of the project we need to build."
"This is something my father worked on and then I worked on-decades ago. We know more now and are committed to the dual goals of restoring the Delta ecosystem and ensuring a reliable water supply," he said. (http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17386)
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, took issue with his repetition of the canard about how the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) project "will ensure water for 25 million Californians and for millions of acres of farmland as well as a hundred thousand acres of new habitat for spawning fish and other wildlife."
"Ensure water for 25 million Californians to do what?" she asked. "Flush their toilets? Water their lawns? Grow more permanent crops or housing developments in the desert? We don't want anyone to go thirsty. But the issue here is not thirst. It is the preservation of water-wasting lifestyles that California can't sustain."
Barrigan-Parrilla also criticized Brown for greenwashing the destruction of the Delta when he touted the so-called "habitat restoration" planned for the Delta under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
"And by the way, Governor, how many thousands of acres of Delta farmland are you prepared to take out of production to create new habitat for which there won't be enough water for anyway? After all a new pipe will not make more water for the system," said Barrigan-Parrilla.
Ironically, the BDCP aims to take out of production some of the most fertile agricultural land on the planet - in order to deliver more water to subsidized corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley that are farming selenium-laced, drainage-impaired land, soil that should have never been irrigated!
Delta advocates believe the construction of the peripheral canal would result in the extinction of Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon and other imperiled fish species, due to increased water exports from the estuary.
Shock therapy on the Delta
In the same "Delta flows" newsletter, Barrigan-Parrilla made a great comparison between a pattern revealed by independent journalist Naomi Klein in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and state-federal plans to build the canal.
"Journalist Naomi Klein traces a pattern in which economic 'shock therapy' is used to gain control for large-scale corporate enterprises when the public is disoriented by wars, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "Klein's book reads like a catalog of situations in which corporate interests have waited in the wings and set the stage to take advantage of some kind of disaster."
In her book, Klein states, "I call these orchestrated raids on the public sphere in the wake of catastrophic events, combined with the treatment of disasters as exciting market opportunities, 'disaster capitalism.'"
For the past five years, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) has been setting the stage that way for southern Central Valley agribusiness to profit from a predicted disaster in the Delta, according to Barrigan-Parrilla.
"Nothing would serve their purposes as well as a flood or seismic event that gave them a clean slate in the Delta. And if they can't have the disaster itself, threatening the public with disaster can work almost as well," she stated.
Barrigan-Parrilla noted that the PPIC" is at it again, "cherry-picking data and misrepresenting facts" to support a major transformation of the Delta benefitting people who want water somewhere else.
"As usual, their latest report, 'Transitions for the Delta Economy,' is presented as an academic project, funded by The Watershed Science Center at UC Davis. But there's some laundering going on here," she revealed. "Page 62 of the report explains that the study was paid for by the Delta Solutions program funders, which once again includes the Stephen Bechtel Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation."
"So it seems this time rather than checks going directly to PPIC from these pro-peripheral canal foundations, checks floated through the University and then to PPIC. Restore the Delta believes this is a worsening scenario because the average person will simply believe that the study was financed by an unbiased educational institution without a hidden agenda. And if there is nothing to hide, then why aren't the funders on the cover?" Barrigan-Parrilla concluded.
It is no coincidence that the Resources Legacy Fund and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, two of the three funders of the PPIC report promoting the construction of the peripheral canal, are also funding Arnold Schwarzenegger's privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. The Brown administration, rather than doing the right thing, has forged ahead not only with Schwarzenegger's BDCP process, but with his MLPA Initiative also.
The initiative is a corrupt process, overseen by a big oil lobbyist, marina developer, coastal real estate executive, agribusiness hack and other corporate operatives with many conflicts of interest, that directly parallels the equally corrupt and corporate-controlled Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
The MLPA Initiative creates so-called "marine protected areas," supported by Safeway Stores, Walmart and the Western States Petroleum Association, that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture, wave and wind energy projects and all other human impacts on the ocean than fishing and gathering.
In one of the most overt conflicts of interest in California history, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the "august body" that designed the "marine protected areas" that went into effect on the Southern California Coast on January 1. Reheis-Boyd, a big oil industry lobbyist advocating for new offshore drilling off the California coast, the Keystone XL pipeline and the gutting of environmental laws, chaired the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast, as well as "serving" on the North Central Coast and North Coast Task Forces.
The Packard Foundation and four other "non-profits" donated a total of $20 million to fund the MLPA Initiative. The Resources Legacy Fund Foundation received the funds from these foundations to implement the unpopular MLPA process.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation contributed $8.2 million to fund the MLPA process. Julie E. Packard, the executive director and founder of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the foundation.
The Laguna Beach-based Marisla Foundation, founded by Getty Oil heiress Anne Getty Earhart, gave $3 million over several years. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation donated $7.4 million, the Keith Campbell Foundation contributed $1.2 million and the Annenberg Foundation donated $200,000.
All of this money was dumped into the Resources Legacy Foundation to kick recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and seaweed gatherers, among the most vocal advocates of fishery restoration and true environmental protection and the most fervent opponents of the peripheral canal, off the water in a disgusting case of corporate greenwashing. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/02/18/the-corporate-money-behind-the-mlpa-initiative)
In both the BDCP and MLPA Initiative fiascos, corporate interests have waited in the wings and set the stage to take advantage of some kind of disaster, either real or imagined, as Naomi Klein so eloquently pointed out in her book. In the BDCP, the alleged impending "disaster" is an earthquake or a catastrophic drought.
In the MLPA Initiative, the looming "disaster" is alleged "overfishing" by sustainable hook-and-line recreational and commercial fishermen, even though a peer reviewed study by Science magazine published on July 31, 2009 (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/08/01/18613625.php) concluded that the California Current ecosystem, the most heavily regulated fishery on the entire planet, had the least exploited and healthiest fishery and marine ecosystem of any region in the world studied.
Meanwhile, the "marine protected areas" fail to protect California marine waters from the most pressing problems they face - increased pollution, ocean industrialization, military testing and massive water exports out of the Bay-Delta Estuary, an estuary that dozens and dozens of anadromous and marine fish species depend on for their survival.
If you like the "Shock Doctrine," you'll definitely like the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative corporate greenwashing processes!
In his State of the State Address on January 18, Governor Jerry Brown emphasized his commitment to fast-tracking the construction of the peripheral canal under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), a Nineteenth Century "solution" to Twenty-First Century problems.
Brown said that water is a "huge issue we must tackle" - and then greenwashed the BDCP process by claiming it will somehow "restore" the Delta ecosystem and create "new habitat for spawning fish and other wildlife."
Brown proclaimed, "Last week, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar - met here in Sacramento with those in my administration who are working to complete the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
Together we agreed that by this summer we should have the basic elements of the project we need to build. This is something my father worked on and then I worked on-decades ago. We know more now and are committed to the dual goals of restoring the Delta ecosystem and ensuring a reliable water supply.
This is an enormous project. It will ensure water for 25 million Californians and for millions of acres of farmland as well a hundred thousand acres of new habitat for spawning fish and other wildlife. To get it done will require time, political will and countless permits from state and federal agencies. I invite your collaboration and constructive engagement."
Ironically, the theme of his speech was "California on the Mend." Delta advocates oppose the construction of the peripheral canal because it will lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon and other fish species.
This canal won't "mend" imperiled Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations; it will only exacerbate the ecosystem collapse caused by record water exports from the Delta in recent years!
The plan will not only greenwash the destruction of Delta fish, but will remove vast tracts of Delta farmland, some of the most fertile on the planet, from production in order to increase water exports to corporate agribusiness interests farming drainage-impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
Again, removing good land from production in order to irrigate bad land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, land that should have never been irrigated, is hardly "mending" California!
Not only would the canal be environmentally destructive, but it would be enormously expensive. A draft economic report by Steven Kasower of the Strategic Economic Applications Company, released to the California Legislature in 2009, revealed that the costs for the construction of a peripheral canal around the California Delta or a tunnel under the estuary would be much higher than previously estimated, ranging from $23 billion to $53.8 billion depending upon the type of conveyance facility. (http://yubanet.com/california/Op-Ed-Dan-Bacher-Peripheral-Canal-Would-Cost-23-to-53-8-Billion.php)'
"The peripheral canal will only cause more destruction," summed up Caleen Sisk-Franco, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe at a Tribal Water Summit in December 2009. "Our efforts should be instead focused on cleaning up the water to the point where we can drink the water in our rivers and streams."
Record Delta exports and fish kills aren't 'mending' the ecosystem
In his address, Brown claimed, "California is on the mend," touting his "accomplishments" in 2011.
"Last year, we were looking at a structural deficit of over $20 billion," Brown stated. "It was a real mess. But you rose to the occasion and together we shrunk state government, reduced our borrowing costs and transferred key functions to local government, closer to the people. The result is a problem one fourth as large as the one we confronted last year."
However, the "mending" Brown spoke of doesn't appear to apply to the Brown administration's management of Delta fisheries and California water.
The Brown and Obama administrations authorized the export of a record amount of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in the 2011 water year. The water export total, including water diverted by the Contra Costa Canal and North Bay Aqueduct, was 6,633,000 acre-feet in 2011 - 163,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005, according to DWR data.
The record pumping from the Delta in 2011 - used to fill billionaire Stewart Resnick's Kern Water Bank and southern California reservoirs - resulted in a huge, unprecedented fish kill at the Delta pumps. Agency staff "salvaged" a total of 11,158,025 fish in the Delta water pumping facilities between January 1 and September 7, 2011 alone. Scientists estimate that the actual amount of fish lost in the pumps is 5 to 10 times the "salvage" numbers.
Approximately 9 million Sacramento splittail, the largest number ever recorded, were "salvaged" during this period. The previous record salvage number for the splittail, a native minnow found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, was 5.5 million in 2006.
These unprecedented water exports and fish killed in the Delta pumps hardly can be described as "mending" the Delta. By exporting a record amount of water and killing a record number of fish, the Brown and Obama administrations surpassed even the Schwarzenegger and Bush administrations in their total disregard for the Delta ecosystem and the public trust.
With a record like this, how are we to possibly believe that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan will "restore" the Delta ecosystem and create "new habitat for spawning fish and other wildlife?"
The BDCP Management Committee that oversees the plan has completely excluded Delta residents, family farmers, Indian Tribes, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, conservationists, environmental justice advocates, elected officials and business owners.
At the same time, the Department of Water Resources has hired two employees of powerful water contractors, Laura King Moon of the State Water Contractors Association and Susan Ramos of the Westlands Water District, to help develop the plan to build the peripheral canal (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/12/14/westlands-official-working-for-dwr-on-delta-plan). If this isn't an overt conflict of interest, I don't know what is.
MLPA Initiative doesn't 'mend' the ocean
While presiding over record water exports and pushing for the construction of the peripheral canal, Governor Jerry Brown has also continued the abysmal environmental legacy of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by forging ahead with the corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative process. The MLPA Initiative is a parody of "protection," since it creates "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, pollution, military testing, wind and wave energy projects, corporate aquaculture and all other human impacts other than fishing and gathering.
The illegitimacy of the privately funded process is demonstrated by the alarming fact that Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force to create "marine protected areas" on the South Coast. Reheis-Boyd, a strong supporter of new oil drilling off the West Coast, the Keystone XL Pipeline and the gutting of environmental laws, also served on the North Coast and North Central Coast MLPA panels. What is a big oil lobbyist doing overseeing the creation of "marine protected areas" in California? (http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/02/the-oil-industrys-marine-reserves)
Brown's claim that "California is on the mend" is false when you review his 2011 environmental record, including his forging ahead with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's BDCP and MLPA Initiative fiascos, record Delta water exports and record fish kills in the Delta pumps.
Restore the Delta is challenging the accuracy and value of the Public Policy Institute's controversial "report" on the Delta, "Transitions for the Delta Economy," funded by the Stephen Bechtel Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund and David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
In the report's summary, the Public Policy Institute (PPIC) proclaimed, "Enormous changes-from natural forces to management decisions-are coming to California's fragile Delta region and will have broad effects on its residents. This report finds that in the first half of this century, the Delta as a whole is likely to experience a loss of 1 percent of economic activity as a result of these changes. It also identifies planning priorities for managing the Delta's future."
After reviewing the report, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta (http://restorethedelta.org), commented, "It is disheartening that the report fails to fully and properly analyze Delta water quality, current project proposals, and the real Delta economy."
Barrigan-Parrilla emphasized that the PPIC report assumes that the new "dual conveyance" system, more commonly known to Californians as the peripheral canal/tunnel, will only divert 4.9 million acre feet of Delta water, despite the reality that water contractors will have difficulty justifying the sale of billions of dollars in new revenue bonds to finance the project if they are going to receive a significant smaller share of Delta water.
Conner Everts with the Southern California Watershed Alliance noted, "Southern California rate payers cannot afford to pay more and more to Metropolitan Water District for an unsustainable water supply. Regional self sufficiency, which can be achieved through conservation, storm water and reuse projects, is a much more affordable way to make more water for Southern California water users."
Restore the Delta policy analyst Jane Wagner-Tyack quipped, "The report is so out of touch with reality that it actually places the new Stockton water supply project under water because the authors have decided that the way to fix the Delta is to permanently flood it. By depriving Stockton of a water supply, it seems that someone has made a decision to relocate the Delta's largest urban population of 300,000 residents somewhere else."
Barrigan-Parrilla said that despite multiple attempts by Delta water agency representatives, Delta engineers, levee experts trained at other renowned universities, economists, and Delta advocates, the authors of the PPIC reports on the Delta have rebuffed attempts to incorporate local input into their research. The report's writers are Josué Medellín-Azuara, Ellen Hanak, Richard Howitt, and Jay Lund, with research support from Molly Ferrell, Katherine Kramer, Michelle Lent, Davin Reed, and Elizabeth Stryjewski.
"The PPIC models regarding salinity changes in the Delta and how such changes would alter our economy are flawed," Barrigan-Parrilla concluded. "If people in California want to know the real value of the Delta economy presently and how exporting water could destroy it, they should read the Economic Sustainability Plan recently published by the Delta Protection Commission - a rigorously reviewed document produced by experts who know the Delta best."
PPIC tries to hide funding by Bechtel, Packard and Resources Legacy
Barrigan-Parrilla noted that while the cover states the report was funded by The Watershed Science Center at UC Davis, page 62 of the report explains that the study was paid for by the Delta Solutions program funders, that once again includes the Stephen Bechtel Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
"So it seems this time rather than checks going directly to PPIC from these pro peripheral canal foundations, checks floated through the University and then to UC Davis," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "Restore the Delta believes this is a worsening scenario because the average person will simply believe that the study was financed by an unbiased educational institution without a hidden agenda. And if there is nothing to hide, then why aren't the funders on the cover?
According to the Bechtel Foundation's website (http://www.sdbjrfoundation.org), "Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. created the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation in 1957 to improve the quality of life for Californians by addressing selected issues that challenge the health and prosperity of the state. In addition to his leadership of the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and the Stephen Bechtel Fund, Mr. Bechtel is Chairman Retired and a Director of Bechtel Group, Inc."
The Brown and Obama administrations are currently fast-tracking Arnold Schwarzenegger's Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build a peripheral canal in order to export more Delta water to southern California and corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Delta advocates believe the construction of peripheral canal or tunnel would result in the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other imperiled fish species.
Do PPIC's authors live in a parallel universe?
The PPIC report's assumption that the new peripheral canal/tunnel will only divert 4.9 million acre feet of Delta water is mind boggling, considering that exports from the Delta have reached record levels well over 4.9 million acre feet annually over the past 10 years. The Brown and Obama administrations exported a record amount of water from the Delta in 2011.
The annual export total, including water diverted by the Contra Costa Canal and North Bay Aqueduct, was 6,633,000 acre-feet in 2011 - 163,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005, according to DWR data. The annual export total, excluding water diverted by the Contra Costa Canal and North Bay Aqueduct, was 6,520,000 acre-feet in 2011 - 217,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,303,000 acre-feet set in 2005.
Are we to believe that the state water contractors are going to agree to the building of an enormously expensive peripheral canal that would actually divert less water from the Delta than the record levels that were delivered to southern California and San Joaquin Valley agribusiness in 2011? The PPIC report authors apparently live in a parallel universe devoid of science, logic and facts.
The record pumping from the Delta in 2011 - used to fill billionaire Stewart Resnick's Kern Water Bank and southern California reservoirs - resulted in a huge, unprecedented fish kill at the Delta pumps. Agency staff "salvaged" a total of 11,158,025 fish in the Delta water pumping facilities between January 1 and September 7, 2011 alone. Scientists estimate that the actual amount of fish lost in the pumps is 5 to 10 times the "salvage" numbers.
A horrific 8,985,009 Sacramento splittail, the largest number ever recorded, were "salvaged" during this period. The previous record salvage number for the splittail, a native minnow found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, was 5.5 million in 2006.
There is no doubt that the Brown administration has eclipsed the Schwarzenegger administration's abysmal environmental legacy by exporting a record amount of water from the Delta and killing record numbers of fish in the Delta pumps in 2011.
The MLPA/peripheral canal connection
Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown and Natural Resources Secretary John Laird are not only continuing Schwarzenegger's mad drive to build a peripheral canal, but they have forged ahead with Schwarzenegger's privately funded Marine Life Protection Act" (MLPA) Initiative. The initiative is a corrupt process, overseen by a big oil lobbyist, marina developer, coastal real estate executive, agribusiness hack and other corporate operatives with many conflicts of interest, that creates so-called "marine protected areas" on the California coast.
And guess who is funding the MLPA fiasco? The Resources Legacy Fund and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, two of the three funders of the recent PPIC report promoting the construction of the peripheral canal, are also funding the MLPA Initiative! The initiative creates "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture, wave and wind energy projects and all other human impacts on the ocean than fishing and gathering.
In one of the most overt conflicts of interest in California history, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the "august body" that designed the "marine protected areas" that went into effect on the Southern California Coast on January 1. Reheis-Boyd, a big oil industry lobbyist advocating for new offshore drilling off the California coast, the Keystone XL pipeline and the gutting of environmental laws, chaired the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast, as well as "serving" on the North Central Coast and North Coast Task Forces.
The Packard Foundation and four other "non-profits" donated a total of $20 million to fund the MLPA Initiative. The Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, a shadowy organization that North Coast environmental leader John Lewallen describes as a "money laundering operation" for corporate money, received the funds from these foundations to implement the unpopular MLPA process.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation contributed $8.2 million to fund the MLPA process. Julie E. Packard, the executive director and founder of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the foundation.
The Laguna Beach-based Marisla Foundation, founded by Getty Oil heiress Anne Getty Earhart, gave $3 million over several years. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation donated $7.4 million, the Keith Campbell Foundation contributed $1.2 million and the Annenberg Foundation contributed $200,000.
All of this money was dumped into the Resources Legacy Foundation to kick recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and seaweed gatherers, the most vocal advocates of fishery restoration and true environmental protection and the most fervent opponents of the peripheral canal, off the water in a disgusting case of corporate greenwashing. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/02/18/the-corporate-money-behind-the-mlpa-initiative)
Assemblymember Alyson Huber's bill to prohibit the construction of a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta without a full fiscal analysis and a vote of the state legislature failed in committee on Tuesday, January 10.
The bill vote in the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee was 5 ayes and 7 nos, with 1 member not in attendance.
However, Huber, a Democrat from El Dorado Hills, noted that the bill made significant progress over last year when the same bill, SB 550, failed to get a second to the motion to vote on it.
"Although my Delta protection bill, AB 550, was unsuccessful, it succeeded in getting support from the Water Parks & Wildlife Chair, Jared Huffman, and bipartisan support from 4 other committee members," said Huber.
"We have made great progress from last year and I am still committed to pressing for a full fiscal analysis and a vote of the legislature before any Delta water conveyance program can move forward," said Huber.
AB 550 would "prohibit the construction and operation of a peripheral canal from diminishing or negatively affecting the water supplies, water rights, or quality of water for water users within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, or imposing any new burdens on infrastructure within, or financial burdens on persons residing in, the Delta or the Delta watershed," according to the bill text.
Tracy Chimenti, a Penryn mandarin farmer and recreational angler who attended the hearing, said, "I supported the bill because it gives the Legislature a chance to analyze the fiscal impacts and true cost of the project so a rational decision can be made in the open."
"I oppose the canal because from the economic standpoint, it is a multi-billion dollar boondoggle," said Chimenti. "As a small farmer, I try to use the most cost effective way to grow fruit."
He also opposes the canal because of the dramatic impacts it would have on fish populations and the environment.
"Taking more water from the Delta in an alternate flow regime will simply damage the sport fishery and native fish populations," emphasized Chimenti. "On top of that, the many fishing businesses that Delta and Central Valley fisheries support would go down the tubes with the construction of the canal."
Supporters of the bill included Restore the Delta, Food and Water Watch, the California Delta Chambers, Central Delta Water Agency, City of Lodi, City of Stockton, the Rio Vista Chamber Commerce, South Delta Water Agency, Wilson Farms and Vineyards and numerous other groups and individuals.
"Restore the Delta maintains that the people of California deserve to know that due process will take place before tax payers and rate payers are asked to spend billions of dollars on a peripheral canal," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. "It is imperative that our state's Legislature continues to oversee large-scale projects and does not delegate its authority to unelected bureaucrats who are not held accountable by voters."
The Association of California Water Agencies, Westlands Water District, the State Water Contractors, Kern County Water Agency, Santa Clara Valley Water Agency, Metropolitan Water District, County of Los Angeles and numerous others receiving water exports from the Delta opposed the bill.
In a letter to Huber, these agencies stated, "We view AB 550 as a threat to achieving the co-equal goals of ecosystem restoration and reliable water supplies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Most importantly, your legislation will undermine water supply reliability throughout California and will threaten jobs and the economic health of three quarters of the state's population residing south of the Delta. AB 550 is a blatant repeal of the historic Delta/water management legislation enacted in November 2009 that created a path towards new Delta conveyance."
The Brown and Obama administrations are currently fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build a peripheral canal in order to export more Delta water to southern California and corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Delta advocates believe the construction of peripheral canal or tunnel would result in the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other imperiled fish species.
Advocates of openness and transparency in government believe that the BDCP, like the privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create so-called "marine protected areas" on the California coast, is a corrupt process filled with numerous conflicts of interest. For example, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association and a strong advocate for new offshore oil drilling, chaired the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force that developed the "marine protected areas" that went into effect in Southern California ocean waters on January 1.
Likewise, 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, the plan initiated by state and federal water contractors to allow them to build a peripheral canal or tunnel.
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 "personnel exchange agreement" between the Department of Water Resources and Westlands Water District from November 15, 2009 through December 31, 2012. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/12/14/westlands-official-working-for-dwr-on-delta-plan)
The news of Ramos' hiring followed the alarming disclosure that DWR hired Laura King Moon, the Assistant General Manager of the State Water Contractors, to assist in the completion of the BDCP. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/10/25/state-hires-water-contractor-rep-to-help-oversee-bay-delta-plan/)
"People have come to accept these political moves, without any consideration for the Tribal, fishing, small farming and other communities impacted by these processes, as normal," summed up Michael Preston, spokesman for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and a UC Berkeley Junior studying Society and the Environment and Native American Studies.
Preston's tribe is now engaged in an ambitious campaign to reintroduce McCloud River winter run chinook salmon from the Rakaira River in New Zealand to the McCloud above Shasta Dam.
Ed Begley Jr., a renowned actor and environmental advocate, will narrate Restore the Delta's groundbreaking documentary film Over Troubled Waters.
"The story of the Delta as told by Delta locals is a must-see for all Californians," said Mr. Begley, working with Media Creations, a regional production company.
"We need to know why this area is worthy of protection. It is a hidden treasure, and with enough water it is a place where fisheries and sustainable agriculture can thrive together once again," said Begley.
Begley's role in the film was announced as the Brown and Obama administrations are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal. Delta advocates oppose the peripheral canal's construction because it would likely result in the extinction of imperiled Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and Sacramento splittail populations.
Ed Begley Jr., a veteran stage, television, and film performer, first came to public attention for his portrayal of Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the long-running hit television series St. Elsewhere, for which he received six Emmy nominations. A few of his feature film credits include Batman Forever, The Accidental Tourist, The In-Laws, and most recently Pineapple Express (a movie that I loved!)
"Having served as the past chair of the Environmental Media Association, Mr. Begley's response to pressing environmental issues is one of action and engagement personally and publicly," according to Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta.
A winner of several environmental awards from national and regional conservation groups, Ed Begley Jr. has endorsed Restore the Delta's work and mission.
"While I am a resident of Southern California, I support the work of Restore the Delta, a broad coalition of Delta residents, farmers, environmentalists, concerned citizens, and business people from throughout California," said Begley. "Restore the Delta is a grassroots organization that advocates for adequate water flows into the Pacific Coast's largest estuary - the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta."
"Restore the Delta is fighting to protect the primary nursery for California's coastal fisheries, including salmon fisheries that support the food chain for Orca whales. Restore the Delta is also fighting to protect water needed by thousands of small family farmers within the Delta - including some of California's oldest farming families who helped to build this state," stated Begley.
Begley emphasized that over the last thirty years, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a once thriving ecosystem that sustains salmon and other fish populations up and down the California Coast, has been in steady decline.
"One of the main causes of the Delta's decline has been the excessive export of water to other areas in the state," he explained. "A great deal of this water has been sent to large-scale corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and in Kern County. But this part of the story regarding the Delta's decline is often overlooked by mainstream media."
As a Southern California resident, Begley noted that there are "many potential programs and resources" that can be put into place to increase their water supply reliability while reducing their dependence on water taken out of the Delta - and he pointed to his own personal efforts to conserve water.
"At my home, I have installed catchment basins so that I can collect rain water each winter for reuse in my garden throughout the year. But we also need to support larger scale water conservation and recycling programs that will enable us to have the water that we need while protecting one of California's most important ecosystems," Begley added.
Over Troubled Waters, the story of the Delta told by Delta locals, is scheduled for release in Spring, 2012. "This project has been initially endorsed by over a dozen individuals and groups, spanning from John McCrae with the rock group CAKE to Congressional representatives, from California legislators to Delta business leaders, and from professional fishermen to regional musicians," said Barrigan-Parrilla.
For more details on Cake's endorsement of Restore the Delta, go to my article in the Sacramento News and Review: http://www.newsreview.com/sacr...
To see the endorsements and learn more about Over Troubled Waters visit http://overtroubledwaters.org/... Staff with Restore the Delta and Media Creations are available for interviews. For more information, contact: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 10100 Trinity Pkwy, Suite 120, Stockton, CA 95219, Email: Barbara [at] Restorethedelta.org, Phone:209-479-2053
2011: a record year for water exports and fish kills
The announcement by Restore the Delta follows a record year for Delta water exports. The annual export total, including water diverted by the Contra Costa Canal and North Bay Aqueduct, was 6,633,000 acre-feet in 2011 - 163,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005, according to DWR data.
The annual export total, excluding water diverted by the Contra Costa Canal and North Bay Aqueduct, was 6,520,000 acre-feet in 2011 - 217,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,303,000 acre-feet set in 2005.
The record pumping from the Delta - used to fill the Stewart Resnick-controlled Kern Water Bank and southern California reservoirs - resulted in a huge, unprecedented fish kill at the Delta pumps in 2011. Agency staff "salvaged" a total of 11,158,025 fish in the Delta water pumping facilities between January 1 and September 7, 2011 alone.
A horrific 8,985,009 Sacramento splittail, the largest number ever recorded, were "salvaged" during this period, according to DFG data. The previous record salvage number for the splittail, a native minnow found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, was 5.5 million in 2006.
The fish "salvaged" at the "death pumps" of the state and federal water projects also include hundreds of thousands of threadfin shad, striped bass, American shad, white catfish and other species. DFG data reveals that 742,850 threadfin shad, 514,921 American shad, 496,601 striped bass and 100,373 white catfish were "salvaged" between January 1 and September 7 of this year.
Agency staff also "salvaged" 35,560 Sacramento River spring run and fall run chinooks, 1,642 Central Valley steelhead and 14 green sturgeon in the project facilities during the same period.
Although the salvage counts are certainly alarming, the overall loss of fish in and around the State Water Project and Central Valley Project facilities is believed to be much greater than the salvage counts. The actual loss could be 5 to 10 times the salvage numbers, according to "A Review of Delta Fish Population Losses from Pumping Operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta," prepared by Larry Walker Associates in January 2010 for the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (http://www.srcsd.com/pdf/dd/fishlosses.pdf).
At the same time Governor Jerry Brown and Natural Resources Secretary John Laird are forging ahead with the plan to build the peripheral canal after a year of record fish kills and water exports, they are continuing Arnold Schwarzenegger's privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a process overseen by a big oil industry lobbyist, marina developer, coastal real estate executive, agribusiness hack and other corporate operatives with numerous conflicts of interest.
Assemblymember Alyson L. Huber (D-El Dorado Hills) has re-introduced legislation, A.B. 550, that would prohibit the construction of a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta without a full fiscal analysis and a vote of the state legislature.
"Please stand with me as I continue the fight to protect one of our region's most vital natural resources: The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta," said Huber. "I believe this legislation is critical to ensuring oversight over one of the largest infrastructure projects California has seen in decades."
Assembly Bill 550 will be heard in the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife at the State Capitol, Room 437, January 10 at 9 a.m. Space is limited in the hearing room, so please arrive early if you would like a seat.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, urged people concerned about the future of the largest and most significant estuary on the West Coast of the Americas to attend the hearing and to send a letter in support of the legislation.
"We believe that Assemblymember Huber's bill is one of the most important pieces of proposed legislation for Californians," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "Can California tax payers and water rate payers afford to pay more out of pocket for a project that will benefit a few powerful water district leaders and corporate agribusiness growers? We encourage all RTD members to take the time to support this important piece of legislation."
"With your help we can show that Delta area residents will not stand idle while Southern California water interests attempt to bulldoze their way through the Delta," concluded Huber.
AB 550 would "prohibit the construction and operation of a peripheral canal from diminishing or negatively affecting the water supplies, water rights, or quality of water for water users within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, or imposing any new burdens on infrastructure within, or financial burdens on persons residing in, the Delta or the Delta watershed," according to the bill text.
The Brown and Obama administration are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build a peripheral canal in order to export more Delta water to southern California and corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Delta advocates believe the construction of peripheral canal or tunnel would result in the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other imperiled fish species.
The BDCP, like the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, is a corrupt process filled with numerous conflicts of interest. 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, 2012. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/12/14/westlands-official-working-for-dwr-on-delta-plan)
I applaud Assemblymember Huber for standing up for our fish populations, the Delta and all Californians by sponsoring this legislation to stop the canal!
Send your letter of support to: Honorable Jared Huffman, Chair, Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, 1020 N Street, Suite 160, Sacramento, CA 95814, P.O. Box 94249, Sacramento, CA 94249-00119, FAX: (916) 319-2196
Pasted below, you will find Restore the Delta's letter in support of the bill. Feel free to use it as a template to send your own letter to Assemblymember Jared Huffman.
January 5, 2012
Assemblyman Jared Huffman, Chair
Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee
1020 N. Street, Suite 160
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Assemblyman Huffman:
Restore the Delta supports Assemblywoman Huber's bill AB 550. AB 550 would prohibit the construction of a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta without a full fiscal analysis and a vote of the Legislature.
Restore the Delta maintains that the people of California deserve to know that due process will take place before tax payers and rate payers are asked to spend billions of dollars on a peripheral canal. It is imperative that our state's Legislature continues to oversee large-scale projects and does not delegate its authority to unelected bureaucrats who are not held accountable by voters.
Sincerely yours,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Executive Director
Restore the Delta
Please send copies of the letter to assemblymember.huber [at] assembly.ca.gov, FAX 916-319-2110. For more information about the campaign against the peripheral canal, go to: http://www.restorethedelta.org.
The abundance of endangered Delta smelt, an indicator species that demonstrates the health of the imperiled Bay-Delta ecosystem, was greater in 2011 than it has been any year since 2001.
Yet state fishery biologists note that population remains a small fraction of historical abundance. "The improvement is likely due in large part to higher than usual Delta outflow which resulted in more and better habitat," according to Marty Gingras, Department of Fish and Game (DFG) fishery biologist, in a press release on December 22.
The high flows resulted in keeping the Delta smelt away from the state and federal pumping facilities in the South Delta, where millions of Sacramento splittail and other fish were killed this year. Only 51 Delta smelt were "salvaged" in the pumping facilities that export water to southern California water agencies and corporate growers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley in 2011.
It is exceptionally difficult to determine the actual number of Delta smelt, so DFG biologists use survey data to develop "indices" of the species' abundance, Gingras noted. An index is a number that is likely to vary in direct proportion to abundance.
The Fall Midwater Trawl Survey index of Delta smelt abundance was 343 this year while the index in 2010 was 29 and its record high was 1673 in 1970. "After a decade of record or near-record low annual abundance, the increased number of Delta smelt in 2011 is encouraging," said Gingras.
Delta smelt occur only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. The finger-sized fish was historically one of the most abundant in the Delta, but the species declined dramatically in recent years, due to massive water exports out of the Delta.
It was listed as "threatened" under the California and Federal Endangered Species acts (ESA) in 1993. After a further decline due to increased water exports, the species was designated as "endangered" in 2010 under the California ESA.
Other fish numbers increase over 2010, but still low
The DFG survey also documented an improvement in striped bass, longfin smelt, threadfin shad and American shad indices in 2011, but the numbers of these species are also just a fraction of historical abundance. (http://blogs.esanjoaquin.com/san-joaquin-river-delta/files/2011/12/2011_FMWT_Memo-2.pdf)
The striped bass index was 272 this year, compared to 43 last year and a record high of 19,677 in 1967. This year's index was the highest since 2006.
The longfin smelt index was 477 this year, compared with 191 last year and a record high of 81,737 in 1967. This year's index was the highest since 2006.
The threadfin shad index was 228 this year, compared with 120 last year and a record high 15,267 in 1997. This year's index was the third lowest in the history of the survey.
Finally, the American shad index was 894 this year, compared with 683 last year and a record high of 9,360 in 2003. This year's index was the thirteenth lowest in the survey's history.
"Ongoing efforts to protect and recover the Delta smelt population include research on threats to the species, active management to minimize loss at water diversions under federal ESA biological opinions and a state ESA authorization, development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, improved water quality, habitat restoration and conservation of genetic diversity through special hatchery-rearing techniques," according to Gingras.
However, Delta advocates counter that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral canal to export more water to corporate agribusiness and southern California will actually result in the destruction of Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations, rather than "protecting and recovering" them. All scientific evidence points to the fact that taking more water out of the system, as the BDCP aims to do, will result in the extinction of Delta and longfin smelt, Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and other imperiled species.
Why no mention of huge fish Delta fish kill?
Strangely missing from the DFG's press releases is any mention of the fact of the huge, unprecedented fish kill that took place at the Delta pumps this year. That state and federal government agencies "salvaged" a total of 11,158,025 fish in the Delta water pumping facilities between January 1 and September 7, 2011 alone.
A horrific 8,985,009 Sacramento splittail, the largest number ever recorded, were salvaged during this period, according to DFG data. The previous record salvage number for the splittail, a native minnow found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, was 5.5 million in 2006.
The fish "salvaged" at the "death pumps" of the state and federal water projects also include hundreds of thousands of threadfin shad, striped bass, American shad, white catfish and other species. DFG data reveals that 742,850 threadfin shad, 514,921 American shad, 496,601 striped bass and 100,373 white catfish were "salvaged" between January 1 and September 7 of this year.
Agency staff also "salvaged" 35,560 Sacramento River spring run and fall run chinooks, 1,642 Central Valley steelhead and 14 green sturgeon in the project facilities during the same period.
While no comprehensive studies have been conducted on how many of the salvaged fish survive, fish advocates believe that the majority of many species perish during and after the salvage process.
Although the salvage counts are certainly alarming, the overall loss of fish in and around the State Water Project and Central Valley Project facilities is believed to be much greater than the salvage counts. The actual loss could be 5 to 10 times the salvage numbers, according to "A Review of Delta Fish Population Losses from Pumping Operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta," prepared by Larry Walker Associates in January 2010 for the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (http://www.srcsd.com/pdf/dd/fishlosses.pdf).
A record year for water exports
The reason for the massive, unprecedented fish kill in the Delta pumps was the record amount of water exported out of the Delta this year by the Brown and Obama administrations. The pumps exported a record 6.5 million acre-feet of water in 2011, while the previous record was 6.3 million acre-feet in 2005.
"One of the reasons for the record-setting pumping is that much of the water this year went to refill the underground Kern Water Bank, largely controlled by billionaire farmer Stewart Resnick, and to the smaller Diamond Valley reservoir, which serves Southern California," according to Mike Taugher of the Contra Costa Times. (http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19014459 )
Caleen Sisk-Franco, the Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, who is working on an innovative plan to restore winter run chinook salmon to the McCloud River above Lake Shasta, was appalled by the millions of fish killed in the state and federal water export facilities in 2011.
"I am just wondering why it is okay to have the largest fish kill going on in the Delta and no one notices," said Sisk-Franco. "There are more endangered fish killed every day in the Delta pumps that are supposed to be protected. Try catching one of them to eat, and see how fast you get in trouble, but just let them swim into the Delta pumps and no one is trying to save them!"
Sisk-Franco asked, "How many dead fish is too many? Who will speak up for the fish? Everything is connected and soon we will understand what this fish kill means to the human beings."
While the improvement in Delta smelt abundance this year is certainly a positive development, the alarming news about the record fish kill at the pumps this year and state and federal plans to fast-track the construction of an environmentally destructive peripheral canal or tunnel through the Bay Delta Conservation Plan overshadows this welcome information.
Governor Jerry Brown and Natural Resources Secretary John Laird have not only continued the absmal environmental policies of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by advancing Schwarzenegger's campaigns to build the peripheral canal under the BDCP and to set up controversial "marine protected areas" under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. They have, in fact, exceeded the fish-killing policies of Schwarzenegger by authorizing record water exports and presiding over a record fish kill at the Delta pumps in 2011.
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 (BDCP), the plan initiated by state and federal water contractors to allow them to build a peripheral canal or tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
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.
The contract was extended to run through December 31, 2011 and again to continue through December 31, 2012.
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).
"Under the direction of Raphael Torres, Ms. Ramos shall work cooperatively with other DWR/DHCCP Executives. Ms. Ramos shall apply her knowledge and experience with State and Federal Water Contactors and/or initiatives as they relate to DHCCP or Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) in support of the success of the DHCCP," the contract continued.
The maximum amount to be paid in the agreement for the entire period is listed as $652,180.54, She will be paid the same monthly labor rate, $17,444.50, as she would be in her position as Deputy General Manager, from March 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012.
Ramos, a former U.S. Bureau of Reclamation official, made $165,000 a year in her job at Westlands in 2009 (http://www.lloydgcarter.com/content/110706500_nice-payday-top-westlands-officials).
Why was Ramos, rather than a current state employee, hired for the project?
The justification for contracting out, as provided in the contract signed by Richard Sanchez, the Chief of the DWR's Division of Engineering, on September 14, 2011, is "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."
A phone call and email to the Westlands Water District regarding Ramos' status was not returned.
Westlands, the largest water district in the U.S., is known for the numerous lawsuits that they have launched against fish restoration on the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Trinity rivers and their continual lobbying of the state and federal governments for increased water exports from the California Delta. Corporate growers in the district, located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, use subsidized water from the federal Central Valley Project to irrigate drainage impaired land laced with selenium and other toxic salts.
Hiring of Westlands official draws fire from conservation groups
News of Ramos' employment by DWR while on loan from Westlands drew outrage from representatives of fishing and environmental groups and Indian Tribes.
Dick Pool, president of Water for Fish, said, "The Department of Water Resources is supposed to be looking out for the water interests of everybody in the state. This and other actions point to the fact that DWR is working with Westlands and a few other water contractors to the detriment of fish and every other water interest."
"Susan Ramos' hiring by the Department of Water Resources is a classic example of the revolving door between government agencies and water districts controlled by mega-corporate farms such as Westlands," said Tom Stokely, Water Policy Analyst for the California Water Impact Network. "It further erodes public confidence at a time when distrust of government is at an all time high. We can be sure the public's interests will not be protected."
News of Ramos working for DWR followed the revelation that recently retired federal judge Oliver Wanger was planning to represent Westlands in a lawsuit filed against it by fishing and environmental groups and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. However, political pressure and a series of negative editorials convinced apparently convinced Wanger to withdraw from the case. (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/12/06/wanger-backs-out-of-representing-westlands-water-district)
The news of Ramos' service on loan from Westlands also follows the alarming disclosure that the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) 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 (BDCP). (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/10/25/state-hires-water-contractor-rep-to-help-oversee-bay-delta-plan/)
In a letter to Assemblymember Jared Huffman on October 13, Natural Resources Secretary John Laird attempted to explain King Moon's status with DWR.
"Ms. Moon is working for the California Department of Water Resources, serving on loan from the State Water Contractors until the completion of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan," said Laird. "She is responsible to and represents DWR solely, and is subject to all DWR rules, protocols and confidentiality agreements."
Conflicts of interests have become normalized
Michael Preston, spokesman for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and a UC Berkeley Junior studying Society and the Environment and Native American Studies, commented, "It's outrageous that these conflicts of interests have become normalized."
"People have come to accept these political moves, without any consideration for the Tribal, fishing, small farming and other communities impacted by these processes, as normal," stated Preston.
Preston's tribe is now engaged in a campaign to reintroduce the winter run chinook salmon to the McCloud River above Shasta Dam and to stop a controversial federal plan to raise Shasta Dam.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, also commented on the latest Brown administration scandal in the context of increasing conflicts of interest and corruption in California water politics.
"I think the hiring of Susan Ramos exemplifies the nexus between corporate agribusiness and government in California and how a very small percent of Californians control the public interest through water," she stated.
"There is a revolving door at the Department of Water Resources for water contractors to move in and out of positions within the Department," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. "It is akin to the way lobbyists move in and out of government positions in Washington D.C. As more Californians learn about how a small group of special interests control our water future, their anger will match that of the general public toward lobbyists."
"A couple of years ago we would encounter a potential conflict of interest every six months. Now we find a new conflict of interest nearly every day," she quipped.
What about transparency?
Advocates of openness and transparency in government contend the cases of Susan Ramos, Oliver Wanger and Laura King-Moon exemplify how corporate interests completely dominate water politics in California at tremendous expense to the public trust.
Ironically, the Brown and Obama administrations recently committed themselves to being more open and transparent regarding the controversial BDCP process.
According to a news release on November 29, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Department of Water Resources announced a "first step" in responding to public comments on a draft Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with California water agencies that "will enhance transparency in developing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) by speeding access to draft technical documents. This initial step will be followed by additional responses to public comments that have been filed on the MOA."
"Our expectation is that broad stakeholder understanding of its scientific underpinnings will improve their engagement in both the plan and its implementation," claimed Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird. "Fish, farmers and the 25 million average Californians who rely on the San Francisco-San Joaquin Delta for water deserve nothing less."
Laird continued: "One thing is absolutely clear as review of the comments on the MOA have begun -- no one wants even the appearance of a special advantage."
However, if the state and federal governments are so committed to "enhancing transparency" and avoiding creating "even the appearance of a special advantage" under the BDCP, Delta advocates are asking why it required 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?
Supporters of the Delta and transparency in government are now asking, "What else are the state and federal governments hiding?"
"We couldn't make up the numerous conflicts of interests between those who want the water and the Department of Water Resources if we tried," summed up Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla. "Truth once again is stranger than fiction."
Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird on November 5 lauded the release of seven-member Independent Scientific Review Panel's report on the "Effects Analysis component" of the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), a plan to build a peripheral canal under the guise of a habitat conservation plan.
"The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is without a doubt one of the largest and most complex science-based ecosystem restoration programs ever undertaken," Laird claimed in a statement. "Having a panel of well-respected, independent scientists peer review the adequacy of the many vital science components of this plan and publicly, openly presenting those findings will help set the stage for the many important conversations we will have with stakeholders."
"Also, this independent, peer review helps create a more dynamic, sound plan that will stand the test of nature and time," he gushed.
"This independent panel's recommendations establish an important framework for discussion about how to meet one of the dual goals. We will continue to work with the team to ensure sound scientific justifications for any potential actions. Fish, farms and the 25 million Californians who depend on the Delta for their water deserve nothing less," Laird concluded.
Laird neglected to point out that the only reason why the science plan was released was because of massive outrage by an unprecedented 242 fishing, tribal and environmental organizations, 11 Members of Congress and 17 California Legislators about the lack of transparency and the bias towards water contractors in the BDCP process.
On November 16, an amazing 242 fishing, tribal and environmental organizations signed onto a letter to Laird and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that slammed the top-down process dominated by corporate agribusiness and water agency interests that export water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. To read the entire Environmental Water Caucus letter, go to: http://www.ewccalifornia.org/r...
"The MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) was negotiated behind closed doors and only serves to reinforce the growing awareness that the BDCP is biased in favor of the export water contractor's agenda to increase exports from the Delta and its connected rivers, despite the documented negative impacts those exports have had on endangered fish species, Delta habitats, water quality and public trust values," the letter stated.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on October 24, U.S. Representatives Jerry McNerney (CA-11), George Miller (CA-7), Mike Thompson (CA-1), Doris Matsui (CA-5) ) and John Garamendi (CA-10) asked that the "Memorandum of Agreement" between the Department and water agencies be rescinded. They also said the process must be opened up to include key stakeholders left out of the discussions, including Bay Area, Delta and coastal communities, farmers, businesses, and fishermen. (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/10/24/18694808.php)
Eleven Members of Congress also slammed the BDCP MOA in a letter to the US Bureau of Reclamation on November 16 (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/11/17/salmon-advocates-praise-members-of-congress-for-delta-water-stand.) The Representatives included George Miller, Jackie Speier, Barbara Lee, Pete Stark, Lynne Woolsey, Pete Stark, Kurt Schrader, Earl Blumenauer, Sam Farr, Michael Thompson and Anna Eshoo.
Even more disturbing than Laird's failure to mention the reason for the document's release is Laird's statement, "We will continue to work with the team to ensure sound scientific justifications for any potential actions." So the science is being used to "justify" already planned "potential actions" - the peripheral canal or tunnel in this completely rigged process?
Laird, like officials in the Schwarzenegger administration that preceded him, is doing his best to greenwash the destruction of the Delta by promoting the Bay Delta Conservation Plan - better described as the "Bad Delta Canal Plan."
Delta advocates oppose the peripheral canal's construction because it will inevitably result in the export of more water from the imperiled Bay-Delta Estuary to Southern California and corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The peripheral canal, if built, will likely lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Sacramento splittail and green sturgeon.
In addition, a review of the independent science board's membership shows a glaring omission: the lack of any tribal scientists, in spite of the fact that the Yurok Tribe's Natural Resources Department alone has 70 staff in the peak of the fishing season (http://www.deltacouncil.ca.gov/science-board/delta-isb-members). In this way, the BDCP mimics Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Science Advisory Team that failed to include any tribal scientists.
While Governor Jerry Brown in September appointed a Tribal Advisor "to strengthen communication and collaboration between California state government and Native American Tribes," there are no tribal scientists on either the Delta or MLPA science panels.
Of course, the BDCP Management Committee, in a classic example of environmental injustice, has excluded all of the stakeholders who care about restoring the Delta, including California Indian Tribes, Delta residents, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, family farmers and environmental justice advocates.
Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) said he "appreciates" the state and federal government announcement Tuesday to release Delta science studies, but emphasized that it is only "a very small step forward."
The U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Department of Water Resources announced that "key" documents regarding the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) Memorandum of Agreement will be made public via the internet to all parties at the same time.
Delta residents, fishermen, environmentalists, Indian Tribes, family farmers and environmental justice advocates have blasted the BDCP for being a plan to build a peripheral canal or tunnel, designed to export more water to corporate agribusiness and southern California, under the guise of a "Habitat Conservation Plan."
"Having access to documents does not guarantee that the concerns of the Delta communities will be considered, and I am resolved to fight against any plan that includes a peripheral canal," said McNerney.
"The entire process has been conducted in secrecy and without the Delta region represented," he stated. "We need a more steadfast guarantee that our input will be included in the Bay Delta Plan. Any other outcome could cost the Delta communities millions of dollars and countless jobs."
"I continue to stand with the farmers, families and businesses that depend on a healthy Delta for their livelihoods and way of life. A healthy Delta is vital to the health and well-being of our region. Much more must be done to level the playing field and ensure that the needs of the Delta communities are respected," he concluded.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on October 24, McNerney and U.S. Reps. George Miller (CA-7), Mike Thompson (CA-1), Doris Matsui (CA-5) ) and John Garamendi (CA-10) asked that the agreement between the Department and water agencies be rescinded. They also said the process must be opened up to include key stakeholders left out of the discussions, including Bay Area, Delta and coastal communities, farmers, businesses, and fishermen. (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/10/24/18694808.php)
Eleven Members of Congress also slammed the BDCP MOA in a letter to the US Bureau of Reclamation on November 16 (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/11/17/salmon-advocates-praise-members-of-congress-for-delta-water-stand.) The Representatives included George Miller, Jackie Speier, Barbara Lee, Pete Stark, Lynne Woolsey, Pete Stark, Kurt Schrader, Earl Blumenauer, Sam Farr, Michael Thompson and Anna Eshoo.
"In short, we believe that the MOA must withdrawn, and the state and federal agencies must dramatically recalibrate the BDCP process," the Representatives wrote.
Delta advocates believe the peripheral canal, if built, would lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and other imperiled fish species.
The Brown and Obama administrations authorized the export of a record 6.5 million acre-feet of water from the Delta in water year 2011. The previous record, set during the Schwarzenegger and Bush administrations, was 6.3 million acre-feet in 2005.
The record exports have resulted in unprecedented numbers of fish killed at the state and federal pumps. The state and federal governments have to date "salvaged" over 11 million fish, including 8 million Sacramento splitttail, but scientific studies reveal that actual loss in the pumping facilities is actually 5 to 10 times the amount of fish "salvaged." (http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/09/09/over-11-million-fish-salvaged-in-delta-death-pumps-since-january-1).
