Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
August 14, 2008
1. Top Items -
Some in Delta mobilize to oppose peripheral canal proposal
The Sacramento
Water bond supporters rally in Sacramento
Community Groups Protest Schwarzenegger-Feinstein Water Bond Scheme
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Some in Delta mobilize to oppose peripheral canal proposal
The Sacramento
By Matt Weiser
Anxiety is building in Delta communities over proposals to build a canal to divert
Such a canal has not been approved or funded, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in February directed the state Department of Water Resources to begin environmental review of options in response to the state's water crisis.
Last month, DWR sent letters to 1,000 property owners announcing it may need to access their land for preliminary surveys.
This week it started a series of community meetings about those surveys.
Activist pastors have even held prayer vigils and community meetings, and new community groups have formed to protest the canal. Some property owners have vowed to keep state surveyors off their land.
"Some of the plans they are making will have a major impact on the lives of thousands of people who live in the area," said the Rev. Larry Emery of Walnut Grove Community Presbyterian Church. "I'm involved because as one of the churches here in the Delta, we're very concerned about our members and the whole community."
Residents of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fear land-use and economic disruptions from a massive canal. They also worry related proposals to transform farming islands into restored marshland could jeopardize businesses and the region's tax base.
Emery's church is scheduled to host a meeting at 6 p.m. today, sponsored by a new group, Save Our Delta's Future.
One of the group's leaders is David Stirling, a former assemblyman, judge and deputy attorney general.
The church is working with another new group, North Delta Community Area Residents for Environmental Sustainability. The church's pastor, Dennis Montzingo, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
Many critics view canal proposals as water grabs by
"I think the peripheral canal will be a disaster for the Delta long term, and I'm going to fight them," said Dino Cortopassi, a lifelong Delta farmer in
The primary Delta planning efforts are the governor's Delta Vision committee and the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan. Some observers say much of the anxiety has been overblown, based on little more than sketches of ideas from planners.
"They're trying to put out a rational plan that doesn't hurt agriculture and restores some of the fish habitat we've lost. I don't see anything wrong in that," said Peggy Bohl, spokeswoman for Concerned Citizens of Clarksburg.
However, she added, "We've got people in the Delta who farm, they fish, they play, and they need to be included."
About 25 million Californians depend on the Delta for a portion of their drinking water. In addition, it is the primary source of irrigation water for nearly 1 million acres of farmland in the
Business and political interests from the Silicon Valley to
Residents fear the consequences, including salinity that could jeopardize Delta farming. Some of the Delta's 500,000 residents have said they feel left out of the debate.
"It's rather presumptuous that this thing is moving as rapidly as it is," said Robert Ferguson, a
The meeting at Emery's church is one of three scheduled for tonight on the Delta's future.
The Delta Protection Commission, a state agency, meets at 5:30 p.m. in Walnut Grove to discuss how it will comment on a draft strategic plan by the Delta Vision panel.
And at 6 p.m. in
"I hope people don't accept it and don't allow them on their property,"
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1155584.html
Water bond supporters rally in Sacramento
BY JAKE HENSHAW
SACRAMENTO — Hundreds of water bond advocates rallied outside the Capitol Wednesday as policymakers worked to find a last-minute compromise to get a multibillion-dollar measure on the November ballot.
'Water crisis'
The bond under discussion could fund a wide range of projects — from a possible new reservoir at Temperance Flat on the
"We have a water crisis," Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, told the rally. "We can no longer kick this can down the road." A proposed $9.3 billion bond by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-San Francisco, has stalled most visibly over whether construction of new dams like Temperance Flat is the most effective way to meet the state's future water needs.
Community and environmental groups also have criticized it both for failing to do enough to clean up groundwater that is unfit to drink and for being proposed before previous bond money is spent.
"Rather than rush into another billion-dollar bond this year, our communities are calling for water reform that ensures
The proposed bond is having a tough time competing for attention as the governor and legislators try to reach an agreement on a budget that was due July 1.
The pressure is on because a water bond and possible budget provisions face a Saturday deadline to qualify for the ballot, though it's unclear how firm the deadline is.
"But our water negotiations are bogged down with the stalemate and the clock is ticking to get both our budget reform and our water bond on the November ballot," Schwarzenegger told the rally in urging participants to lobby lawmakers.
Tulare County Supervisor Connie Conway, who spoke at the rally, said later that the west side of the San Joaquin Valley is suffering with water shortages, but she added that the groundwater used by communities on the east side is dropping.
"It's like who's next" in line for water troubles?
In the Capitol, Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, who also appeared at the rally, is part of a Democratic working group of half a dozen lawmakers appointed by the Assembly speaker to seek a compromise on a water bond.
"People are making decisions about what to plant," because of water shortages, she said.
The Democratic water group has been meeting for more than a week and Caballero said it's considering a bond closer to $10 billion that would include funds for new dams but also more money for issues such as contaminated groundwater and recycled water.
She said the group is drafting its proposal and planning to meet with Assembly Republicans and members of both parties in the Senate in a bid to line up votes.
"I think we've made some great progress," Caballero said, though she acknowledged that it's not clear if it's enough to pass a bond in the next few days.
She also acknowledged that Feinstein gave the group, including a few Republicans, a succinct message in a meeting Tuesday.
"Her message was very clear: Get it done," Caballero said of Feinstein.#
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080814/NEWS01/808140318
Community Groups Protest Schwarzenegger-Feinstein Water Bond Scheme
By Jim Metropulos, Legislative Representative Sierra Club California
Protesting Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Feinstein’s push for a November water bond, community groups throughout
“Our communities are struggling as budget cuts dry up state support for our health, education and infrastructure programs. Now the governor is asking Californians to repay another $9.2 billion dollar water bond? We simply cannot afford to do that,” stated Debbie Davis, legislative analyst for the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water. “Ironically, this bond is called the ‘Safe Drinking Water Act,’ but it does nothing to address the drinking water crisis in thousands of communities in
"Our communities need funding for programs that help provide safe, clean drinking water. Despite a $9.2 billion dollar price tag, this bond doesn’t deliver.”
Proposed dams and surface water storage would take decades to put in place, and most profit special interests.
We have a water crisis today. This proposed bond wastes $3 billion on projects that will take decades to produce a drop of water. We don't need 19th-century solutions to today's problems.
Many are calling on the Legislature and the Governor to pass SB 1XX (Perata, Machado and Steinberg), releasing unspent funds from Proposition 84, passed in 2006. Over $800 million is being held hostage as leverage for a wasteful water bond.
The Legislature reportedly has until the end of this week to vote the water bond onto the ballot.
Jim Metropulos has been a legislative representative at Sierra Club
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/08/community_group.html
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