The Two-Gates project is being pushed forward, now supported by Diane Feinstein as part of a California Water Crisis initiative using U.S. stimulus money. The Two-Gates will close off Old River and Connection Slough up to 20 hours/day.
Since the closing is tide-based and varies, it will be difficult for boaters to know when they are open and when they are closed. This will severely impact recreational boating, impact safety rescue operations (coast guard, marine sheriffs – could cost lives), impact local economies, (e.g., increased time/cost to get pile drivers down from Bethel to Discovery Bay, marina operators will lose business when boaters cannot get from one Marina to their favorite boating/fishing sites, etc., etc.). The list of concerns and issues with installing gates in primary navigation waterways is long and significant. In short, the gates will isolate Discovery Bay by periodically closing off the only unbridged waterway from here to the rest of the Delta thus could easily end up impacting our home values as well as our boating safety.
And for what reason? The purpose behind installing the 2-Gates is to increase the export of water from the Delta to Central and Southern California – even though the past years of excessive exporting of water has been steadily ruining the entire Delta ecosystem, resulting in a ban on Commercial Salmon fishing along the entire California/Oregon coast the past two years, and will soon impact the water in our own back yards, changing our fresh water river to brackish, salty, polluted water. Which will pollute our wells, OUR drinking water. A VERY scary thought! The current approaches are NOT the right way to solve California ’s water crisis.
What can we do to stop the spending of money on short-sighted measures that are destroying the Delta and will significantly impact our Delta communities and our way of life?
- First, the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the 2-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project is now planned to be posted on the Bureau of Reclamations’ 2-Gates website at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/2gates/ Monday, October 19 for a 30-day public review and comment period. POST YOUR COMMENTS.
- Forward this email to anyone you know in Discovery Bay and encourage them to show up at the meeting – and email to all boaters in other towns in the Delta and throughout Northern California to let them know this is happening so they too can comment on the website.
- Go to the websites for Senators Feinstein and Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, John Garamendi (potential replacement for Ellen Tauscher), and the Governor and PROTEST. Let them know we do NOT want US Stimulus money spent to restrict the waterways in/out of Discovery Bay :
- Diane Feinstein – contact http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe
- Barbara Boxer – contact https://boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/policy.cfm
- Nancy Pelosi – contact http://www.house.gov/pelosi/contact/contact.html
- John Garamendi – email info@garamendi.com
- Governor Schwarzenegger – contact http://gov.ca.gov/interact
Save the California Delta Alliance (STCDA) 
Hello,
Please add to your “links” Recreational Boaters of California know as RBOC. There you will find our Call To Arms opposing the Two-Gates Project. The web link is http://www.rboc.org.
Thank you,
Dave Breninger
RBOC President
Dave,
added your site. I think it would be beneficial to coordinate the activities between the different organisations. I will have Dave Dove contact you.
-Th
The two gate project will cost 80 million $$.
80 million $$ will easily build a Desalinization plant in L.A.
They dont want it in their back yard.
This project is proposed by The Metropolation Water dist. in L.A. 500 Miles south.
The M.W.D. has been for ten years pumping over their allotment of water from the tracy pumps. in clifton for-bay. This is the reason that the Bay Delta is in collaps. 250 000 fish are chopped up their each week.
We need to put 1 gate and fish screen at the clifton for-bay.