Save the California Delta Alliance (STCDA)

On November 19th, a new petition was initiated by Jan McCleery of Discovery Bay to Save the California Delta because of concern about the ongoing progress towards a Peripheral Canal (aka Delta Tunnels) which local scientist know will cause the dismise of the Delta.

(Note: If you search on the SignOn site you will see two petitions with exactly the same name. Someone else started the second one yesterday – we are not sure if that person had good intentions or wants to divert signees. Be sure you use the link so you find the right petition so the community speaks with one voice and doesn’t end up divided.)

In July Governor Brown said they will build the Canal first, then figure out how to restore the Delta later. In October, Congressman Jerry McNerney, John Garamendi and other local legislators cosponsored H.R. 6484, the SAFE Levee Act, to push the need for a complete cost-benefit study on the impact of the Peripheral Tunnel proposal, which the state and federal governments have thus far refused to do.

The Delta Stewardship Council (DSC), Bay and Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and other well-funded efforts directed by the Governor continue to move forward in their drive to build a Peripheral Canal – a shortsighted alternative to solving California’s water issues.

Enough is enough. Recent news about on-line petitions garnering thousands of signees made me hopeful that the people against the Peripheral Canal can do the same to make our voices heard by signing Save the California Delta.

The Petition Statement is: We oppose Governor Brown’s push to build huge tunnels, estimated to cost up to $60 billion, to bypass the California Delta. The impacts to the fish, fertile Delta farmland, Delta economy and recreation in both the Delta and San Francisco Bays more than offset any benefits provided by the tunnels.

Petition Background: Help us save the California Delta – the largest freshwater estuary West of the Mississippi, critical to the Northern California environment (the most important biological asset on the west coast, home to 750 species of fish, birds and other animals), recreation, local Delta farmers and Delta economy. Water exports have increasingly affected Delta water quality, resulting in a salmon fishery closure in 2008/2009 with significant economic losses, all to benefit the desert farmland’s big agribusiness millionaires. I live on the Delta and love it – it’s my backyard. Current plans will cause the demise of salmon and other fish and fowl and will harm the Delta economy and the health and quality of Delta water.

MAKE SURE YOU SIGN THE RIGHT PETITION. SOMEONE ELSE STARTED A COMPETING PETITION ON THURSDAY WITH THE EXACT SAME PETITION NAME BUT THAT WILL DIVIDE OUR NUMBERS.

MAKE SURE YOU SIGN JAN McCLEERY’S Save the California Delta PETITION.