Save the California Delta Alliance (STCDA)

First, I want to thank the community of Discovery Bay for a very successful fund raiser July 21st for Save the California Delta Alliance. The community of Discovery Bay has been battling the state against the Delta Tunnels that would wreak havoc with Discovery Bay communities’ economy. We have fought hard. We are winning and feel confident that we can stop the tunnels!

Now we feel we are under a new attack when Contra Costa County, in an abundance of caution, sends out a general warning, “Stay out of the Water in Discovery Bay.” The “story” was picked up by many newspapers and now is widespread. It has blown the situation out of proportion and is likely causing home sales to fall through, can cause home values to fall, and impact the marina businesses. Since Discovery Bay’s economy is based on boating and recreation, this exaggerated and single-focused warning is very harmful to our community.

With global warming, blue-green algae is being found throughout the United States. To single-out “Discovery Bay” as a toxic hot-bed is just wrong. Besides, it was only found in a small corner of Discovery Bay during any of the testing done the last few years. Most of our bays consistently have tested negative. Only the southwest-most corner, where the water is more stagnant and shallow, has a “danger” test and a few other ends of bays near there said to use caution. But most of the waterways have more flow and test clear. There is no reason that people should not launch their boats at the Discovery Bay Marina.

If there have been any health-related issues due to this toxic algae anywhere in the County, the public would be well-served to have that information and specifics on when and where and then will be more informed to make decisions about where and if to swim.

To me, it’s irresponsible to single-out Discovery Bay this way and I hope the County sends out better, more useful information in the near future.