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State Releases Delta Flows Report

Published July 26, 2010 News and Events 1 Comment

On July 20th, the State Water Resources Control Board California Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft Development of Flow Criteria for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Ecosystem report. According to Mike Taugher of the Bay Area News Group, “The key finding is that of all the snowmelt and rain that falls into the Delta’s watershed, which covers 40 percent of California, about 75 percent of it should be allowed to flow through the Delta into San Francisco Bay.”

“Today, only about 50 percent of the flow passes through the Delta on average as nearly all of California taps into its rivers and the Delta itself.”

To browse through the entire 180 page report, click here. The report states:

    “In order to preserve the attributes of a natural variable system to which native fish species are adapted, many of the criteria developed by the State Water Board are crafted as percentages of natural or unimpaired flows. These criteria include:

    • 75% of unimpaired Delta outflow from January through June;
    • 75% of unimpaired Sacramento River inflow from November through June; and
    • 60% of unimpaired San Joaquin River inflow from February through June.

    In comparison, historic flows over the last 18 to 22 years have been:

    • approximately 30% in drier years to almost 100% of unimpaired flows in wetter years for Delta outflows;
    • about 50% on average from April through June for Sacramento River inflows;
      and
    • approximately 20% in drier years to almost 50% in wetter years for San Joaquin River inflows.

The report is not surprising to Delta scientists or even residents of the Delta. It has been obvious for years that export levels have been the key cause of the Delta crisis. The Delta needs sufficient fresh water flowing through it to flush out pollutants, to provide fresh water for fish and stream wildlife, and to maintain the quality of the water for healthy use by humans (swimming and other recreation).

Now everyone is asking what the state is going to do about it. This is not the first time this information has been provided. When the federal pumps were first installed, environmentalists sent letters of concern to the then governor Jerry Brown worrying that turning on all five pumps would destroy the Delta. Some years later the 5th pump was turned on. And we all know the crisis the Delta is in now.

See also

Delta Council 2nd Draft Plan Comments by Aug. 3

Published July 15, 2010 News and Events 9 Comments

For your information – The Delta Stewardship Council is inviting comments on the second draft of the Interim Plan.

They report that the Second Draft was revised substantially based on comments from the public, agencies and Council members. Once again, they are notifying people with little response time to get comments in for the next Council meeting. Email received today stated that comments on the second draft received by Monday, July 19, will be provided to Council members for discussion at the July 23 meeting.

However, comments received by August 3, will still be considered for revisions made in developing the third – and final – draft Interim Plan that will be considered for adoption by the Council at its August 26-27 meeting. Click here to read the Second Draft Interim Plan.

Water Bond Update

Published June 29, 2010 News and Events Leave a Comment

Schwarzenegger Seeks To Take Water Bond Off Ballot and the “No on the Water Bond Coalition” pushes to scrap it altogether.

Press Release from Sacramento —

    “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to pull an $11.1 billion water bond off the November ballot after spending much of last year fighting to get it there.

    The Republican governor had said improving the state’s water storage and delivery system was one of his top priorities.

    On Tuesday, he said the timing was poor and wants to delay the measure until 2012.

    He says putting the measure on the ballot this year, when the state faces a $19 billion budget deficit and record unemployment, would jeopardize its passage.

    He says the focus in the Capitol should be on fixing the deficit, reforming government pensions and creating long-term budget reforms. The Legislature would need to agree for the measure to come off the ballot.”

It’s good news that the governor wants to postpone the bond. We’d prefer a new, different bond that really addresses the water issues and the Delta crisis. As we have heard from our local legislators, there are many problems with the bond including:

  • Very little money is going directly to Delta restoration and increasing our water supply.
  • Too much money is earmarked for projects for which we have no plans.
  • $700 – $800 million per year will come from the general fund, at the expense of education and other critical needs.

The No on the Water Bond (Proposition 18) committee responded to the Governor’s announcement via a statement from Jim Metropulos of Sierra Club California:

    “We call on the Legislature to scrap this $11 Billion bond and start over. Even if it is delayed to a future ballot it will continue to be a bad back room deal, hatched in the dark of the night and loaded up with billions of dollars in pork projects to buy off votes.”

    “Even if it is delayed to a future ballot, it will still mean billions more dollars in debt for our State,” he added. “Even if it is delayed to a future ballot, it will not address the key points needed to fix our water infrastructure or create sustainable water policy. Moving the initiative to another election will not lessen our opposition!”

Profiteering from Water Sales and other Issues

Published June 5, 2010 News and Events 1 Comment

Addressing Profiteering in the Sale of Water

One of the comments to a recent STCDA email about the Two Gates bill AJR 38 was “Has anyone thought about putting forth a bill that would make it illegal to sell off excess water rights?”

Sounds like Assemblymember Arambula has been trying to do that with Assembly Bill AB 2049. Unfortunately, it failed to pass the assembly this week, not obtaining the votes required. The vote was AYES 38. NOES 31. (FAIL).

Opponents claim that there have been relatively few permanent agriculture to municipal use transfers and that when they do occur “they typically allow a farmer to sell water that will accommodate a different use that has an equal or higher economic value to the state of California” and that “the marketplace should be left to determine the ultimate allocation of SWP supplies.”

The bill was attempting to stop the ongoing egregious money-making such as the $77 million profiteering deal by one landowner last year which was quoted in the bill itself:

    “In August 2009, Sandridge Partners, a landowner within the service area of Dudley Ridge Water District in Kings County on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, agreed to permanently sell 14,000 acre feet (af) of its annual SWP entitlement to the Mojave Water Agency, in San Bernardino County, for $77 million dollars. Both the Dudley Ridge Water District and the Mojave Water Agency are SWP contractors. In news articles, Sandridge Partners was quoted as saying it intended to use part of the funding from its sale to Mojave to expand groundwater pumping as a substitute supply.”

Water is transferred from the farm use to municipal use (at a high margin for the user who received it at a reduced and/or subsidized agricultural rate) and then farmers have been pumping water from the groundwater aquifers to make up for the lack of agricultural water needed.

Concerns about the Aquifers

California’s two main river basins and the aquifers beneath its agricultural heartland have lost nearly enough water since 2003 to fill Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir, new satellite data shows according to a Reuters report Dec. 14, 2009. Depleted aquifers account for two-thirds of the loss measured, most of it attributed to increased groundwater pumping for irrigation of drought-parched farmland in California’s fertile but arid Central Valley, scientists said. Satellite studies show that groundwater is being used up faster than nature can restore it.

When aquifers are drained, there is the risk of the aquifer collapsing (which has happened recently in San Jose and in the Central Valley). The problem is, when aquifers collapse, there is no way to recover this valuable storage system.

AB 2049 also addressed better monitoring, management and controls on groundwater use to stop this practice as well. Hopefully this bill will be modified and attempted again.

The Selenium Issue Continues

Then there was the May 27th “Showdown over Selenium”. A broad coalition of 18 organizations, representing fisheries, tribal and environmental interests, opposed the pollution waiver for West side farmers to clean up their selenium discharge. Waste waters from the San Luis Drain are currently 10 times the level considered safe. The coalition believes the pollution should be halted at its source, not sent downstream. See the article for pictures of the deformed embryos of the bird species Stilt collected from a single nest from a Tulare Basin evaporation pond in the Southern San Joaquin Valley in 2001. Selenium from west side San Joaquin Valley farms caused massive wildlife deformities in birds at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge, exposed by federal biologist Felix Smith, in Merced County in the early 1980s.

RestoreTheDelta.org reported this week on the results of that meeting:

    West side farmers just can’t make that deadline for cleaning up their irrigation water. They’ve been trying for 14 years and have spent $100 million – although not all their own money, of course. But they need more time to develop a water treatment plant to eliminate contamination from 97,000 acres between Firebaugh and Interstate 5.

    The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has given its approval for a 10-year extension for the Grassland Bypass Project. The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and the California Water Impact Network argued that contamination will jeopardize revival of salmon runs and harm wildlife as far out as Suisun Bay. They said that a two-year extension would have been more reasonable than a full decade.

    Farm representatives argue that fish pass through the river when higher flows dilute the selenium level.

    Next, the matter goes to the State Water Resources Control Board, which is not known for making decisions that might inconvenience west side agriculture. They apparently still don’t view selenium as a stressor.

    Click Here to read more.

Why does it take Lawyers?

I couldn’t help but wonder, when attending the Bay and Delta Conservation Plan workshop last September, when the BDCP/ex-CalFed scientist was defending his knowledge and expertise and explained that he’d spent the last 30 years studying the Delta, when CalFed was then the lead organization, why didn’t they stop the excess pumping that has now brought the Delta to crisis? Why did it take Judge Oliver Wanger to order the pumps be turned off in February because endangered Delta Smelt populations are nearing the pumps and dying. Judge Wagner reversed his ruling May 25th and said “Judge Wanger decided the impact to the endangered fish did not outweigh the needs of farmers.”

An email from Bob Morris May 19th stated that a recent California Superior Court decision ruled that those who illegally divert water from streams and rivers can be sued because the consequent lack of water downstream, with its resultant problems, constitutes a violation of the public trust. Among other things, this ruling means governmental entities that are charged with maintaining such resources can also be sued.

“This new Superior Court ruling on Monday says that anyone who diverts water must provide enough flow for downstream fish and if they don’t they can be sued by anyone,” said Chris Malan of the Livings Rivers Council in Napa. He said there are at least 286 illegal water diversions in the Napa River watershed and that many of them are by vineyards.

The ruling was regarding the City of Calistoga and Napa rivers but could have far reaching affects. It could be a factor in the Delta because local scientists who are studying the Delta crisis do not feel the biggest issue is just the number of smelt being caught in the pumps but rather the lack of sufficient fresh water flowing throughout the Delta due to over-pumping. Rulings such as this, that aren’t a total shut-down of all pumping but may bring about a better analysis of what is required for a healthy Delta, seem like the best hope for getting the state to a more balanced water approach.

CCWD Water Tour

Published May 20, 2010 News and Events Leave a Comment

Representatives from STCDA took the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) Water Tour April 16th, a community outreach program offered periodically by the CCWD free-of-charge.


STCDA Steering Committee members Roger DiFate, Jan McCleery, Mike Guzzardo, and Michael Broadsky.

We toured the CCWD water treatment plant, went to the site of the Old River pumps (see photos), enjoyed picnic lunch, nature lecture and boat trip at Los Vaqueros Reservoir, then toured the Los Vaqueros Dam site and environmental center. The tour guides and environmentalist lecturers were all knowledgeable and it was an educational and enjoyable day. I’d recommend anyone who is interested to take the tour when CCWD offers it again!

One thing that struck me was the difference in how the CCWD pumps were installed and operated versus the Tracy/Clifton Court Forebay pumps that send water south. First, the CCWD pumps on Old River are placed on the side of the river, parallel to the flow, enabling the majority of fish to pass by safely. Fish screens are in place. The operation has little impact on even small fish like Delta Smelt juveniles.


CCWD Old River Pumping Station

Contrast that with the Tracy pumps that are on the Clifton Forebay at the end of sloughs and constantly entrap fish and cause great harm. Of course, the amount of water being pumped is also a difference. The amount of water the Tracy pumps extract is so significant that it reverses the flow of Middle River when they are running, causing the river to run from north to south instead of towards the ocean. That confuses migrating fish, like salmon and smelt. They cannot get back to the ocean and they perish.

The other interesting facet is that when the Federal Judge closes down pumping due to environmental reasons, it isn’t just the Tracy pumps that are restricted from pumping, the CCWD and all other pumps on the Delta are also restricted, even though they are not entrapping smelt. Makes me think that the Judge realizes it isn’t just the fact that smelt get entrapped in the pumps that is the issue but rather the amount of water being exported, impacting water quality, that is a larger concern.

CCWD also operates pumps on Rock Slough near Oakley and are adding a new pumping station on Victoria Slough on Middle River because the water flowing south (up stream) in Middle River is much higher quality than Old River or Rock Slough because of the strong flow reversals caused by the Tracy pumps pulling the cleaner water from the Sacramento River.

The CCWD pumps pump water up to the Los Vaqueros Reservoir as a holding area. Water released from Los Vaqueros goes to the CCWD water treatment facility located in Brentwood and a new Brentwood Water Treatment plant. These supply water to Brentwood and west (Clayton, Clyde, Concord, Pacheco, Port Costa, and parts of Pleasant Hill, Martinez and Walnut Creek).

Antioch has their own pumping station and water treatment but struggle with the rise of salt water intruding up the Delta. The “X2 Line” is suppose to be at Pittsburg, that is as far up the Delta salt water is legally supposed to be allowed and should govern the amount of extracts according to guidelines that were established when the Tracy pumps were installed. Antioch and its pumping stations are above that line, but the X2 guidelines are not adhered to as more and more water is exported. Currently Antioch can only extract its drinking water during outbound tides and has issued complaints to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) about not maintaining the X2 line. Recently the CCWD pipeline was linked to Antioch’s to be able to provide backup water to Antioch in time of need.

None of the Los Vaqueros water flows east. Discovery Bay and Byron for example are on their own wells. There is talk that Discovery Bay may at some point need to switch to Delta water if the levels of chemicals in the wells is deemed unacceptable. Having taken the tour of the modern CCWD treatment facility, the steps required to treat Delta water, even from the reservoir, is complex and expensive.

Finding out more about these pumping stations and their impact makes me feel even more strongly that locating huge pumps north on the Sacramento River and a Peripheral Canal can’t be a good way to go. If anything, distributed pumping and a way to balance the water flow through the Delta is the optimum way to export excess water for other uses.

The time is NOW – Stop AJR 38!

Published May 19, 2010 Delta Dams/Gates , News and Events 5 Comments

We knew Two-Gates had only been postponed, not stopped indefinitely. But we were hopeful that the project would be taken off the table when we heard from the USBR last week that (1) their scientific study to determine if there would be any positive effect on the Delta Smelt from the Two-Gates would take 2-3 years and (2) the final project would be very different from the initial Two-Gates plan and instead, if implemented, would take the needs of the local communities in mind. The revised plan would undoubtably cost a great deal of money to implement (especially if the “gates” are expensive locks) – an expensive “experiment.”

But as reported by RestoreTheDelta.org, the fact that Two-Gates has been put on-hold “makes Assemblymembers like Caballero, Arambula, and Fuller impatient. It makes ACWA, the San Luis and Delta Mendota Water Agency, and the Metropolitan Water District impatient. It makes Westlands Water District very impatient.” They don’t care about the Delta (the environment or the communities who rely on it), they only care about extracting more water from the Delta even if that results in the Delta becoming a salty, polluted bog.

On Tuesday, May 11, the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife reviewed Assembly Joint Resolution AJR 38, proposed by Assemblymember Caballero. The resolution requests the U.S. Department of the Interior to prioritize the study of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project and implementation.

Mary Piepho represented the five Delta counties at the committee meeting voicing opposition to AJR 38. However, the committee still voted to approve an amended version. While the amended version removed some of the posturing and myths that were in the initial version (thanks, I’m sure, to Mary and the other Delta supervisor’s efforts), we still have a HUGE concern that instead of taking steps to really fix the state’s water issues, Westlands and others interested in privatizing and making a profit from re-selling water continue to push projects, like Two-Gates, that will not provide any true short-term solution to the water issues and will ultimately continue down the path of irreparable harm to the Delta.

The resolution is headed for votes by legislators.

Tell your representatives to oppose AJR 38 !

Even representatives that we know oppose Two-Gates benefit from continued feedback. It gives them more ammunition when voicing their constituents concerns.

For Discovery Bay:

For other areas:
If you don’t know your representative, go to the League of Women Voter’s (LWV) site. It also gives hints on the best way to contact each (via email or website).

Sample Letter

SAMPLE INFORMATION TO SEND
(Be sure to replace [NAME] and [ADDRESS] with your name and address)
—————CUT HERE————————-

Please vote “NO” on Assembly Joint Resolution 38. Comments sent during the Two-Gates comment period identified that the project was an ill-conceived “experiment”, was unlikely to protect Delta Smelt, and would have major detrimental effects on local communities. Two-Gates would cost a great deal of money to study and implement, money better spent on real initiatives to reverse the damage done by excessive water exporting and other stressors on the Delta.

Instead of wasting money on more experiments that will negatively effect the Delta, please spend money to research the amount of water required for a healthy Delta, the amount of water that can be safely exported and a balanced state plan to address any additional water needs from other sources (desalinization, agricultural conservation, etc.)

Sincerely,

[NAME]
[ADDRESS]

Water Education Foundation Tour

Published May 13, 2010 Delta Dams/Gates , News and Events Leave a Comment

Discovery Bay was the next to last stop today in a two-day Water Education Foundation “Flood Management Tour” taken by about 50 people. The tour group included farmers, county supervisors, water agencies, and others – many from the Central Valley and L.A. The meeting was at the Boardwalk Grill and was a chance to show them Discovery Bay and to express the South Delta communities’ concerns about Two-Gates and other proposed changes to the Delta.

The first speaker was Mario Manzo from the US Bureau of Reclamations, Project Manager for the Two-Gates project. Following Mario, our own Mike Guzzardo talked about the STCDA concerns with Two-Gates: the appreciation for the Delta the people who live here have and the desire to not see it turned into a salt water estuary. Concerns with the proliferation of dams and gates affecting the water quality “IN” the Delta (as opposed to the rest of the people in the room’s concern about the quality of the water being “EXPORTED” from the Delta for agriculture and drinking water) and navigation and safety issues with the Two-Gates. About the desire for a “balanced” state water plan which takes into consideration the needs of Delta communities.

Although Mike wasn’t speaking to an audience sharing our concerns, it was an opportunity to give a human face to the views on the other side of the water export argument. Mike did a great job !

Good news from the USBR

Of significant interest were a couple of updates about the Two-Gates project from Mario. First, from the USBR perspective, the next steps are two to three years’ study to validate the science behind the project before anything would be done.

In addition, the USBR has been meeting with the Dept. of Waterways and Desmond & Desmond (agency representing the interests of the Recreational Boaters of California (RBOC)) about navigation, water access, and the other concerns raised about the Two-Gates project. “IF” any gates are installed, they would be different than in the initial project – more boater-friendly. Perhaps locks or equivalent. So that’s great news even though our goal is to avoid any experimental dams in the Delta which are likely to negatively effect the ecosystem.

It shows your comments and feedback were heard and is making a difference in how the USBR is looking at the Delta and its use. Mario made reference more than once to the 1400 comments the USBR had received about the Two-Gates project – and all but one objected to the Two-Gates project and most raised navigation and safety concerns. Good work everyone !

However …

While that’s good news, the bad news is that the legislative bills to re-start the Two-Gates project and do so quickly are still being pushed through the legislature. Mary Peipho spoke in opposition to Assembly Joint Resolution (AJR) 38 at the committee hearing Tuesday and all five Delta County supervisors oppose the Two-Gates and AJR 38. But it is still moving ahead. And the Delta Interim Draft Plan still lists Two-Gates as an objective.

We still have work to do but by all of us in the community working together, we are making progress.

Check out the new look for www.NoDeltaGates.com. We think it’s nicer and easier to read. Hope you agree.

Interim Delta Plan – Comments Due May 12

Published May 9, 2010 Delta Dams/Gates , News and Events 1 Comment

The Delta Stewardship Council has posted a Draft Interim Plan and an invitation for comments. Click here for a copy. Send comments to interimplan@deltacouncil.ca.gov. The Interim Plan will be in effect until the “Delta Plan” replaces it and becomes an enforceable document. Comments received by May 12 will be included in the Council’s May 27-28 meeting packet. Items received after May 12 will be considered in the later June Council meeting.

Two-Gates – They’re Back

Draft Plan item V:
“(a) Continue working on the rapid science study for the Two-Gates Fish Protection Project”
“(b) Construct and implement the Two-Gates …”

First, if it is a “rapid” science study will it be comprehensive? Second, there is no qualifier that said if the scientific study showed gates weren’t effective, don’t construct them. Constructing the gates is a step of its own. There’s no Environmental Impact Report (EIR) step listed or any other updated project plan. There’s nothing that addresses the safety, boating, and economic issues raised by our communities. Looks to me like it’s another attempt to ram rod the Two-Gates project even though the US Department of the Interior stated (see the AJR 38 Bill Analysis) that they were concerned with the lack of scientific study, the escalating cost of the project, and the potential impacts of the project as raised in over 1400 comment letters.

The Two-Gates project as it was originally scoped in the USBR FONSI should not be included in this plan.

The Delta isn’t a Plumbing Fixture

The Plan is heavily focused on the Delta as the primary solution for the entire state’s water needs. Step 1 of the plan should be to determine the amount of flow required to maintain a healthy Delta ecosystem. Once that is determined, the rest of the plan can be finalized. Specific steps should be included to minimize the amount of water the state needs from the Delta such as reducing evaporation from the Aqueduct, desalination plants, agriculture conservation, and groundwater clean-up.

Agriculture

The goal “Support for agriculture” needs clarification. As seen in Sen. Feinstein’s proposed Amendment to the Jobs Bill, some are quick to propose changing priority water rights and put the Westlands farmers to the front of the line ahead of Delta farmers and others who hold senior water rights. The plan needs to include maintaining farmers’ priority water rights.

In addition, “Support for agriculture“ needs to be qualified.
1. There are currently lands with high levels of selenium being farmed. This has resulted in wildlife deformities and causes significant issues for downstream Delta farmers.
2. Some crops like cotton and rice consume more water than others. The plan needs to support balancing the economic value of agriculture to the State with negative impacts to the state water supply
3. Some farmers leverage their water rates to resell at a profit. This should be eliminated by mandating no profiteering from reselling water rights.

Programs to encourage farmers to switch to crops needing less water, eliminate farming on selenium-filled land and eliminate reselling water rights should be added to this plan.

Recognition of Delta Communities’ Needs

Recognition of the Delta as a home to millions and an economic basis for the communities (local agriculture, fishing, boating, home values, local businesses) needs to also be specifically considered and supported by this plan. As shown by the Two-Gates project, these project do not include consideration for the Delta communities. Furthermore, there is no oversight by Delta legislators or funding for that oversight as part of the plan. The five Delta County supervisors have requested funding – that should be part of the plan.

Send Comments

We encourage anyone with concerns about this becoming the Interim Delta plan send comments to interimplan@deltacouncil.ca.gov. If you share the concerns above, copy them or revise to describe your specific concerns/recommendations.

Status Update

Published May 5, 2010 Delta Dams/Gates , News and Events Leave a Comment

People have been asking me “What’s happening with the 2-Gates and other Delta projects?” While we made great progress delaying the 2-Gates project, there are many projects moving ahead and legislation to re-start 2-Gates being debated.

Since our Discovery Bay meeting March 1st, the STCDA (NoDeltaGates) team has been monitoring current events and working with other organizations like RestoreTheDelta.org.

RestoreTheDelta reported on April 19th:

    “April 1st was more than just April Fools’ Day; it was also the seating of the Delta Stewardship Council, which happened to coincide with the West Coast Salmon Summit hosted by Congressmen George Miller and Mike Thompson. RTD had called supporters out to attend the Salmon Summit, which contributed to a glaring absence of Delta supporters at the historic seating of the Stewardship Council. The absence of Delta support in the room was noted by one of the public commentators.

    The first order of business was for the Council to elect their Chair. Not surprisingly, Phil Isenberg was unanimously elected Chair. No Vice Chair was elected.

    Then the appointees were introduced. Sacramento Supervisor Don Notolli holds the only seat guaranteed to represent any Delta interest on the Council by virtue of the fact that he is the Chairman of the Delta Protection Commission. Besides Supervisor Notolli, we have Hank Nordoff, Patrick Johnston, Randy Fiorini, Phil Isenberg, Gloria Gray, and Richard Roos-Collins, who was absent.

    Judge Ronald Robie officiated the swearing in of the Council. Judge Robie, a former head of DWR, reads and interprets water laws, some of which he wrote years ago.

    Mr. Isenberg called Judge Robie “one of the best water judges in the state; he wrote the laws.” Resources Agency Director Lester Snow told the newly sworn in Council that one of their goals should be to keep the Council’s actions out of Judge Robie’s court because “he’s not a friend of ours.” It is hard to know whose friend Snow thinks Judge Robie is, but there was chuckling in the room by those thinking the BDCP and Alternative Conveyance are done deals. Time will tell. “

The STCDA were also dissappointed on April 10th to see email from the California Sportsfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) that:

    “Assemblymember Fuller has introduced AB 2336 to terminate the management and protection of the public’s striped bass fishery that inhabits the Bay-Delta estuary. The bill mandates the elimination of all regulations that govern the legal harvest of the fishery thereby eliminating its sport fishing protective status. The author alleges this is necessary to reduce striped bass predation on salmon and Delta smelt protected by the state and federal Endangered Species Acts.

    This bill is similar to the one the Fuller introduced last year that was defeated by a coalition of anglers who care about the fishery and that acted in concert with sportfishing and environmental groups lead by CSPA. That bill was killed in its first committee hearing because the false arguments used by the author significantly overstated the impact of striped bass predation. Scientific testimony provided during the hearing made it clear that striped bass rarely, if ever, eat Delta smelt and that predation on listed salmon is so low that it does not impact the population level of the listed salmon.

    This bill is different in that it calls for the elimination of “the program enhancement, expansion or improvement of the fishery”. Ironically, such programs do not exist! It also requires that the Delta Stewardship Council to establish programs to discourage the promotion of the Bay-Delta striped bass as a sport fishery. It further requires the Stewardship Council to evaluate predator suppression options and make recommendations to remedy these problems. “

As a friend of mine who grew up in Brentwood said “I used to do a lot of striper fishing in the Delta back when the salmon were plentiful. I always make a point to cut open the bellies of the fish I catch to see what they are eating. I have never found a salmon in the belly of a striper!”

Other noteworthy news: Mary Piepho and the other four Delta County supervisors are fighting to obtain funding because of the Delta Plan’s critical importance to the communities of the Delta. We need to support these efforts and speak out against the new bills to re-start the 2-Gates project and, definitely, against the Water Bond Bill in November!

KQED re-aired their “Saving the Bay” series in April. Interesting information:

    In 1945 the Central Valley Project (CVP) (Shasta Dam and Friant Dam and huge pumping station, the Tracy Pumps was planned). The CVP had 4 goals:

      1. Water supply
      2. Hydro-electric
      3. Recreation
      4. Flood Control

    Not until it (the CVP) was in place would its impact on ecosystems become evident. Notably the blocking of the salmon’s runs.

    Today the survival of salmon is based on unceremonious procedures – fertilization no longer occurs in pristine rivers, instead, unceremoniously in a bucket.

    Meanwhile the huge pumping stations in the Delta reverse the estuary’s natural flow of the Delta, often destroying a vast population of fish drawn into its own irresistible pull. The millions invested in 2 great engineering marvels [the Shasta Dam and Tracy Pumps] would, by century’s end, cost billions to deal the consequences.

    We have committed the sin of serial engineering when it comes to the Estuary. For every engineering effort, for every engineering investment where we have tried to engineer a particular ecosystem service out of the Delta there has been a cascade of effects. Each one of those effects requiring a new investment of engineering. On that new investment of engineering against the need for more engineering. So we get locked into a cycle of serial engineer we can’t escape.

We know the “science” behind the 2-Gates project is flawed. We need to ensure that additional Delta projects are not implemented that affect the ecosystem.

Good News – Six months after the court-ordered release of water from a Central Valley dam, the San Joaquin River is now reconnected with San Francisco Bay, a major development in the river’s long-term recovery and re-establishment of chinook salmon populations.

Website Note: We’ve added a new tab, “Event Tracker” to help you and us keep track of the current issues and current legislative bills we need to focus on. It also includes a “History of Events” starting with when many of us first heard about the 2 Gates project and tracking activities and events since then for reference.

Delta Residents told to Ready for Water War

Published March 2, 2010 Delta Dams/Gates , News and Events Leave a Comment

Central Valley Business Times Article:

    Residents of the Discovery Bay area of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were warned Monday night that powerful, unnamed, forces from Southern California are waiting to spring a massive peripheral canal on them.

    Such a canal would be bigger than the Panama Canal and would send fresh water around the Delta to pumps that would transfer it to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

    Much of the Discovery Bay opposition keys in on what is dubbed the “Two Gates Project” that would construct dams in the Delta to divert the flow of water.

    The project, which seemed to be on the fast track last fall, now seems stalled.

    But leaders of the [Save the California Delta Alliance – formerly the] Save the San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation say it’s merely a lull in a water war pitting Southern California interests against the landowners in the Delta.

    “We’ve won some good battles, but we haven’t won the war yet,” says Mike Guzzardo, spokesman for the Save the San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation. “It can change week by week. We just can’t let it go and assume we’ve won.”

Click here to see an interview with Mr. Guzzardo taped at Monday night’s SFBDF meeting in Discovery Bay.

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