Restore the Delta Voices Opposition to Peripheral Canal at Congressional Hearing

For Immediate Release: July 2, 2007

Restore the Delta Contact: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
PO Box 691088 Phone: 209-479-2053
Stockton, CA 95269 Email: Barbara [at] Restorethedelta.org
http://www.restorethedelta.org

RESTORE THE DELTA OPPOSES PERIPHERAL CANAL:
Delta-based grassroots group voices concern at
House of Representatives Resources Subcommittee
On Water and Power, July 2, 2007

Stockton, California -- Restore the Delta, a local broad-based coalition including Delta farmers, environmentalists, everyday citizens, fishermen, business leaders, and local youth, brought together a diverse body of Delta residents to attend the House of Resources Subcommittee hearing on "Extinction is not a Sustainable Water Policy: The Bay-Delta crisis and the implications for California water management.” The hearing was held on July 2 at 9 a.m. in the Vallejo City Council Chambers, 555 Santa Clara Street, Vallejo, California.

Representatives from Restore the Delta communicated to a number of state and federal water agency heads who served as panelists for the hearing that Delta residents oppose the construction of a peripheral canal because:

1) Water quality will deteriorate even further leading to the death of the Delta’s ecosystem – the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of both North and South America.

2) The local water supply will become so saline that Delta agriculture can no longer be sustained, thereby undoing our region’s economy, culture, history, and way of life.

3) Delta water quality will never meet Clean Water Act standards.

4) The Delta recreation industry will cease to exist as we know it. Sports fishing will be a thing of the past, and other water sporting activities will be cease to be pleasurable in such polluted waters.

5) There will be no incentive to fix Delta levees or to create a flood management plan that will protect Delta people, Delta property, and Delta infrastructure, such as railways and gaslines. In the event of a natural disaster, the Delta will be written off in the same way that New Orleans was abandoned after Hurricane Katrina.

As Restore the Delta President and Delta area resident Bill Loyko notes, “There is a thirty-year history of state and federal water agencies failing to fulfill promises regarding the management of water exports. To date, not one water agency has answered our question: ‘How much fresh water flow is needed to pass through the Delta via historical current flows in order for the Delta to remain healthy?’ Why should we trust these regulatory agencies now, especially with the near extinction of the Delta smelt?”

After several months of work with members of the Delta community, Campaign Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla has brought together a core group of citizens who are working to shape a Healthy Delta Communities Plan. The plan centers around the following principles set by Restore the Delta members:

1) Freshwater is essential for the health and vitality of the Delta community, economy and ecosystem. Both immediate actions and long-term solutions must be founded on protecting the Delta as a public trust resource. Therefore:

· Exports of water from the Delta must immediately be reduced to a level compatible with protecting Delta values.

· All proposals for long-term Delta management must be based on a firm understanding of Delta freshwater needs and must include strong protection for sufficient flows of water necessary for healthy Delta communities, including Delta agriculture. Strong assurances must be made for such protections, with appropriate and sustainable water export reductions before any proposals for alternative export conveyance or diversion methods are considered.

2) A comprehensive flood plan and an emergency readiness plan must be immediately prepared to protect the people, property, and infrastructure and provide for a healthy ecosystem of the Delta. A comprehensive plan to improve essential project and non-project levees must be immediately prepared and fully funded in consultation with local Delta experts.

3) To restore the health of the California Delta while maintaining a reliable water supply for our neighbors throughout California, state and regional water agencies must aggressively implement regional water self-sufficiency measures, such as water conservation, reclamation, and water recycling.

4) All Delta planning must be designed to minimize the regional impacts of climate change. Specifically, plans must address increased flood risks, sea level rise, and peak river inflows that are likely to result from climate change. These plans must also allow for incremental responses to ecosystem changes resulting from climate change.

5) All land use decisions, including potential island reconfiguration must be guided by local Delta expertise. Delta landowners and residents must have an active role in development and implementation of all plans affecting their community.

6) To help preserve the unique cultural and environmental resources of the
California Delta, the state should immediately establish a California Delta Conservancy, as well as assist with obtaining a federal and/or state level protected status for the Delta region (i.e. park, monument, or recreational area). Such programs should be developed in consultation with local Delta landowners and stakeholders, and should help to protect Delta agricultural interests.

Ms. Barrigan-Parrilla adds that a permanent reduction in water exports from the Delta, a comprehensive flood management plan, and enforcement of Clean Water Act standards are the three legs of the stool that need to be significantly strengthened in order for real Delta restoration to begin. “Without first taking action in these three areas, no future plans for the Delta will result in any real improvements for the ecosystem. In fact, the Delta ecosystem, as we know and treasure it, will cease to exist.”

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Making the Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable by 2010!
Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org
http://www.restorethedelta.org
ph: 209-479-2053
PO Box 691088
Stockton, CA 95269