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Action Alert: Sign Online Petition to Protest Water Give Away to Westlands Water District!
I urge everybody to sign this petition protesting the give away of water to Westlands Water District, the "Darth Vader" of California water politics. At a time when populations of Delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and theadfin shad are collapsing because of increases in water exports, the last thing we need is yet another give away of public water to a private entity, especially one that has caused so much environmental destruction over the years.
PLEASE sign on to the online petition (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-more-secret-deals) to California Legislators urging them to reject the proposal to give away California water resources.
As you all may already know, the Bureau of Reclamation is negotiating a deal with Westlands Water District and other San Luis Unit Contractors for settlement of Westlands’ drainage lawsuit. Rather than deal with the drainage problem directly, the proposed settlement provides Westlands and other San Luis Unit Contractors with 60 year contracts for Delta water-complete with special provisions. Unfortunately, the details of these negotiations are not public, but this is what we have heard is currently in the proposal:
Assurance that Westlands will receive a certain amount of water even in dry years (other settlement agreements assure 75% of deliveries: for Westlands, that would be about 800,000 acre feet).
In addition to the above delivery assurance, the contract would guarantee that CVP contractors south of the Delta will not be cutback for any reason other than D-1641 or the Biopsy- that means cutbacks for CESA, CEQA, NEPA, refuge water, Trinity needs, climate change, and other public interests must be absorbed- or paid for by the public, other water users and the environment.
San Luis Unit Contractors would no longer have to comply with the acreage limitations of Reclamation Law – no more 960 acre limit, so much for the small family farm.
San Luis Unit Contractors would be forgiven its $400 million+ debt for construction of the CVP.
San Luis Unit Contractors would no longer have to pay for O and M cost of CVP facilities above the Delta - that means taxpayers get the bill.
The Bureau of Reclamation is reportedly preparing a draft contract and legislation based on this proposal. It is important to let CA legislators know that if implemented, this proposal would be a disaster for California given the already serious ecosystem and water supply reliability problems faced in the Delta. California needs more flexibility, not a binding contract allocating millions of acre feet of water for the next 60 years to a small, influential group.
You can sign onto the online petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-more-secret-deals. Our goal is to have 5,000 signatures on our online petition by the end of next week. Please sign on, and send this link to anyone else interested in protecting California’s water.
Please contact me or Lisa Coffman (lisa [at] c-win.org) with any question about the petition or the proposal.
Mindy McIntyre
Water Program Manager
Planning & Conservation League/PCLF
1107 9th Street Suite 360
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 313-4518 (office)
(916) 541-8825 (mobile)
(916) 448-1789 (fax)
mmcintyre [at] pcl.org
http://www.pcl.org
As you all may already know, the Bureau of Reclamation is negotiating a deal with Westlands Water District and other San Luis Unit Contractors for settlement of Westlands’ drainage lawsuit. Rather than deal with the drainage problem directly, the proposed settlement provides Westlands and other San Luis Unit Contractors with 60 year contracts for Delta water-complete with special provisions. Unfortunately, the details of these negotiations are not public, but this is what we have heard is currently in the proposal:
Assurance that Westlands will receive a certain amount of water even in dry years (other settlement agreements assure 75% of deliveries: for Westlands, that would be about 800,000 acre feet).
In addition to the above delivery assurance, the contract would guarantee that CVP contractors south of the Delta will not be cutback for any reason other than D-1641 or the Biopsy- that means cutbacks for CESA, CEQA, NEPA, refuge water, Trinity needs, climate change, and other public interests must be absorbed- or paid for by the public, other water users and the environment.
San Luis Unit Contractors would no longer have to comply with the acreage limitations of Reclamation Law – no more 960 acre limit, so much for the small family farm.
San Luis Unit Contractors would be forgiven its $400 million+ debt for construction of the CVP.
San Luis Unit Contractors would no longer have to pay for O and M cost of CVP facilities above the Delta - that means taxpayers get the bill.
The Bureau of Reclamation is reportedly preparing a draft contract and legislation based on this proposal. It is important to let CA legislators know that if implemented, this proposal would be a disaster for California given the already serious ecosystem and water supply reliability problems faced in the Delta. California needs more flexibility, not a binding contract allocating millions of acre feet of water for the next 60 years to a small, influential group.
You can sign onto the online petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-more-secret-deals. Our goal is to have 5,000 signatures on our online petition by the end of next week. Please sign on, and send this link to anyone else interested in protecting California’s water.
Please contact me or Lisa Coffman (lisa [at] c-win.org) with any question about the petition or the proposal.
Mindy McIntyre
Water Program Manager
Planning & Conservation League/PCLF
1107 9th Street Suite 360
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 313-4518 (office)
(916) 541-8825 (mobile)
(916) 448-1789 (fax)
mmcintyre [at] pcl.org
http://www.pcl.org
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