NEXT MONDAY -- Public hearing in Sacramento on water allocation in California

The state is proposing to fundamentally alter the allocation of water in California by amending the contracts for the state water project. Please see the alert below and consider weighing on this important water decision by attending one of the public hearings on the proposed SWP amendments.

The Sacramento hearing is scheduled for: Monday, December 3rd, from 1-3 pm (full details in the announcement below, and on attached factsheet). Please help us spread the word to folks in your area!

For those interested in attending the hearing, but unable to make the Sacramento date, other hearings are also scheduled:

QUINCY – Thursday, Nov 29, 3-5pm
SACRAMENTO – Monday, Dec 3, 1-3 pm
VENTURA – Tuesday, Dec 4, 6-8 pm
BAKERSFIELD – Wednesday, Dec 5, 6-8pm

The Environmental Water Caucus hosted a workshop (led by the Planning and Conservation League’s Water Program Manager, Mindy McIntyre) on the pending SWP Amendments yesterday (November 28).

STATEWIDE HEARINGS ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE WATER CONTRACTS FOR THE STATE WATER PROJECT
November 29, 2007 3-5 PM
520 Main Street
Board of Supervisors, Room 308
Quincy, CA

December 3, 2007 1-3 PM
Room 102-A, Hearing Room
Bonderson Building
901 P St.
Sacramento, CA

December 4, 2007 6-8 PM.
800 South Victoria Avenue
Lower Plaza Assembly Room
Ventura, CA

December 5, 2007 6-8 PM
1115 Truxton Ave.
Supervisors’ Board Room, 5th Floor
Bakersfield, CA

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has scheduled several hearings about their proposed decision to dramatically amend the State Water Project (SWP) contracts with the “Monterey Amendments”, originally negotiated in the mid-1990’s. DWR’s new Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is out for public comment (http://www.des.water.ca.gov/mitigation_restoration_branch/rpmi_section/projects/EIR_index.cfm), and these hearings provide an opportunity to influence DWR’s final decision.

If adopted permanently, these amendments would:
• Eliminate urban safeguards for water in droughts and shortages
• Eliminate the requirement for DWR to determine the reliable safe yield of the water that can be pumped from northern California and the Bay Delta estuary
• Eliminate prohibition on the use of "surplus" Delta water for permanent development
• Give away the State’s largest groundwater storage facility -- the Kern Water Bank
• Promote increased transfers from northern California, and promote transfers from agriculture to urban areas with little public oversight

These harmful amendments were originally negotiated by DWR and a few SWP Contractors. The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) successfully challenged the original EIR and blocked permanent adoption of the negotiated amendments (although the settlement agreement allowed DWR to temporarily implement the amendments). DWR was ordered to prepare a new EIR on the amendments. As part of the EIR process, DWR must decide whether to adopt the amendments permanently. These amendments have had an impact on the Delta, and are directly related to the increased pumping and the POD crash of the past 7 years.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? Please consider attending the public hearing and preparing a verbal comment.

If you have questions, please contact: Barbara Byrne at bbyrne [at] pcl.org • (916) 313-4524 (office) • (530) 304-5389 (cell).