"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing." ---Thomas Jefferson

Welcome to the new Delta Flows, Restore the Delta's, once again, weekly newsletter on Delta news.

The New and Improved Restore the Delta Website We encourage all our supporters to revisit the newly revised Restore the Delta website at http://www.restorethedelta.org. Our website now includes: information on the proposed peripheral canal and the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, an updated calendar, new templates for letters to send to newspaper editors, information on local Delta governing bodies, an overview of Delta agriculture, and position updates from Restore the Delta. We also recommend visiting the website regularly for new information, as updates will be available on a regular basis.

Premature Land Surveys for the Peripheral Canal

A Recap of Events

Although the related science for the Delta Vision process and for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan has failed to answer the question, "How much fresh water is needed to restore and sustain the Delta?," the Department of Water Resources is going about preparations to construct the peripheral canal. Last week, The Sacramento Bee reported that nearly 1000 letters were being sent to Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta property owners indicating that surveyors may need to access private land in order to begin planning for the project.

While the peripheral canal is neither a finalized position recommendation by the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force nor a funded project, Governor Schwarzenegger called for an environmental impact report earlier this year necessitating the land surveys

A few weeks ago, Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Diane Feinstein called for a new $9 billion water bond that would include $3 billion in funding toward new conveyance. Conservative estimates for the construction of peripheral canal run between $9 billion and $17 billion. Thus, one can surmise that the bond's allocation for new conveyance would in effect pay for the planning of the peripheral canal, and later down the road additional funding would be needed for the construction of the project.

In addition, the Department of Water Resources' analysis of the peripheral canal makes the claim that 8.5 million acre feet of water per year can be exported from the Delta, even though Delta fisheries have crashed and water quality has worsened with exports of 6 million acre feet per year.

Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors Association is cited in a July 31st article by The Antelope Valley Press as saying, "One design suggestion for that canal would be a structure six football fields wide." Later in the article, she is cited as saying "Because of the routes the peripheral canal would traverse 'we'll be negotiating easements'."

Restore the Delta staff cannot help asking who has given Laura King Moon the authority to take the lead on how much water will be exported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the size of the peripheral canal, and the negotiation of easements? And for that matter, why has the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force failed to incorporate local Delta representation into its governance recommendations with their Delta Draft Strategic Plan?

Clearly, what is being promoted through the media by Governor Schwarzenegger's office, new conveyance to protect the Delta's ecosystem, is window dressing for the continuation of a failed Delta-centric state water policy. Rather than promoting a bond that would support aggressive water conservation measures, regional ground water clean up and desalinization projects, ground water banking in historic floods plains, regional reservoirs to support ground water banking, water recycling, and projects making use of storm water runoff, our state leaders are clinging to the last century's strategy of moving water from north to south - regardless of the detriment along the way. Employing new technologies, rather than clinging to old methods, will give us more water to work with in California for people and fish.

On July 31st, Governor Schwarzenegger signed an executive order laying off thousands of temporary state workers and cutting salaries for over 200,000 state employees to $6.55 per hour (Federal Minimum Wage). The state budget deficit is estimated to be $15.2 billion. In such difficult economic times, don't we deserve a statewide water strategy that is economically and environmentally sound? Or are we going to be forever tied to more borrow and spend programs that won't solve our water needs?


And then there is the State Water Resources Control Board


In the recent Public Policy Institute Report Comparing Futures For the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the reports authors recommend that the State Water Resources Control Board should take the lead on managing water quality conditions because the SWRCB has the legal authority to do so. This is perhaps one area in which Restore the Delta staff agrees with the reports' authors.

Unfortunately, the SWRCB continuously fails to enforce the law regarding Delta water quality. The following statement released this week by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance elucidates how the State Water Resource Control Board favors water exports over protection of Delta family farms and Delta fisheries.

Thus, this is where we return to a point of disagreement with the authors of the PPIC Report. Considering the track record of the State Water Resources Control Board, how could the people of the Delta trust that the SWRCB would protect Delta water quality if a peripheral canal were to be constructed?

Restore the Delta Board Members, Senior Advisors, and Staff met several weeks ago to discuss political reform of the State Water Resources Control Board. Watch for our recommendations in upcoming issues to convert the SWRCB from a panel of Governor appointees into an elected board with representatives from across the state.


CSPA Protests State Board's Elimination of Key Delta Protection


Stockton, CA. Today, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) submitted a formal petition to the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) asking it to reconsider its issuance of a "secret" Order allowing export pumping to be increased despite violation of Delta water quality standards. The Order was issued in response to a petition from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). South Delta Water Agency has also asked the State Board to reconsider the decision.

"This despicable backroom deal undercuts one of the few remaining protections for water quality and fisheries in the Delta," said CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings, adding "It's a clear message that the State cares more about sending water to grow cotton in the desert than it cares about protecting Delta agriculture and endangered species."

The order, issued by one Member of the five-member State Board and without public notice or public hearing, authorizes DWR and USBR to use the Joint Point of Diversion (JPOD), even if water quality standards in the south Delta are being violated. The JPOD allows the DWR and USBR to use each other's pumping plants interchangeably thus "maximizing" water exports from the Delta. Not having to meet water quality standards in the Delta before using JPOD effectively eliminates one of the major protections of water quality and fisheries in the south Delta. High salinity levels severely impact the yield of Delta agriculture and measures that reduce salinity generally help fish by reducing water exports.

The Delta salinity standards, measured at three locations in the South Delta, coupled with the Vernalis instream flow and Delta Outflow requirements comprise virtually the only protection for water quality and fisheries mandated by the State of California. The salinity standards were originally included in the 1995 Water Quality Control Plan for the Bay-Delta and affirmed in State Board Decision 1641 in 2000, which implemented the 1995 Plan. However, due to repeated delays, the salinity standards only became effective in 2006. The State Board issued a Cease & Desist Order against DWR and USBR in 2006. However, the State Board never issued enforcement penalties against DWR and USBR, even though they again used JPOD while standards were violated in 2007.

Anticipating that salinity standards would be violated in 2008, DWR and USBR requested that the State Board modify the D-1641 requirements relating to JPOD. The Governor's drought proclamation was used as justification for the request. CSPA and South Delta Water Agency were not notified of the request. State Board member Art Baggett, who was delegated authority to review emergency petitions, granted the request without hearing or public notification. Interestingly, the entire State Board had reaffirmed that Delta salinity standards must be met before JPOD could be used on 20 May 2008 when it issued a permit to Yuba County Water Agency for a long-term transfer: a decision that was modified by Board Member Baggett's secret ruling.

"The State Board can't make up its mind whether or not it wants to enforce the law," said CSPA Attorney Michael Jackson, "But, Mr. Baggett clearly doesn't have the authority to waive the law by himself."

The principal intended use of the expedited water transfers is to irrigate crops in Westlands Water District, whose selenium and boron impaired lands leach toxic wastes into the San Joaquin River where they subsequently return to plague Delta agriculture and fisheries.




Restore the Delta is working everyday through public education and citizen activism to ensure the restoration and future sustainability of the California Delta. Your general contribution can help us sponsor outreach events, enable us to educate Californians on what makes the Delta so special, and assist us in building a coalition that will be recognized by government water agencies as they make water management decisions.
Restore the Delta is a charitable 501(c)3 organization. Donations are tax deductible.