California Water War Enters New Front with the 'Battle of the Reports'

Groups Release Conflicting Reports Regarding the Fate of the Delta

by Dan Bacher

The California water war over the fate of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Dela entered a new front over the past several weeks with the "battle of the reports."

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released two in-depth reports recommending ways to provide water to restore salmon and other fish while serving California’s water needs. The two reports come on the heels of a controversial report the previous week by the PPIC that advocated the construction of a peripheral canal.

PPIC Report:

The Public Policy Institute of California on July 17 released a new report, “Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,” concluding that building a peripheral canal to carry water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is “the most promising strategy” to revive a threatened ecosystem and ensurie a “high-quality water supply” for California’s residents.

"Coupling a peripheral canal – the least expensive option – with investment in the Delta ecosystem can promote both environmental sustainability and a reliable water supply," claimed PPIC program director Ellen Hanak, who co-authored the study with University of California at Davis researchers – professor Jay Lund, research engineer William Fleenor, professor Richard Howitt, professor Jeffrey Mount, and professor Peter Moyle

One of the report’s contentions is that the perception that the Delta is a “naturally stable freshwater system” – and should be maintained as such – is wrong – and that a peripheral canal would somehow address both water supply and fishery needs.

“The belief has been that we’re defending the environment by maintaining the freshwater system, but that is actually incompatible with giving the Delta’s native species and ecosystem a fighting chance to survive and prosper,”

However, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta campaign director, contended that changes in water quality to the Delta produced by a peripheral canal will result in "economic chaos" for the region, as well as environmental devastation.

“Neither the PPIC Report authors nor officials with the State have done a full-scale economic analysis of how a change in water quality with the operation of a peripheral canal would impact farming, recreation, or fisheries," she stated. "It is estimated that Delta farming alone contributes $2 billion per year to our local economy, and recreation like boating and fishing another $750 million. If the Delta is made into a salty inland sea, the economic impacts will be devastating to those living in the surrounding five counties of the Delta.”

Parrilla also noted that the highly controversial report was" funded in part" by none other than Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr., who is with his son, Riley, co-owner of the Bechtel Corporation. Bechtel, the world’s largest engineering and construction firm, is responsible for environmentally devastating construction projects across the globe and was involved in a scheme to privatize the water supply system in Cochibamba, Bolivia.

The PPIC report amounts to being an "elaborate sales brochure" for the peripheral canal, quipped Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

For the full report, go to http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=810

EDF Report:

EDF released their report, “Finding the Balance: A Vision for Water Supply and Environmental Reliability in California,” on July 23, two weeks after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Diane Feinstein announced an enormously costly and environmentally destructive $9.3 billion “compromise” water bond that would build two new dams and a peripheral canal.

The report concludes that providing a more reliable water supply for the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary could help save fish, including salmon, while also helping to ensure adequate water for farms, cities, and the 25 million Californians who rely on the Bay-Delta’s water. The report outlines steps that state and federal leaders must take to end “a vicious cycle of water shortages and environmental near-disasters, and instead create a stable and reliable water supply.”

“Our water supplies will remain vulnerable as long as we allow the environment to remain at the brink of disaster,” said Laura Harnish, EDF’s Regional Director in San Francisco and an author of the report. “For decades, water users have sought to pump additional water out of our Central Valley streams, then species have declined, and ultimately the courts are forced to step in to prevent an environmental catastrophe.”

The state’s once prolific and profitable salmon fishery is in its worst ever crisis and this year’s salmon season was closed for the first time in history, while Delta pelagic species including delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad have declined to record low population levels.

“We have a great opportunity right now to create a reliable water supply for future generations of Californians and for salmon as well,” said Cynthia Koehler, an environmental lawyer and consultant for EDF, and an author of the report.

The report’s recommendations include: providing adequate freshwater flows to restore fisheries and habitat in the Bay-Delta to self-sustaining levels, and make sure the projected levels take into account the looming effects of global warming; guaranteeing stable and secure funding so that key restoration projects are not merely planned, but executed; creating financial incentives that will encourage all Californians to do a far better job of conserving water; creating legally mandated performance measures and legal safety nets; and improving enforcement so that water managers will be held accountable and promises will be kept.

“We believe that California has enough water for its people, farms, and fish,” said Harnish. “If we manage our water better, we can protect our state’s economy and our environment. We can have a thriving fishing industry in the future, and we can make sure our farms are able to produce the food and jobs that we need.”

For the full report, go to: http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=8112

NRDC Report:

On the following day at a press conference at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) and Water for Fish released a report saying that California salmon “could soon disappear permanently from the state’s rivers, restaurant menus and supermarkets if massive water diversions from the San Francisco Bay-Delta continue unabated.”

The report, “Fish Out of Water: How Water Management in the Bay-Delta Threatens the Future of California’s Salmon Fishery,” describes how the State Water Project and Central Valley Project contribute to declining salmon populations by reducing the availability of water necessary for migration and spawning, killing tens of thousands of juvenile salmon by sucking them into giant pumps used to export water and blocking salmon’s migration route with their dams.
 
“The future of California’s salmon fishery is completely dependent on how we manage water in the Bay-Delta ecosystem,” said Doug Obegi, NRDC staff attorney and lead author of the report. “California agencies must implement existing requirements to restore salmon, reform management of the water projects, and reduce water diversions.”

Despite the current crisis, the report notes that state and federal agencies are considering actions that could make things even worse for salmon survival. For example, agencies are considering developing a peripheral canal and more dams to export even more water from the Bay-Delta. In addition, they have executed water supply contracts that commit more water than the system can sustainably yield.

“The collapse of the salmon fishery is among the nation’s worst man-made fishery disasters ever,” said Richard Pool, organizer for the Water-4-Fish campaign. “It is on par with the Exxon Valdez spill or the closure of the New England cod fishery. But we believe that we can bring back our fishery. If we do the right things in managing our waters in the rivers and in the delta, we can save our salmon, and save our birthright.”

Millions of Californians are impacted by the unprecedented closure. Recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, tackle suppliers, charter boat operators, fish processors and restaurateurs all depend on healthy salmon runs to sustain their livelihoods. This year’s closure was estimated to result in economic losses of $255 million and the elimination of more than 2,200 jobs in California.

“Commercial salmon fishermen are paying a heavy price for the poaching of water from the Bay-Delta. The policy of this state is to double salmon populations, not decimate them,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA, referring to the provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act. (CVPIA) “We need to reduce delta diversions if we expect to bring back the salmon. The bottom line is: fish need water.” 

The report offers recommendations to prevent a permanent fishery collapse including: implementation of California’s existing salmon doubling requirement, reducing water diversions from the Bay-Delta, reforming management of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project, and restoring salmon to the San Joaquin River.

For the full report, go to http://www.nrdc.org/water/conservation/salmon/contents.asp

Representatives Respond:

Five Bay-Delta area Democrats responded to the NRDC and EDF reports by reiterating their calls for "prompt and aggressive steps" to protect the health of the Bay-Delta ecosystem and restore the state's salmon fisheries. The five lawmakers -- Democratic Representatives George Miller, Ellen Tauscher, Doris Matsui, Mike Thompson, and Jerry McNerney – also took aim at the peripheral canal, as advocated in the PPIC report.

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) harshly criticized the PPIC report for pushing the peripheral canal as a “solution” to both environmental and water supply problems. "Now the State is considering a peripheral canal, which the PPIC report states could have ‘major (negative) effects on salmon?" said Thompson. "This is ridiculous. We are only now starting to right the wrongs of the Bush Administration’s illegal water plans. The debate about the peripheral canal is adding insult to injury to California’s fishing communities.”

“Those of us who represent the Delta region and its watershed know that the peripheral canal is not likely to solve our challenges, from the disappearance of our state’s iconic salmon fishery to the repair and management of the fragile levees that support our communities,” concurred Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento.

Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), former chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and co-author of the CVPIA, concluded, “It's past time for us to develop a sustainable water policy for all Californians. Any water plan that focuses on exports and excludes the protection of the Bay-Delta is a non-starter, as it has been for the last thirty years.”