Greens slam late-night water deal as attempt to build peripheral canal

News Advisory
THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA http://www.cagreens.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Contact: Cres Vellucci, press secretary, 916.996-9170
cvellucci [at] cagreens.org
Susan King, spokesperson, 415.823-5524
sking [at] cagreens.org


Greens slam late-night water deal as attempt to build
controversial peripheral canal and a ‘commodification'
of water to benefit the wealthy, and hurts average taxpayer

SACRAMENTO – The Green Party of California today slammed a
late-night vote by the state senate to overhaul the state's
water system – and approve a longstanding controversial
peripheral canal – as a "commodification of water" that
doesn't benefit Californians, other than wealthy land-owners.

The State Senate Monday night approved a plan to create a
council to oversee management of the Delta; but it was
largely seen as the beginning of a legislation to approve
$9.9 billion in bonds to build new dams and the peripheral
canal.

"The packaged water legislation will be sold as a triumph,
and will, in fact, be a failure. It repeats the failures of
another Democratic Party-backed solution to the same set of
problems, Sen. Diane Feinstein's infamous CALFED Bay Delta
Program," said Wes Rolley, Co-Chair, EcoAction Committee,
Green Party of the U.S.

He said the action further creates a "bureaucracy without
authority...setting goals without funding their
implementation and getting all of California to pay for
benefits of the a few large scale farms on the West side of
the San Joaquin Valley.

"Water flows toward money and the tax payers of California
are already subsidizing those who have both. One Westland
Water District farm recently sold its water rights for $77
million. That is not what we want happening with our
taxes," said Rolley.

This is an effort to privatize the profits of the few and to
socialize the costs of water distribution on the backs of
the many – the average taxpayer who is already footing the
bills for mistakes that big banks and big business have
made, said the Greens.

"These large farms pay less than $100 per acre foot for
water and can easily resell it to urban users for $300 per
acre foot and not lose their water rights. It is time to
stop allowing major users to profit from the commodification
of water," said Rolley.

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