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Restore the Delta: Boycott Stewart Fiji Water, POM Wonderful and other Resnick Products

by Dan Bacher
Restore the Delta believes that one way to fight the injustice inflicted on Delta fisheries and communities is to begin boycotting products sold by subsidized agribusiness kings like Stewart Resnick. Here is the Restore the Delta's latest newsletter.
For the Week of December 3, 2009

"Do not teach your children never to be angry; teach them how to be angry. "
---Lyman Abbott


Who Are We Subsidizing with Water Exports, Water Bonds, and New Conveyance?

Californians are being persuaded into subsidizing water for billionaire Beverly Hills farmers like Stewart Resnick, who owns 118,000 of irrigated orchards near Bakersfield California. According to a news report by Lance Williams of the Sacramento Bee, Resnick "has written check after check to U.S. Senator Diane Feintstein's political campaigns." Resnick is using his vast fortune to influence State and Federal political leaders so that he can continue profiting from reselling Delta water.

Restore the Delta believes that one way to fight this injustice inflicted on Delta fisheries and communities is to begin boycotting products sold by subsidized agribusiness kings like Resnick. While Restore the Delta staff suggests minimizing the use of bottled water whenever possible, be sure to boycott Resnick's Fiji Water, as well as POM Wonderful (pomegranate juice), TeleFlora (flower delivery services), Paramount Citrus, and products from Paramount Farms including pistachios and Almond Accents.

Practically all these products used by Californians can be replaced by local growers, or by something as simple as planting a pomegranate tree in one's yard. They are easy to grow. Pass the idea of the Resnick boycott along to your family and friends, and of course let them know how our political leaders are being influenced on water issues by billionaires like Resnick.

Turning to the water bond which will be placed on the 2010 ballot, almost $2 billion has been loaded into the bond for funding conservancies outside of the Delta. Restore the Delta has always supported programs that project watersheds and open spaces throughout California. This, however, is an attempt to influence local environmental groups throughout California to support the supposed "environmental benefits" of the bond, and the recently passed water package.

What the authors of this bond do not understand is that regardless of how many billions of dollars are thrown into funding conservancies inside and outside of the Delta, and regardless of how much land is converted into habitat within the Delta, Delta fisheries will not be restored without sufficient water quality and water quantity flowing into and out of the Delta naturally. Instead, what we have been offered is a very expensive green scheme to re-engineer the Delta so that agribusiness farmers like Stewart Resnick can continue with business as usual - with only the hope of a 50/50 chance for salmon recovery.


Delta Tunnels -- the Preferred Mode of Alternative Conveyance


Last week, a presentation was made at the Bay Delta Conservation Plan which looked at alternative plans for tunnels to be built under the Delta for rerouting the Sacramento River to contractors with the State Water Project, the Westlands Water District, and the Metropolitan Water District.

A cursory examination of the presentation reveals three suggested tunnel/canal schemes: a tunnel/canal scheme for the Westside of the Delta; one for the Eastside of the Delta, and one for an all tunnel scheme for the Eastside of the Delta. All three plans include five intakes that could each pump 3,000 cubic feet per second of river water for a total pumping capacity of 15,000 cfs. Thus, while the design may be changing, the damage done to the estuary as a result from rerouting the Sacramento River would be as devastating as rerouting the Sacramento River through the previously proposed peripheral canal. (To see the power point presentation of the plan click here.)

Equally disturbing are the costs associated with construction, land acquisition, and operations of the project. For instance, annual energy costs associated with the project would be between $10 million and $51 million per year. Annual maintenance costs would run between $13 and $17 million per year. Land acquisition costs would run between $87 million and $247 million dollars, while construction costs for the project are estimated at 8 to 11 billion dollars (which we believe is a low estimate).

While the Metropolitan Water District and the Westlands Water District say they will pay for construction of new conveyance, it appears that the State (aka California tax payers) would be on the hook for these other costs. Plus, when we consider that the State Water Project is run on bonds, and that the Westlands Water District has had hundreds of millions of dollars forgiven by the Federal Government for the San Luis Reservoir, it becomes clear that Californians would be expected to subsidize water for corporate agribusiness (which provides relatively few jobs to the state economy) for at least the next fifty years.

And then there are environmental mitigation costs. Under the slide that lists Environmental Impact Evaluation Methods it is stated that tunnels were assumed to have no environmental impact. Clearly, nobody at DWR, the California Resources Agency, or the BDCP Engineering Contractors are looking at how a tunnel or tunnels would contribute to seepage flooding on the Eastside of the Delta from Sacramento to Tracy. Who is looking out for the thousands of homeowners in Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties who could be negatively impacted by such a project?

However, during dry periods, when no water will be available for export, which will happen more frequently with climate change, perhaps Delta residents would be able to drive through the tunnels and thus experience improved commute times to Sacramento. That way, this new conveyance system would not become an abandoned asset.

The next Bay Delta Conservation Plan Steering Committee meeting will be held on December 17, 2009.

For more information, go to http://www.restorethedelta.org.


A Fun Announcement

In the spirit of the holidays, join Organic Sacramento and Friends of the River for their 4th annual Organic Capital event on Thursday., December 10, 2009 · 6-10 p.m. at Beatnik Studios, 2421 17th St., Sacramento.

Suggested donation: $10-$25 + (no one turned away)
Learn about current threats to California's water and sustainable/local agriculture.

Live Music · Silent Auction · Local and Sustainable Food · Eco Awards
Special Guest Speakers · Educational Outreach
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