Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Roger Dickinson,
Sacramento Bee
For two decades, Sacramento
battled with the East Bay Municipal Utility District over diverting water from
the American River, which would have reduced our water flows, endangered fish
and other wildlife, degraded the American River Parkway and compromised our
water rights. After battling to a standstill for several years, my colleagues
on the Sacramento City Council and county Board of Supervisors, Sen. Dianne
Feinstein and I worked out a solution with EBMUD that met the critical needs
and objectives of both sides.
Coalition response... Notwithstanding Assemblyman
Dickinson's take on the issue, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan has been one of
the most transparent planning processes in history. There has been ongoing and
focused outreach by administration officials to Delta counties, including
regular meetings with Secretary Laird and other high-ranking officials.
Claiming that public water agencies south of the Delta are going to run the
project without limits simply ignores reality and is irresponsible hyperbole.
It has been disproved every day for the past 20 years as the State and federal
projects operate to the water quality, environmental and water rights standards
set by the SWRCB and a host of other state and federal agencies. The BDCP will
also be governed by permits issued by the SWRCB, which will satisfy the
stringent conditions imposed by state and federal fishery agencies. The
BDCP must satisfy the highest environmental standards in the nation to be
approved and implemented.
It has taken seven years of
intense research and planning to craft a solution that addresses both water
supply issues and environmental needs. Now that a public review draft has been
released let's give it the consideration due. A plan designed to resolve
these long-term challenges for our state deserves deliberate, reasonable
review.
From: Mary Leo, Sacramento Bee
Re "Delta details unveiled -
in 34,000 pages" (Page A1, Dec. 10): Please, who has time to read 34,000
pages in a year? I doubt any of our elected officials who will vote on this
proposal involving two giant water-diversion tunnels will accomplish this task.
How can we expect a fair and unbiased outcome to this proposal if the average
person cannot read the details in the time allotted to be fully informed on
this matter?
Coalition response...
Mary,
The BDCP documents ARE complex-
but they have to be. These 34,000 pages include plans to improve the delta
ecosystem while providing a more stable supply of water to Californians south
of the Delta. Environmental Impact Reports must be thorough and consequently
are often long documents. The administrators of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan
are actively looking to facilitate reviewers through twitter. If you're looking
for specific content in the plan, tweet your question, including the hashtag
#WhereinBDCP.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Charles Wilson and Mike
Wade, Los Angeles Daily News
Southern Californians are leaders
in conservation, using the same amount of water today as 20 years ago, despite
adding 3 million people to the population. The region has recycled more water
than anywhere else in the United States and invested more than $5 billion in
storage facilities to improve local water supply reliability. This way of life
has become essential as we have faced droughts and reduced imported water
supplies. But cities aren't alone in learning how to be more efficient with
water.
From: David Benda, Redding
Record-Searchlight
An environmental disaster that
will bankrupt taxpayers is the initial response of some local stakeholders to
Monday's release of a huge state water plan.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan
is billed as a long-term strategy for the management and development of water
resources in the face of an uncertain future for California.
From: Staff, Redding
Record-Searchlight
Does anyone really understand the
Bay Delta Conservation Plan?
Yes, we know the plan that the
state formally released this week involves restoring habitat in the delta down
where the Sacramento River meets the bay, along with a pair of tunnels
proponents hope will work more reliably and less destructively than the
long-running system of pumping North State water through the delta itself.
Water Plan
From: Steve Knell, Merced Sun-Star
From: Steve Knell, Modesto Bee
The Brown administration recently
released a draft California Water Action Plan, the purpose of which is to
outline and address the state's water challenges and provide sustainable
management goals for our water resources. The action plan includes a suite of
recommendations that, if implemented, would provide sound water policy
guidance.
Unfortunately, there are those in
Sacramento whose agenda differs from that of the governor.
Water Supply
From: Staff, KTVU.com
From: AP Staff, Sacramento Bee
With another dry winter looming,
California lawmakers called on Gov. Jerry Brown and President Barack Obama to declare
a drought emergency and federal disaster in the state.
In a letter sent Monday,
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Democratic Rep. Jim Costa urged the
governor to take immediate action. A separate letter signed by dozens of other
California lawmakers called for the same declaration.
The lawmakers cited the
California Department of Water Resources' announcement of low water deliveries
for Central Valley agriculture due to light rainfall projections.
Transfers
From: Antoine Abou-Diwan,
Imperial Valley Press
The Metropolitan Water District
of Southern California approved an agreement with the Imperial Irrigation
District Tuesday that would allow both agencies to share equally in the costs of
upgrading earthquake-damaged water infrastructure in Mexico, in return for an
equal share of conserved water that should result.
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