[env-trinity] Article Submission: Tunnel opponents blast Governor's revised Bay Delta Conservation Plan

[Dan Bacher]

Bill Jennings, CSPA Executive Director, speaks at the Restore the  
Delta statewide general membership meeting in Stockton on April 30.  
Photo by Dan Bacher.

800_bill_jennings.jpg
original image ( 5184x3456)

Tunnel opponents blast Governor's revised Bay Delta Conservation Plan

by Dan Bacher

On April 30 at a press conference in Oakland, Governor Jerry Brown and  
federal officials unveiled controversial plans that they claim  
"accelerate restoration of the Delta's ecosystem" and "fix the state's  
aging water infrastructure" by building two massive underground tunnels.

Environmental groups and Delta advocates responded that the updated  
Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is nothing more than a "slightly  
revised" water grab for corporate agribusiness interests - and is  
"more unfair than ever" for the majority of Californians during the  
record drought.

One of the key differences between the previous version of the BDCP  
and the latest incarnation is that it now calls for only "restoring"  
30,000 acres for wetland and wildlife habitat - down from the 100,000  
acres originally proposed.

The other major difference is that the BDCP has been split into two  
components - The "California Water Fix" component for the tunnels and  
the "California Eco Restore" component for the habitat "restoration"  
component.

“We can't just cross our fingers, hoping for the best in the  
Delta,” said Governor Brown in touting the revised plan. “Fish  
populations are at an all-time low. Bold action is imperative."

"We've listened to the public and carefully studied the science,"  
echoing his comments that he made regarding the tunnels plan at a  
press conference in Sacramento in July 2012.

"This revised plan is the absolute best path forward," stated Brown,  
without offering evidence how this plan compared to other more  
comprehensive solutions to California's water supply and ecosystem  
restoration problems, most notably the Environmental Water Caucus  
Responsible Exports Plan that sets a cap of 3 million acre feet per  
year on water exports from the Delta.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael L. Connor claimed, “The  
State, through Governor Brown’s leadership, has been a strong partner  
working with us to improve California’s water infrastructure while  
restoring the Delta. The plan announced today, which has been greatly  
improved in response to public input, will secure California’s water  
future and a healthier, sustainable Bay-Delta ecosystem."

The Governor claimed the revised plan "substantially improves the  
health of California’s fisheries, increases water reliability and  
addresses the uncertainty of climate change."

"Specifically, the plan will accelerate long-stalled Delta  
environmental projects, including critical habitat, wetlands and  
floodplain restoration, while fixing California’s aging and  
environmentally damaging water infrastructure system," the Governor  
said. "The effectiveness of the restoration work depends on building a  
reliable conveyance system."

The Governor's Office released a brightly colored 8-page "fact sheet"  
that summarizes the changes in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan: http://gov.ca.gov/docs/Delta_Fact_Sheets_4.30.15.pdf

Revised plan is "Ecocide" for the Delta

Critics of the tunnels slammed the revised tunnel plan for a number of  
severe flaws after reviewing the released documents. Bill Jennings,  
Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance  
(CSPA) and Board Member of the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN)  
and Executive Commitee Member of Restore the Delta, summed up the  
reactions of many to the revised plan when he said, "The Water Fix and  
Eco Restore‬ are Ecocide for the Delta."

Adam Scow, the California Director of Food and Water Watch, said the  
revised tunnels plan remains a scheme to provide subsidized water for  
"Big Agriculture" that has expanded its water-intensive almond acreage  
during the drought while urban water users are asked to cut their  
water usage by 25 percent and more.

"Governor Brown’s plan to build massive tunnels to divert the  
Sacramento River away from the San Francisco Bay Delta – estimated to  
cost as much as $67 billion – has always primarily been a scheme to  
send massive amounts of water to corporate agribusinesses on the west  
side of the Central Valley," said Scow. "These powerful  
agribusinesses, including Stewart Resnick’s Paramount Farms and  
growers in the Westlands Water District, have planted excessive  
amounts of water-thirsty almonds and pistachios, most of which are  
exported overseas and need massive amounts of water to succeed in the  
hot and dry climate of the west side."

“The Governor has slightly repackaged his euphemistically named Bay  
Delta Conservation Plan, because the tunnels plan will likely not meet  
federal water quality standards in the Bay Delta, but the fundamental  
problem with the project remains: it is grossly unfair for the  
Governor to make California taxpayers and water ratepayers subsidize a  
massive project that only benefits a handful of California’s most  
powerful agribusinesses," he stated.

"Forcing taxpayers to subsidize agribusiness is especially wrong now  
that the Governor has demanded all Californians reduce their own water  
use or face substantial fines. In addition, removing fresh water from  
the Bay Delta via tunnels will only worsen conditions for  
California’s threatened wild salmon," said Scow.

Limits on west side agribusiness water usage urged

Scow urged the Governor to impose limits on the amount of water that  
is used by agribusiness interests on the San Joaquin Valley's west side.

“Instead of pushing this outdated tunnels project, the Governor  
should limit agricultural irrigation on the west side and stop sending  
enormous amounts of public water to agriculture tycoons at the expense  
of California taxpayers and the fragile ecosystem and fish populations  
supported by the San Francisco Bay Delta," concluded Scow.

Restore the Delta (RTD) responded to Gov. Brown’s "abandonment of  
habitat restoration" in his Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) tunnels  
scheme by saying the new plan violates the statutory co-equal goals  
and "end-runs" the EPA and federal scientists who refused to issue  
permits for the project.

Governor Brown has called the massive change “technical,” but RTD  
and other opponents said it results from "fatal flaws" in the BDCP and  
the lack of funding for the restoration formerly proposed under the  
BDCP.

The group pointed out that the "new maneuver" ignores the judgment of  
the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Delta Independent Science  
Board (DISB), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after  
scientific reviews that the tunnels project didn’t meet minimum  
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) standard.

The agencies found in particular that the project would "jeopardize,"  
rather than help recover key species, and violate anti-degradation  
laws to protect the Delta waterways as fishable, swimmable and  
drinkable, according to RTD.

RTD said the change also results from the failure of the BDCP to  
identify the required funding to meet the financial assurances  
provisions of the ESA, RTD noted. The BDCP relied heavily on future  
unidentified state bonds and state and federal budget allocations.

New document reveals Prop. 1 funds will pay for tunnels mitigation

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, RTD Executive Director, pointed out,  
"Though a key promise made to pass the 2014 Water Bond was that it  
would not fund the BDCP, the administration has now indicated it does  
intend to take Prop. 1 funds for restoration to attempt to address the  
damage from over pumping the Delta, which the tunnels would compound."

The 12-page fact sheet confirms the contention of Barrigan-Parrilla  
and other tunnel opponents that the water bond will fund "restoration"  
to mitigate the environmental damage caused by the tunnels.

Page 1 of the document reveals that 1,000+acres out of the more than  
30,000 acres of "Delta Habitat Restoration and Protection" will be  
funded by Prop. 1 and Pro. 1E

The fact sheet states, "Various aquatic, riparian, and upland  
restoration and multi-benefit flood management projects will be  
supported by Proposition 1 and 1E."

The document also claims: "Proposition 1 funds and other state public  
dollars will be directed exclusively for public benefits unassociated  
with any regulatory compliance responsibilities."

New plan even worse than previous one

Bob Wright, senior counsel for Friends of the River, slammed the  
revised Bay Delta Conservation Plan also, saying that the new plan is  
"even worse" for people and the environment than previous one was.

“After 9 years and $250 million dollars, creating a stack of planning  
documents over 27 feet tall, the governor has admitted that the BDCP  
could not protect Delta species and therefore could not meet HCP and  
NCCP standards,” said Wright. “The BDCP, a plan that conserved  
little and would cost ratepayers and taxpayers over 25 Billion dollars  
to subsidize giant unsustainable agribusiness, is now even worse for  
the people, the environment, and sustainable water policies.”

Wright noted that the BDCP was previously designed as an HCP/NCCP to  
purportedly “…restore and protect ecosystem health, water supply,  
and water quality within a stable regulatory framework.” As an HCP/ 
NCCP, the BDCP was required to protect endangered species and prevent  
their decline.

“The plan has now shifted from a proposal to protect 56 Species, and  
over 100,000 acres of habitat, to a straight water grab that would  
take up to half of the freshwater from the north end of the Delta,”  
added Barrigan-Parrilla. “The governor plans to do an end-run around  
the public, the federal agencies that flunked the project, and the  
Legislature, with a fast-tracked section 7 process for permitting the  
tunnels. Under section 7, the project only needs to mitigate for  
direct project impacts, and does not have to meet a recovery  
standard.”

“The tunnels would create permanent drought conditions in the Delta  
by diverting up to half of the freshwater flows, which will increase  
salinity intrusion into the Delta and help push several species to  
extinction,” Barrigan-Parrilla said.

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

Tunnel fiasco part of a larger pattern

The recent abandonment of the pretense of "restoration" and  
"conservation" under the BCCP is part of a larger pattern by the Brown  
administration, a regime that has pushed some of the most anti-fish  
and anti-environmental policies of any administration in California  
history. This is a huge story that the mainstream media and much of  
the alternative media have failed to cover. (http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/30452-the-extinction-governor-rips-the-green-mask-off-his-tunnels-plan 
)

The Brown administration, in collaboration with the Obama  
administration, has presided over record water exports out of the  
Delta and record deaths of Sacramento splittail and other species in  
2011; the collapse of Delta smelt and other fish species to record low  
levels in 2014 and 2015; the death of 95 percent of endangered winter  
run Chinook salmon in low, warm water conditions in 2014; the creation  
of questionable "marine protected areas" created under the helm of a  
Big Oil lobbyist; and the clearcutting of forests in the Sierra Nevada.

Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe,  
said the water bond, peripheral tunnels, Shasta Dam raise and other  
water projects now being planned by the state and federal governments  
are in in reality "one Big Project" that will destroy salmon, rivers  
and groundwater supplies. (http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/27216-chief-caleen-sisk-it-s-all-one-big-project 
)

“It does not make sense that people are separating the water puzzle  
into individual pieces, such as: the raising of Shasta Dam,  
Proposition 1, the Delta tunnels, BDCP, Sites Reservoir, Temperance  
Flat, CALFED, Delta Vision, BDCP, OCAP, the Bay Delta, Trinity/Klamath  
Rivers, the Sacramento River, the San Joaquin River, and water  
rights," said Chief Sisk. "It is all one BIG Project."

Meanwhile, the mainstream media continues to portray Brown as a  
"climate leader" and "green energy" guru when in fact he is a strong  
proponent of neoliberal carbon trading policies and the expansion of  
the environmentally devastating practice of fracking in California. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/us/california-governor-orders-new-target-for-emissions-cuts.html?_r=0 
)
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/05/01/18771746.php
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