[env-trinity] UPDATED: Governor Claims Tunnels Are 'Absolutely Necessary' At California Water Agency Event

[Dan Bacher]

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/14/1469954/-Governor-Claims-Tunnels-Are-Absolutely-Necessary-At-California-Water-Agency-Event

Photo Credit: Joe McHugh, California Highway Patrol


Governor Claims Tunnels Are Absolutely Necessary at California Water  
Agency Event


by Dan Bacher

In comments after his address at the “CA Water 2.0 event” sponsored by  
the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) today in  
Sacramento, Governor Jerry Brown described the controversial Delta  
Tunnels plan as “absolutely necessary” for California’s future and  
dismissed the growing number of project critics as a “small group of  
people who absolutely hate it.”


On his way  out of the Sacramento Convention Center after he made his  
presentation, Brown dismissed the notion that the project is being  
built as part of his “legacy” as Governor.

“Some of the people, particularly some of the press, think this is  
some kind of legacy or pet project. It has nothing to do with that,”  
Brown said.

“The only reason I'm working on this is I believe — and the scientists  
and engineers that I've spoken to say — it's absolutely necessary for  
California's future. And that's why I'm working on it,” said Brown.

“And although there are  a small group of people who absolutely hate  
it, I know they're not right. We'll keep going forward and we'll get  
it done,” the Governor concluded.

During his address, Governor Jerry Brown promoted “conveyance” —  
building the twin water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River  
Water Delta — as one of the key actions needed under the California  
Water Action Plan to “solve” the state's water and ecosystem problems  
as the population grows.

“Our climate is rapidly changing, our population is growing and more  
extreme weather looms on the horizon. Now is not the time to shirk  
from responsibility,” said Governor Brown. “Storage or conveyance  
alone will not solve all of our problems. Recycling, groundwater  
management and conservation, individually, won't get us there either.  
It will take all of the above. We must think differently and act  
boldly -- and that's exactly what California is doing.”

”California now has 39 million people,” he emphasized. “That’s a  
fraction of the people that were here for 10,000 years. Not only are  
there 39 million people, but they own 32 million cars that use 18  
billion gallons of gasoline and 4 billion gallons of diesel that  
create greenhouse gases and pollution.”

To further the co-equal goals of ecosystem restoration and water  
supply for this growing population, Brown said the current water  
infrastructure is “outdated” and needs to be modernized.  “We have to  
build things and make them work,” he said.

He and his staff touted the 10 "primary actions" that the  
administration has taken and is continuing to take to address the  
“challenges” of  uncertain water supplies, drought, water quality,  
habitat loss, flooding and climate change, and to deliver a “more  
reliable water supply.”

Developing “a more reliable and sustainable” water supply in the  
Delta” is primary action #3.

“In April, state and federal officials announced California WaterFix  
and California EcoRestore to meet the goals of water supply  
reliability and habitat restoration in the Delta. The purpose of  
California WaterFix is to end the current pattern of reversed water  
flows in the Delta caused by water pumps. EcoRestore is the state’s  
plan for restoring at least 30,000 acres of habitat,” according to the  
Governors Office.

The other actions include “making water conservation a way of life in  
California; increasing self-reliance and integrating water management  
across levels of government; protecting habitat for fish and wildlife;  
preparing for more frequent and severe droughts; delivering safe water  
for everyone; increasing flood protection; efficiently operating the  
State Water and Central Valley projects; and seeking new water  
resources funding sources.”

For the complete list of actions, go to: www.gov.ca.gov/…

Delta opponents: Californians don't like project and Governor knows it

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta  
(RTD), challenged the Governor’s comment that the tunnels opponents  
are a “small group of people.”

“There were over 30,000 comments against the California Water Fix  
submitted to the state and federal water agencies challenging the  
tunnels project’s EIR by the end of October,” she said. “While 30,000  
people is a small number in terms of California’s total population, it  
is a huge amount for opposition to a project that with no public  
meetings or transparency. The numbers of people opposing the Delta  
Tunnels are growing daily. Californians don’t like the project and the  
Governor knows it,” she said.

The coalition opposing the tunnels includes a diverse group of family  
farmers, Delta residents, Indian Tribe leaders, recreational anglers,  
commercial fishermen, businesspeople and elected officials, including  
Members of Congress.

“There is not one credible environmental group that supports the  
project; the only one that backs the tunnels is Jerry Meral’s Natural  
Heritage Institute,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.

She also criticized the Governor’s claim that $100 million has already  
been spent on the Delta Tunnels, “as if that is an accomplishment.”

“Spending a lot of money isn’t much of an accomplishment if you are re- 
proposing a project that still cannot meet the standards required  
under the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act,” she said.  
“Federal and state agencies will still be required to approve it  
before any construction begins, and the EPA has already given the  
latest version of the Tunnels a thumbs down.”

Barrigan-Parrilla also addressed comments by Mark Cowin, Director of  
the California Department of Water Resources, who claimed the Tunnels  
could be used on a day like today, even though outflows have been less  
in the past few weeks than during the drought due to so much pumping.

“How will the Delta ever recover if freshwaters are never allowed to  
flow through it, even in rainy seasons?” she asked.

“Clean water standards would not ever be met for the 4 million people  
who live, work, farm, recreate and drink water from the Delta.  In  
addition, CA Water Fix documents show that the new pumps would  
decimate salmon smolts, so what the Governor is proposing is to save  
smelt while decimating our iconic salmon runs,” Barrigan-Parrilla  
concluded.

Congressmembers ask Brown for detailed accounting of how $3.6 million  
for tunnels would be used

As the Governor was speaking at the conference, six Northern  
California Congressmembers released a letter they sent to Brown asking  
for a detailed accounting of the $3.6 million allocated for  
incorporation of the California Water Fix into the Delta Plan.  
Congressmembers Jerry McNerney, Jared Huffman, Mark DeSaulnier, John  
Garamendi, Mike Thompson, and Doris Matsui signed the letter.

“We would like to know how the $3.6 million will be used and would  
appreciate a more detailed discussion with your administration as to  
why budgetary funding was deemed necessary for the regulatory review  
of the WaterFix tunnels at this time,” they wrote.

“Because the WaterFix tunnels has not received the state or federal  
permits to begin construction and there remains serious concerns about  
the design, efficacy, and cost of the tunnels, we believe assigning  
resources is premature and inappropriate,” they said.

The letter also stated that the funding could be “better spent on  
other solutions,” noting that if the tunnels are constructed  “not a  
single drop of new water will be added to California’s Water Supply.”

You can read the full letter at: drive.google.com/...

The language at issue in Brown's proposed budget is located on page  
107 in the pdf:

"Update of the Delta Plan—An increase of $3.6 million General Fund for  
the Delta Stewardship Council to implement the Delta Science Plan and  
incorporate the WaterFix Delta conveyance project into the Delta  
Plan." (www.ebudget.ca.gov)

  Tunnels threaten salmon, Delta smelt and other fish species

Tunnels opponents say the project would hasten the extinction of  
imperiled Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead,  
Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as  
well as imperil the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity  
and Klamath rivers.

Delta advocates point out that some species may become extinct even  
before Brown has a chance to build his “legacy” project, the Delta  
Tunnels, due to abysmal state and federal government water management  
policies.

Fish species ranging from endangered Delta smelt to striped bass  
continued to plummet to record low population levels in 2015,  
according to the annual fall midwater trawl survey results released by  
the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) on December 18.

Only 6 Delta smelt, an endangered species that once numbered in the  
millions and was the most abundant fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin  
River Delta, were collected at the index stations in the estuary this  
fall. The 2015 index (7), a relative number of abundance, “is the  
lowest in history,” said Sara Finstad, an environmental scientist for  
the CDFW’s Bay Delta Region.

Likewise, longfin smelt, a cousin of the Delta smelt, declined to the  
lowest abundance index (4) in the history of the survey. Only 3  
longfin smelt were collected at the index stations throughout the  
three-month period. For more information, go to: www.dailykos.com/...




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20160114/a105ba0d/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: acwa1.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 152503 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20160114/a105ba0d/attachment.jpg>