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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:3.75pt;
margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:3.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:10.5pt'><st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black;font-weight:bold'>California</span></font></b></st1:place></st1:State><b><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:black;font-weight:bold'>'s water woes in 2005<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:3.75pt;
margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:3.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=1 color="#666666" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#666666;font-weight:bold'>Posted by <a
href="http://gristmill.grist.org/user/Lloyd%20Carter"><font color="#336699"><span
style='color:#336699'>Lloyd Carter</span></font></a> at 9:26 AM on 22 Dec 2005 <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Like <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Old</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Man</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType>, another year has rolled by in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s water world
and, as usual, things have gotten worse. The year started with recurring news
reports of the continuing decline of several critical fish species in the
Bay-Delta Estuary, which is also the source of drinking water for 23 million
Californians.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Then in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina last summer came sobering news that the fragile Delta levee
system near <st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City> and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Stockton</st1:place></st1:City> could collapse in a major earthquake
or a horrendous storm event, causing massive destruction and loss of life.
Undeterred, developers proposed another 100,000 homes in the Delta region -- </span></font></b><b><i><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>below</span></font></i></b><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'> the levees!<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Last month the state's
Little <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hoover</st1:place></st1:City>
Commission released <a href="http://lhc.ca.gov/lhcdir/183/report183.pdf"><font
color="#336699"><span style='color:#336699'>a report</span></font></a> (PDF)
criticizing "CALFED," the consortium of state and federal agencies
created in 1994 to "solve" the problems of the Delta. More than a
decade and $3 billion later, the Little <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hoover</st1:place></st1:City>
Commission report notes CALFED has little to claim in the way of improvements
for the Delta or the state's water problems.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><a
name=readmore></a><b><font size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;
font-weight:bold'>"Frustration with CALFED is warranted," the
commission told Gov. Schwarzenegger and the legislature in a November 17 public
letter. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:11.25pt;
margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:22.5pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:140%;
background:whitesmoke'><b><font size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;
font-weight:bold'>[T]he winds of Hurricane Katrina have reached California --
blowing out the flicker of confidence that officials had in the ability of
Delta levees to withstand earthquakes, rising sea levels and inevitable winter
floods. Some $3 billion have been spent trying to fix the Delta. But the Delta
smelt that some consider to be the estuary's coal mine canary are even harder
to find than stakeholders who are willing to put up their own money to continue
funding CALFED.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>The fundamental
problem, in my view, is that the two primary agencies in CALFED, the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) and the California Department of Water Resources
(DWR), have spent the last several decades building a water-delivery system
primarily for agribusiness, and they still act like it's the 1960s. Other
agencies in CALFED, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, and the California Department of Fish and Game add window
dressing to CALFED's prestige, but rarely have the final say.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Thus, while the Delta
fishery is collapsing, the Bureau and DWR are both pushing </span></font></b><b><i><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>increased</span></font></i></b><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'> exports from the
Delta -- as much as 25 percent more.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>And the Bureau, in a
process occurring outside the CALFED framework, wants to provide Westlands
Water District in the western San Joaquin Valley a 25-year water contract (with
a virtually automatic 25-year renewal clause) for over one million acre-feet of
water. An acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons and will meet the domestic
needs of two families of five for a year. In other words, the 400 growers in
Westlands will get enough water to meet the needs of a city of 10 million
people.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>This massive amount of
water apparently will be provided even though the 600,000-acre Westlands has
unsolvable drainage problems caused by the trace element selenium and plans to
take as much as 200,000 acres out of production. Westlands drainage water
containing selenium poisoned the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge more than
20 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Even more amazing, the
Bureau wants to build another Kesterson evaporation pond facility -- three
times larger than the original one -- for Westlands' 400 growers, at a cost of
nearly $1 billion. Bureau officials claim birds will be protected, but don't
say how. State and federal scientists are incredulous. Again, this scheme is
being proposed outside the CALFED process.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>DWR, meanwhile, is
promoting the water interests (both irrigation and selling water) of big
growers and water marketers in the Tulare Basin of the southern San Joaquin
Valley, including cotton billionaire J.G. Boswell and Beverly Hills billionaire
Stewart Resnick, who has been buying tens of thousands of acres of farmland and
jumped into water marketing.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>In my view, <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s water
crisis will never be solved as long as these two agencies -- who see their
mission as providing all the water agribusiness wants -- continue to call the
shots. <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> has more than two million
acres of farmland planted with crops subsidized by American taxpayers (cotton,
rice, corn, grains), using water subsidized by <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> taxpayers. Even the conservative
Heritage Foundation decries this massive waste of public funds and precious
water.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Meanwhile, urban water
system infrastructures throughout <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
continue to decay. Underground drinking water pipelines and deteriorating
wastewater lines in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City>
alone will cause $4 billion to repair. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
farm towns report recurring problems with drinking-water quality.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Will the governator
take charge? After two years in office, he has yet to give a speech on or show
any interest in water issues. His staffers hint he will mention water in his
State of the State message early next year. A mention isn't going to change
anything.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>With <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s population estimated to reach
46 million in the next few decades, water use clearly will shift away from
agriculture to cities and growth. The agricultural <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType>, which
is poorer than <st1:place w:st="on">Appalachia</st1:place>, is expected to add
five million people by the year 2050. Who will profit from this shift of water?<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Thanks to state and
federal laws passed in 1992, irrigation districts and individual growers are
now free to sell their cheap irrigation supplies at retail market prices. In
other words, growers can buy water from these two agencies at $10 to $100 an
acre-foot and sell it to <st1:place w:st="on">Southern California</st1:place>
developers for $600 an acre-foot. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>Which is why smart
growers know that water is the new cash crop.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>What will become of
the Little <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hoover</st1:place></st1:City>
Commission report? What will become of cries for repairing the Delta levees?
Don't hold your breath. The public generally doesn't care about water issues
unless the water poisons them or drowns them, as Katrina proved. Hard water
decisions are the third rail of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
politics.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:3.75pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:3.75pt;line-height:140%'><b><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
140%;font-family:Verdana;color:#333333;font-weight:bold'>My guess? The report
is likely to gather dust on a shelf until <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s version of Katrina hits.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><b><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-weight:
bold'>Byron Leydecker</span></font></i></b></em></st1:PersonName><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-weight:bold'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></span></font></i></b></em><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-weight:bold'>Advisor, California Trout,
Inc</span></font></i></b></em><b><span style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><b><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray;font-weight:bold'>PO Box</span></font></i></b></em></st1:Street><em><b><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray;font-weight:bold'>
2327</span></font></i></b></em></st1:address><b><span style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><b><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray;font-weight:bold'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></b></em></st1:City><em><b><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray;font-weight:bold'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></b></em></st1:place><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-weight:bold'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></b></em><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-weight:bold'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></b></em><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></b></em><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></b></em><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></b></em><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><b><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-weight:bold'>http:www.caltrout.org</span></font></u><font
color=lime><span style='color:lime'> </span></font></i></b></em><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
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