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<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">My Opinion:</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">I think that as Manager and General Counsel of
Westlands Water District, Mr. Tom Birmingham would have been negligent if he
hadn't explored the water rights of this parcel before he recommended that his
Board of Directors approve the purchase.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Tom Stokely</DIV>
<DIV
style="MARGIN: 0px">**********************************************************************************************************</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">County loses out to Central Valley water district</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Daily Democrat</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">12/16/2007 10:02:39 AM PST</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">At Issue: Sale of 3,450-acre ranch in Yolo County to
'protect' Delta</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">smelt.<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><A
href="">http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ci_7737965?source=most_emailed</A></DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Our Opinion: Purchase of wetlands may protect wildlife
but it also means</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">lost opportunity for Yolo County.<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">That giant sucking sound you hear is Yolo County's
water headed south</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">into Fresno and Kings counties as a result of the
purchase by Westlands</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Water District of a 3,450-acre ranch in the Yolo Bypass
from farmer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Duncan McCormack.</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">The $12 million buy took county officials completely by
surprise. "I</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">first learned about it (Thursday) from a reporter,"
county spokeswoman</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Beth Gabor said Friday morning. "It was a private
transaction so (the</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">county has) no authority to weigh in, but we certainly
would have liked</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">the opportunity to communicate with (Westlands) before
the deal was</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">finalized."</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Westlands says it plans to convert portions of its new
property -</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">currently used for farming - to create habitat for
Delta smelt and</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">maintain the rest in agriculture. That sounds laudable
enough, but what</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">it also does is give the country's largest water
district access to</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">water flowing through the Yolo Bypass.</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">What's worrisome is that Westlands has been criticized
in the past by</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">environmentalists for straining water resources and
contributing to the</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Delta ecosystem's decline.</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Now Westland's general manger Tom Birmingham is saying
that "Saving the</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">smelt is an issue of self-preservation for most of
California.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Regulation of the state's water supply projects alone
hasn't worked, and</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">as a public agency with responsibility for providing
water for more than</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">500,000 acres of farmland, the District's Board of
Directors decided we</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">need to act directly to help solve a critical
problem."</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">By restoring fish habitat and increasing the number of
fish in the</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Delta, Westlands says it hopes to prevent further
water-supply cutbacks,</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">thereby decreasing the pressure on Delta water
users.</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Westlands encompasses more than 600,000 acres of
farmland in western</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Fresno and Kings counties and serves about 600
family-owned farms. The</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">purchase of Yolo Ranch comes as Westlands and other
major California</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">water agencies are negotiating a conservation plan to
meet new federal</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">environmental protection requirements. That plan could
include a new</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">method of moving water around and through the Delta,
and would require</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">ecosystem restoration projects similar to those
Westlands is proposing</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">for Yolo Ranch.</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Of course, Yolo County had an opportunity to preserve
its water supply</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">through the acquistion of Conaway Ranch and its
17,300-acre property</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">owned by the Conaway Preservation Group. That effort
was stopped by an</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">outcry over the county's threat of using eminent domain
and in September</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">2006 a deal was reached which left the property in the
hands of CPG,</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">which is now at work on a $214 million project would
work to enhance</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">threatened fish habitat.</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Fifty years ago, Yolo County lost out on having a
portion of control</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">over water coming from the new Lake Berryessa with the
construction of</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">the Moncticello Dam. About two years ago, the county
was stopped in its</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">efforts to secure water rights on the the 17,300-acre
Conaway Ranch.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Last week, the county lost out on an opportunity to
control 3,450-acre</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">McCormack property.</DIV>
<DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">When is our county and the people in it going to
recognize water is our</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">lifeblood and we must treat it like
gold?</DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>