<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel" xmlns:p="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint" xmlns:a="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:access" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882" xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" xmlns:b="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:publisher" xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet" xmlns:c="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:component:spreadsheet" xmlns:oa="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:q="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:D="DAV:" xmlns:x2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2003/xml" xmlns:ois="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/ois/" xmlns:dir="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/directory/" xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:dsp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dsp" xmlns:udc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:sub="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/2002/1/alerts/" xmlns:ec="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#" xmlns:sp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" xmlns:sps="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:udcxf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/xmlfile" xmlns:st="" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PostalCode"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PersonName"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:windowtext;
font-weight:bold;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Time
Seeping Out For Drainage Debacle? State Regulators Give 90 Days to Act on
Half-Century Old Environmental Problem<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on"><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>California</span></font></b></st1:State></st1:place><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
font-weight:bold'> Progress Report – 11/10/08<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>By Traci
Sheehan<br>
Executive Director<br>
Planning and Conservation League<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'><br>
Fifty years after the Westlands Water District began irrigating
drainage-impaired lands in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
causing massive accumulation of toxic selenium and other salts in the soils and
drainage water, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Board)
has taken action to address the ongoing pollution problem. In a letter last
week, the Board gave the water district 90 days to file for a waste discharge
permit and present a plan for cleaning up the soils that have been building up
salts and toxins for decades. <br>
<br>
While federal officials knew that providing water to Westlands from the Delta
and Northern California would aggravate the naturally occurring salt-loading
problems on the west side of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
the Federal Bureau of Reclamation pushed forward with the irrigation project.
As a result, the Westlands area is one of the largest, most heavily subsidized,
and profitable agribusiness regions in the world as well as one of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>'s worst
environmental legacies. <br>
<br>
The hard clay soils on the west side of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
are naturally impermeable, preventing water and salts from seeping into the
earth. In many places in the area, the water table is no more than five feet
from the surface of the ground. Toxics and salts from the imported irrigation
water mix with the groundwater, compromising crop root systems - a problem
people in the business refer to as "drainage impairment." <br>
<br>
The Board's letter reminds Westlands that discharging toxic laden water is a
violation of laws protecting the state's surface and groundwater. We're pleased
to see the Board treating the drainage situation as a serious problem and hope
their actions mark a turning point in efforts to clean up the area.<br>
<br>
<i><span style='font-style:italic'>Traci Sheehan is the Executive Director of
the <a href="http://www.pcl.org/" title="http://www.pcl.org/"><font
color="#1f3080" title="http://www.pcl.org/"><span title="http://www.pcl.org/"><span
style='color:#1F3080;text-decoration:none'>Planning and Conservation League</span></span></font></a>,
a statewide, nonprofit lobbying organization. For more than thirty years, PCL
has fought to develop a body of environmental laws in <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>
that is the best in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United
States</st1:country-region></st1:place>. PCL staff review virtually every
environmental bill that comes before the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>
Legislature each year. It has testified in support or opposition of thousands
of bills to strengthen California's environmental laws and fight off rollbacks
of environmental protections.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></font></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>
<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>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> Leydecker, JCT</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a>
(secondary)</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="http://fotr.org">http://fotr.org</a>
</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>