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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Yolo County ranch's sale of water prompts
lawsuit threat<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Sacramento Bee – 12/29/08<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:14.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By Mary Lynne Vellinga </span></b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
owners of the vast Conaway Ranch in Yolo County this year sold much of its
annual allotment of water to an irrigation district in Central California
– prompting the threat of a lawsuit by environmental groups.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Yolo
County leaders who two years ago were in court trying to seize control of
Conaway through eminent domain are keeping a wary eye on what its private
owners are doing. The county dropped its lawsuit in exchange for greater
assurances that the land would not be developed, and that its ample supply of
Sacramento River water would not be sold out to outside interests.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Conaway
Ranch is unusual in the region for its large size, proximity to downtown
Sacramento and habitat for myriad waterfowl species. Much of the ranch lies in
the Yolo Bypass flood area. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"The
good news is I haven't seen any real material changes on the ground; they're
still farming it," said Supervisor Mike McGowan, who led the eminent
domain charge. "I'm not ecstatic about the water transfers," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Tovey
Giezentanner, a spokesman for the Conaway ownership group, emphasized that the
sale of 12,000 acre-feet of water to the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water
Authority was for one year only. The county was first given a right to
negotiate to buy the water, in compliance with the terms of the court
settlement, he said. When the county demurred, and the water was sold, Conaway
paid Yolo a 2 percent fee on the $2 million sale.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Conaway
is owned by the Conaway Preservation Group, which is led by Sacramento developer
Steve Gidaro and includes other prominent Sacramento developers and builders.
Their purchase of the 17,300-acre property for $60 million in 2004 stoked
suspicion that a plan to build on the ranch and sell off its 50,000 acre-feet
of Sacramento River water would be forthcoming. An acre-foot of water covers 1
acre a foot deep, enough to supply an average family of five for a year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
land was previously owned by National Gas and Energy Transmission, a successor
to PG&E Properties.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Conaway
Preservation Group has insisted it wants to preserve Conaway – a place
where some of its members enjoy hunting ducks – and make money from its
attributes as farmland, habitat and flood basin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Giezentanner
said the ownership group has pursued that strategy since the county dropped its
lawsuit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"We've
been hard at work trying to do the right thing," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>For
instance, Giezentanner said, Conaway is negotiating with the city of Davis to
use part of the ranch as a disposal site for the city's treated wastewater,
which would be used to irrigate crops that would be fed to animals.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
city of Davis faces a state requirement that it upgrade its sewage treatment
plant, which could cost $200 million.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Maintaining
the current level of treatment but disposing of the water on Conaway –
rather than into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta – could be a much
cheaper option.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Davis
Public Works director Bob Weir said the Davis plant discharges about 5.6
million gallons of treated sewage per day, which now winds up in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The city plans to go before the Central Valley
Regional Water Quality Control Board in early February to discuss the
possibility of using Conaway instead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"The
regional board is interested in promoting the use of recycled water, and
they're also supportive of looking at regional wastewater solutions," Weir
said. "We believe this meets both of those objectives."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>He
noted, "Our treatment plant is right next to Conaway."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Giezentanner
said Conaway is discussing a similar agreement to handle sewage from Woodland.
In addition, the ranch is viewed as a possible long-term supplier of water to
Davis and Woodland.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
settlement agreement that ended the county's eminent domain lawsuit contains no
guarantees that Conaway's water will remain in Yolo – or even in the
Sacramento region. It merely gives the county the right to negotiate for the
water before it is sold, and requires Conaway to pay a fee to the county if it
sells the water somewhere else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Much
of Conaway Ranch is used for rice farming, a water-intensive crop. Still, the
ranch is an efficient user of water due to a closed drainage system, and it
usually does not draw its full allocation, Giezantanner said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>This
year, the ranch sold about 12,000 acre-feet of water, he said. In order to make
the water available, about 1,000 acres of rice fields were fallowed, and 500
converted to crops that don't require as much water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>On
Dec. 16, the Butte Environmental Council and the Center for Biological
Diversity filed a notice that they plan to sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for allowing the transfer. The groups
contend the review by the wildlife service did not adequately determine the
effect of the water transfers on the endangered giant garter snake, which
relies on rice fields for habitat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Leaders
of the two groups said water transfers from north to south are becoming an
increasingly significant issue after two years of drought and increasing
demands on the state's water supply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"Our concern is with the
giant garter snake and the habitat," said Lisa Belenky, senior attorney
for the San Francisco-based Center for Biological Diversity. "Most of this
area was wetlands originally, and it was converted to cropland. The rice crop
is more similar to native wetlands, so it was able to be a substitute habitat
for species."</span><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JCT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a> </span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
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