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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>My View: New canal would not help the
'ailing' Delta<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>The
Sacramento Bee – 4/7/09<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:14.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Commentary by Mark Wilson </span></b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Mark Wilson co-manages
Wilson Farms and Vineyards in the Clarksburg District of the Delta. He served
on the Stakeholders' Advisory Group to the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force
and was appointed by the governor to the Delta Protection Commission in January
2008 as an agricultural production representative.</span></i><span
style='font-size:14.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><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
recent Viewpoint by Jeffrey Knightlinger of the Metropolitan Water District and
the Northern California Water Association's Donn Zea ("Canal would help
ailing Delta to recover," March 20), purporting a consensus around a peripheral
canal as a means to "help the Delta to recover," and former MWD
executive Timothy Quinn's letter ("Delta left out of climate
scenario," March 20) present a one-sided view of a multifaceted situation
that affects Delta residents and the entire state.<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'>From
co-managing a family farming operation in the Delta that dates back to 1922, I
am gravely concerned that the plans being made to benefit water exporters would
negatively impact the people, economy, natural resources and ecology of the
Delta.<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'>George
Orwell would grimace at the claim that a canal built through five tributary
rivers to the Delta, thousands of acres of prime farmland, a national wildlife
refuge, American Indian burial sites, migratory corridors and other sensitive
resources, and that significantly reduces freshwater inflow into the Delta
somehow helps the Delta. A canal does not create any new water and is first and
foremost a new northern diversion point for those with contractual rights to
Delta 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'>The
canal would secure better-quality water for out-of-watershed users and
potentially avoid some of the endangered species problems plaguing the pumping
of water from the south Delta. Yet this would be accomplished at the expense of
the Delta watershed and long-standing beneficial uses.<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'>While
new intakes south of Sacramento would decrease intake of Delta smelt at the
current pumps, the potential effects caused at the new diversion points are
unknown. What other species may be affected by the new diversions? What effects
will the resulting changes in water quality and hydrology have on existing
natural and human communities in Northern California and the Delta?<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
reference to "isolation of a recovering ecosystem from the movement of the
water supply" as some kind of favor to the Delta is self-serving. A canal
does nothing to address the underlying problems caused by the vast distance
between most of our state's surface water supply and the bulk of water demand
to the south.<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'>Some
may point to the benefits of the tens of thousands of acres of habitat
"restoration" that is another element of the Bay Delta Conservation
(peripheral canal) Plan. Creating new marshes on working farms and other
landscapes is a disruptive and dangerous experiment, not good science.<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'>Little
is known, about the effectiveness of these activities to avoid, minimize or
mitigate take of listed species like the coho salmon and Delta smelt, which is
what a habitat conservation plan is supposed to do. And what about the
destruction of existing habitats when new habitat is constructed? Pointing to
restoration projects of little known benefit that will certainly harm existing
ecosystems and economies is also a farce.<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'>We
need to address a host of problems, including rising sea levels, seismic risks,
water pollution and invasive species, while protecting endangered species,
improving water quality within the Delta, sustaining agricultural economies
within and outside of the Delta, all while providing a sustainable water supply
to a growing population. It is no small task, and has been called a
"wicked" problem.<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'>To
address these challenges, we need an "all hands on deck" approach. We
need a process that respects all interests and draws on the entire body of
available knowledge.<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'>As a
participant in the various processes, I can attest that substantive in-Delta
concerns have been treated primarily as an outreach issue. Surprisingly, the
Bay Delta Conservation Plan is not a collaborative process built on consensus
as one might expect, given the massive support for watershed-based planning
that emerged from the CalFED process.<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'>Despite
the well-known fact that the best way to protect endangered species would be to
reduce water exports, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan's only real core
component is, and always has been, the canal. Serious consideration of water
use efficiency and conservation, alternative supplies such as desalination,
wastewater re-use, rainwater collection, groundwater banking, conjunctive use
and additional storage south of the Delta are all apparently being relegated to
the EIR alternative analysis, where there is little chance they will become
project elements.<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'>Calling
a canal a help to the Delta is illogical doublespeak and should be rejected, as
it was in 1982. The Delta is more than the state's plumbing system. Though not
in a purely natural state, it hosts an incredible variety of ecosystems as well
as vibrant human communities. We all need to be part of the conversation about
conservation of this unique place on earth while continuing to supply at least
some of the water needed by our agricultural and urban neighbors to the south.
We all must do more to conserve water, protect water quality and respect the
myriad species that depend on the Delta for survival.<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'>It
is obvious that the biggest loser in the current plan will be the Delta itself.
In the short term, this may meet the needs of the water exporters, but in the
long term we will all lose because the so-called solutions are neither
comprehensive nor sustainable. We can and should do better. #<o:p></o:p></span></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><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>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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