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<p align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:"Geneva","serif";color:black'>Westlands hordes surplus water while
fish die and unemployed farm workers beg for food and work <br>
<br>
</span></b><b><span style='font-family:"Geneva","serif";color:black'>CSPA calls
for investigation into surplus water by Westlands and others<br>
Delta standards continue to be violated</span></b><span style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Geneva","serif";
color:black'>Stockton, CA - Wednesday, August 19, 2009. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Geneva","serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Geneva","serif";
color:black'>As broadcast and print media report heart-rendering stories about
Westlands Water District having to fallow fields thus putting people out of
work and placing farms in jeopardy because of a lack of water, the District has
been squirreling away surplus water it can't use. The California
Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) has discovered a Westlands' information
bulletin dated 23 July 2009 revealing that the giant irrigation district has
been hiding considerable carryover storage from last year and is adding even
more this year. CSPA is calling for an investigation into Westlands'
surplus water and possible surplus water hidden away by other water districts. <br>
<br>
At the end of 2008, Westlands had some 233,998 acre-feet (AF) of water stored
in other facilities that it didn't need. Some 93,700 AF of that stored
water was used through June 2009. However, the export pumping
restrictions caused by the Delta Smelt Biological Opinion ended 30 June and the
State and Federal Projects have ramped up pumping. Westlands has made
firm commitments to acquire 141,522 AF of supplemental water and is requesting
additional supplies. Consequently, Westlands staff projects that the
District will end the water year with approximately 275,000 AF of water it is
unable to use. <br>
<br>
CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings said, “The idea that Westlands
Water District has been hording surplus water it can't use while farm workers
have been paid to hold vocal protests around the Central Valley accusing
Congressman George Miller and federal agencies of starving farmers in order to
protect Delta smelt is outrageous.” “Perhaps Congressmen
Devin Nunes and Dennis Cardoza can use their influence to persuade Westlands to
share some of their stored water wealth to benefit those less fortunate,”
he said, adding “clearly an investigation is needed to see who else might
be hording surplus water.”<br>
<br>
The bulletin also points out that the Banks pumping plant of the State Water
Project has been pumping about 1,000 AF of Central Valley Project daily.
Of course use of the “Joint Point of Diversion” (JPOD) is illegal
and violates D-1641, the State Water Resource Control Board's (State Board)
order implementing the Bay-Delta Plan. D-1641 explicitly prohibits use of JPOD
when south Delta salinity standards are being violated. Presently
the running 30-day average for electrical conductivity, the measure of
salinity, at Old River near Tracy is 1.02 umhos/cm. The water quality
standard for this period is 0.7 umhos/cm to protect Delta agriculture.
South Delta salinity standards have been continually violated the last seven
months.<br>
<br>
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and California Department of Water
Resources (DWR) have been ignoring the Cease & Deist Order issued by the
State Board in 2006 for violation of south Delta salinity standards.
Recently, they requested an extension of the compliance schedule for that Cease
& Deist Order beyond the 1 July 2009 deadline. CSPA was a party in
the June 2009 State Board evidentiary hearing regarding the DWR/USBR request.
Even though the State Board declared in 2006 they would not again extend the
compliance schedule, they are expected to shortly issue a decision extending
the schedule and excusing past violations. CSPA is prepared to sue over
the Board's continued refusal to enforce the Cease & Desist Order.
However, the prohibition against using JPOD while standards are violated was
neither raised nor discussed in that hearing. <br>
<br>
Earlier this year, the State Board held hearings to consider a relaxation of
Delta outflow standards because they were being violated. While April
rains eliminated the need for relaxed standards the Board refused to penalize
the USBR and DWR for violating existing standards. In June, the USBR
acknowledged that Vernalis flows were only about 59% of required flow.
Again, the State Board took no action. Water quality standards in the
southern Delta have been consistently exceeded since last December. <br>
<br>
Jennings observed that, “the State Board continues to look the other way
as virtually all of the standards protecting the Delta and its collapsing
fisheries are ignored and DWR and USBR violate the law in order to supply
Westlands with water they can't use.”<br>
<br>
CSPA remains concerned about the plight of unemployed farm workers, even as we
note that data from the California Economic Development Department and annual
reports from County Agricultural Commissioners reveal that both farm labor
employment and the value of agricultural production has increased in the seven
south-of-Delta counties over the course of the drought.<br>
__________________________________________________________________<br>
CSPA is a non-profit public benefit conservation and research organization
established in 1983 for the purpose of conserving, restoring, and enhancing the
state's water quality and fishery resources and their aquatic ecosystems and
riparian habitats. CSPA's website is: <a href="http://www.calsport.org">www.calsport.org</a>.</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><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><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>
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