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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think Mr. Salazar is right on.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tom Stokely<BR>Water Policy
Coordinator<BR>California Water Impact Network<BR>504A Lennon St. (USPS and
UPS)<BR>Mt Shasta, CA 96067<BR>V/FAX 530-926-9727<BR>Cell 530-524-0315<BR><A
href="mailto:tstokely@att.net">tstokely@att.net</A><BR><A
href="http://www.c-win.org/">http://www.c-win.org/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Begin forwarded message:</DIV>
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<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000"
face=Helvetica color=#000000 size=3><B>From: </B></FONT><FONT
style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" face=Helvetica size=3>Brian Smith <<A
href="mailto:bsmith@earthjustice.org">bsmith@earthjustice.org</A>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000"
face=Helvetica color=#000000 size=3><B>Date: </B></FONT><FONT
style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" face=Helvetica size=3>September 9, 2009 3:52:49
PM PDT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000"
face=Helvetica color=#000000 size=3><B>To: </B></FONT><FONT
style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" face=Helvetica size=3>"David Nesmith (<A
href="mailto:dnesmith@ewccalifornia.org">dnesmith@ewccalifornia.org</A>)"
<<A
href="mailto:dnesmith@ewccalifornia.org">dnesmith@ewccalifornia.org</A>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000"
face=Helvetica color=#000000 size=3><B>Subject: </B></FONT><FONT
style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" face=Helvetica size=3><B>Salazar responds to WSJ
Editorial on smelt</B></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt"><B>Excerpt from Wall Street
Journal Letters to the Editor:</B></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">Your editorial "<A
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204731804574384731898375624.html"><FONT
color=#0000ff><U>California's Man-Made Drought</U></FONT></A>" (Sept. 2) about
the severe drought and water crisis in California argues that California's
water problems could be wished away if our nation were only willing to
sacrifice an endangered three-inch fish, turn on a few pumps to move water
from Northern California to the Central Valley, and wave a magic wand. The
trouble is: The fish are a sliver of the problem, the pumps are already on,
and pointed fingers can't make it rain.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">California's water crisis is
far more troubling than your editorial suggests. The state is in its third
year of a devastating drought, caused by a lack of precipitation. In
California's Central Valley, where half the nation's produce is grown, many
farms and fields are bone dry, unemployment has surged, and the state's
inadequate water infrastructure<FONT face="Tahoma, sans-serif">—</FONT>built
50 years ago for a population half as large<FONT
face="Tahoma, sans-serif">—</FONT>cannot handle the stress. Moreover,
California's Bay Delta, upon which 25 million Californians depend for drinking
water, is in a state of full environmental collapse.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">As a proposed response, your
editorial asks the Obama administration to ignore science and convene a
so-called "God Squad" that would override protections on watersheds and turn
California's water crisis over to the courts. Trying to force more water out
of a dying system will only cause more human tragedy, while diverting
attention from the governor and the legislature, who face a Sept. 11
legislative deadline to decide whether to fix the broken water system in
California after decades of neglect.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">Rather than more finger
pointing, we need real solutions. After eight years on the sidelines, the
federal government has stepped in to help. The Obama administration is
investing over $400 million through the president's economic recovery plan to
help modernize California's water infrastructure, including over $40 million
in emergency assistance to help water-short Central Valley farmers. We have
helped move record amounts of water to communities in most need and are taking
steps to prepare for a potential fourth year of drought. And perhaps most
importantly, the federal government is now engaging as a full partner in the
collaborative process that the governor launched two years ago to restore the
Bay Delta, and modernize the state's woefully outdated water infrastructure.
Though what we need most is rain and snow to fill the reservoirs, these
actions will help mitigate the devastating impact of the ongoing drought and
deliver help to the families and communities suffering most.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">This is the type of
locally-driven, solution-oriented, collaborative approach that we must all
support<FONT face="Tahoma, sans-serif">—</FONT>and to which we must all
contribute.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt"><B>Ken Salazar</B></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">Secretary of the
Interior</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt"><I>Washington</I></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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