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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Delta
panel must be conflict-free<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Sacramento
Bee-4/7/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Editorial</span></b><span
style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In his short story
"Harrison Bergeron," the writer Kurt Vonnegut described a dystopian
society where the strong had to wear body weights and the beautiful had to don
face masks. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This is the situation
facing California's new Delta Stewardship Council, which, as originally
envisioned, was supposed to be a powerful voice for the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Created last year by
lawmakers as part of their water reform deal, the Delta Stewardship Council has
the twin mission of restoring Delta habitat while also ensuring that water
reliability is a "co-equal" goal. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Yet to meet this mandate,
a strong Delta Stewardship Council would need to have a stable source of
funding, created by assessing fees on water users. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It doesn't. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It would have a board
relatively unencumbered by conflicts of interest. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It doesn't. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>By design, lawmakers and
water interests that want to retain control over Delta decisions have ensured
that the Delta council will be handicapped by body weights, with little
independence or autonomy. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The council's immediate
challenge is Gloria Gray of Inglewood. On her way out of the Assembly speaker's
office, Karen Bass used her appointment to the council to select Gray, a board
member of the West Basin Municipal Water District, a Los Angeles County water
agency. Gray has a clear conflict of interest. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>How can she represent a
Southern California water district that depends on the Delta for its supplies
and also enforce the co-equal goal of protecting the Delta? It a clear
violation of the law. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Despite an opinion
confirming her conflict by the Legislative Counsel, Gray still hasn't said if
she will resign from either the West Basin water district or the stewardship
council. If she were wise, she'd follow the example of Phil Isenberg, who ended
his relationship with his Sacramento lobbying firm when Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger appointed him to the Delta panel. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Environmentalists are
heated up over another appointee to the council – Richard Roos-Collins,
an attorney who works for the Natural Heritage Institute – but on this
score, there is more smoke than fire. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Roos-Collins is clearly
qualified to serve on the council, and in that role, he will be a strong
advocate for restoring the Delta and assessing all options for water reliability.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The stewardship council
has much work ahead of it, especially with the body weights lawmakers have left
it with. The sooner it has a sitting membership free of conflicts and
manufactured controversy, the better off it will be. <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><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/fax (call first to fax)</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
mobile</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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