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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Calif.
lawmakers reject hurdle for delta canal</span></b><b><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Sacramento
Bee-4/27/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By
Samantha Young<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>California lawmakers on
Tuesday rejected a bill that would have required the Legislature to approve or
deny plans for a canal that routes water around the delta, sidestepping a
dispute over who will have the final word.</span></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><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>At issue is whether the
state could one day sign off on a proposed canal now being studied by Southern
California water contractors and farmers who want to divert Sacramento River
water around the delta. The Schwarzenegger administration has said it doesn't
need the Legislature's blessing to approve a canal as part of the state's
sprawling water delivery network.<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'>Assemblyman Jared Huffman,
D-San Rafael, said lawmakers can intervene at any point. <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'>"If the
administration or anyone else proposes a facility as big as what some are
pushing for ... I think it would require legislative approval right now,"
said Huffman, who chairs the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.<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 committee killed the
bill by Democratic Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, D-Lodi, after Huffman gave
assurances that he and other lawmakers already intend to scrutinize any plan
that calls for a canal or tunnel to bypass 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'>A maze of rivers, islands
and sloughs where mountain runoff collects before spilling into San Francisco
Bay, the delta supplies drinking water to some 25 million Californians and
irrigation water to thousands of acres.<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'>Water contractors say a
canal or tunnel could ensure future water deliveries to Southern California and
Central Valley farmers, which have been curtailed in recent years because of
drought and federal pumping restrictions in the delta to protect threatened
fish.<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'>Huber, who represents a
district in the delta, has argued that a canal would siphon fresh water out of
the delta, making it too salty for farmers, native fish and other species that
rely on the estuary. She said the Assembly's failure to act on her bill leaves
unclear who has the final say over any new facility that diverts water from the
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'>"I would rather avoid
the lawsuit that you have to have to find that out," Huber said after the
vote. "The governor says they have the authority and the Legislature says
they don'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'>The Legislature last year
created the Delta Stewardship Council to draft a comprehensive plan to manage
the delta as part of a sweeping $11.1 billion bond package that will go before
voters in November. That plan must include a canal if one is approved by state
wildlife and water agencies and it doesn't violate other state statutes that
protect wildlife. Otherwise, the council could reject it.<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'>Critics say the
seven-member council - of whom the majority are appointees of the governor -
has too much power. The law does not mention any legislative approval for a
canal, even though Huffman and other lawmakers say any large project would come
before them.<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'>Estimates for building a
canal around the delta range as high as $9 billion, while an underground
pipeline could cost as much as $11.7 billion, according to the Department of
Water Resources.<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>
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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>
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href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
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