<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: Verdana; "><div><a href="http://www.fishsniffer.com/forums/content.php?r=198">http://www.fishsniffer.com/forums/content.php?r=198</a></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>Magic Kingdom Meets Water Barons' Sleight-of-Hand </span><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">by Dan Bacher </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">A trip to Disneyland is always fun, right? </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">Maybe not... that's if you have to listen to a comedian/grower, southern California water agency hacks and others talk about the need to export more water from the California Delta at the expense of imperiled Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt and other fish populations by building a peripheral canal and new dams. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">"On May 14, you could take a working vacation to attend the 3rd Annual OC (Orange County) Water Summit at the Grand Californian Hotel at the Disneyland Resort," quipped Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">The event, entitled "Capture the Flow," is sponsored by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). "California continues to confront significant challenges to its water future – an outdated water system, severe water supply shortages due to drought, and regulatory restrictions on water deliveries," the event's press release proclaims. "Our water delivery system was built a generation ago to meet the needs of 16 million people – it now strains to meet the needs of 38 million. Business owners, policy makers, and community leaders need information and resources to continue to thrive." (<a href="http://www.acwa.com/events/2010-orance-county-water-summit-capture-flow"><font color="#19345c" style="color: #19345c"><u>http://www.acwa.com/events/2010-orance-county-water-summit-capture-flow</u></font></a>) </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">The speakers are Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez; Paul Rodriguez ("actor, comedian, and water activist"); Joel Kotkin, author of "The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050"; Robert Boller, Vice President of Sustainability for Kendall-Jackson Winery; and Curt Schmute ("expert on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta"). </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">"Mr. Schmute acquired his expertise on the Delta as the Principal Engineer and Water Resources Manager for Metropolitan Water District," said Barrigan-Parrilla. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">"The cost is $125," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "Of course, you might not want to pay $125 to hear Paul Rodriguez tell you why agribusiness needs more water." </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">Rodriguez, a comedian and San Joaquin Valley fruit grower, is the spokesperson for the Latino Water Coalition, an astroturf group serving as a front for corporate agribusiness. The group was formed at the suggestion of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during a meeting with agribusiness interests. The group has relentlessly lobbied for a peripheral canal and new dams and more water exports for the San Joaquin Valley's Corporate Welfare Queens. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">In a bizzare incident last week, Rodriguez claimed that Schwarzenegger had appointed him to the California Water Commission, a claim that Schwarzenegger denied. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">"When Paul Rodriguez announced last week, prematurely, that he had been appointed to the California Water Commission, he may have inadvertently tipped off environmentalist and Senate Democrats to get ready for battle," according to Malcolm Maclachlan in the Capitol Weekly (<a href="http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=ytltxbaky694ql&xid=ytjvqjzz05x81o&done=.ytltxbaky6x4ql"><font color="#19345c" style="color: #19345c"><u>http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=ytltxbaky694ql&xid=ytjvqjzz05x81o&done=.ytltxbaky6x4ql</u></font></a>). </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#111111" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #111111">For more information about the Latino Water Coalition, read Lloyd Carter's excellent article: <a href="http://www.lloydgcarter.com/content/090629251_the-pr-firm-from-hell"><font color="#19345c" style="color: #19345c"><u>http://www.lloydgcarter.com/content/090629251_the-pr-firm-from-hell</u></font></a>. More information is also available at: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=California_Latino_Water_Coalition"><font color="#19345c" style="color: #19345c"><u>http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=California_Latino_Water_Coalition</u></font></a>.</font></div></body></html>