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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>State
report's recipe for a restored delta: More water <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>S.F.
Chronicle-7/27/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By Zeke
Grader<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Opinion <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><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Zeke Grader is
Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
</span></b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Experience has taught me
to live by the old Russian proverb, "Hope for the best but expect the
worst." This is a particularly sound strategy for politics, where ideal
outcomes are seldom realized. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Sometimes, though, I'm
pleasantly surprised -- something good emerges from unexpected quarters. That's
the case with a recent science-based report from the staff of the State Water
Board that identifies the real culprit in the collapse of the Sacramento/San
Joaquin Delta: excessive exports of fresh water.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>For decades, California's
water barons - mainly corporate agriculture operators in the western San
Joaquin Valley - have called the shots in the state capitol, and the water has
flowed to them in lavish amounts.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Farmers from other
regions, urban residents, California salmon and the people who depend on salmon
for their livelihoods have all suffered from this grossly inequitable
distribution. Most pointedly, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta - in conjunction
with San Francisco Bay, the biggest and richest estuary on the west coast of
the Americas - is teetering on collapse because of fresh water diversions to
"Westside" agribusiness bigwigs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>So the Water Board's
report was deeply appreciated (indeed it was somewhat unexpected given two
earlier flow recommendations made by the board during the past two decades were
suppressed at the behest of Westside growers). It provides some hope for our
devastated Bay-Delta estuary, struggling Delta farmers, our beleaguered salmon
and the impoverished fishing communities along the North Coast.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>For years, Big Ag has
tried to obfuscate the issue with pie charts and graphs that "show"
the Delta's collapse is pegged to invasive species, urban run-off, leaky sewage
pipes - everything except water exports. The State Water Board's report rebuts
this duplicitous drivel clearly and simply: Delta restoration will require 75
percent of the water that typically flows down the Sacramento River and San
Joaquin River watersheds. This will mean reducing water exports by half.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Big Ag already is
squawking, deeming the report a "theoretical exercise" that has no
bearing in the real world. Such strictures, they claim, would devastate family
farms. To that I say -- well, horse manure.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Most "farms" of
the western San Joaquin are massive agribusiness complexes that churn out
megatons of federally-subsidized crops with subsidized water. Years ago, a
friend of mine observed that "the welfare queens have nothing on the cotton
kings" when it comes to swilling at the public trough. It was true then,
and it's true now. Water use in the western San Joaquin Valley is extravagant -
to a large degree, unregulated. Improving water use efficiency and employing
better crop strategies would allow agribusiness to accommodate itself to the
new and necessary reality.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>On the other hand, there
are family farms in the Delta - small holdings passed from generation to
generation. They have been decimated by the relentless exporting of their water
to the imperious barons of the Southland. And the same is true for our salmon
fishermen. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>They have been ruined by
years of fishing closures. And these closures, it must be noted, were driven by
low salmon numbers caused by - you guessed it - water diversions. North Coast
communities that were prosperous with family-wage fishing jobs a decade ago now
struggle to hold on to even minimum-wage jobs - all so the water barons can
continue to pump cash into their already engorged coffers.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Finally, we need to scotch
the Big Lie that Big Ag and their minions are spreading about the likely
impacts of the Water Board report. They're already saying California cities
will face apocalyptic water shortages if flows to the south state are reduced.
I have to admire their gall even while I despise their reflexive mendacity.
California's cities account for only 20 percent of the state's water use. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Moreover, our cities have
led the way in improving water use efficiency and developing sustainable
sources for water, including wastewater recycling, desalinization plants - even
cisterns. California's agribusiness colossus, on the other hand, accounts for
80 percent of state water use and has done relatively little to improve use
efficiency, instead expending its energy and funds on relentless lobbying in
Sacramento and Washington.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Where do we go from here?
The Water Board has stepped up and done the right thing, and we must back them
up. One thing we can do is return the Kern Water Bank to public ownership. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>This massive water bank
was developed with public funds. But after an abstruse sweetheart deal, it
ended up in the hands of Beverly Hills billionaire and Central Valley corporate
farmer Stuart Resnick. With the Kern Water Bank reclaimed as a public asset, we
will have made a big step toward the fair and responsible management of state
water.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>We should also demand that
the state's junior water rights holders - including giant Westside farming
entities such as the Westlands Water District - take their rightful place in
line for water. By legal precedent, they should be the first to endure cuts in
water deliveries. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Taxpayers subsidize water
deliveries to Westlands. Meanwhile, their biggest crop - tomatoes - is a glut
on the market. Seventy-five percent of their second-biggest crop - almonds - is
shipped overseas and the biggest chunk goes to China. I would like to note
parenthetically that there is no surplus of wild salmon. It is in high demand
in domestic markets, selling for around $20 a pound.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Adding injury to insult,
the irrigation of Westland's selenium-rich lands has led to the contamination
of state waterways. Selenium is a dire threat to wildlife and fisheries, and
Westlands is the primary engine for its dissemination in Delta waters. It's bad
enough that Westlands is making obscene profits at taxpayer expense - but it's
an outrage that we're paying them to poison us.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></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</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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