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<h1><span style='color:black'>Viewpoints: Delta's bounty is a shared treasure
– except when greed cuts ahead in line<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>By <span
class=fn>Brett Baker</span><br>
<span class=org>Special to The Bee</span> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Published:
Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 5E <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Last Modified:
Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010 - 11:37 am<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=storybug><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Brett+Baker/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Brett Baker</span></a> holds a
degree in wildlife, fish and conservation biology from <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/UC+Davis/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>UC Davis</span></a> and divides his
timeworking on his family</span></b><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'>'</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>s farm and for Restore the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Delta </span></a>and the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Central+Delta+Water+Agency/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Central
Delta Water Agency.</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>My family has been farming in
the <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sacramento-San+Joaquin+River+Delta/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta</span></a> since 1851. The Sierra's
Gold Rush lured my ancestors to <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/California/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>California</span></a> – but the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta </span></a>made
them stay. Gold played out in a few years, but the resources of the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta </span></a>have
sustained our region of the state for over 150 years now. The rich soil and the
reliable flows of fresh, sweet water from the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sacramento/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Sacramento</span></a>
and San Joaquin rivers yielded a bounty of crops that brought prosperity to the
region's farmers and fed <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sacramento/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Sacramento</span></a> and the cities of the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Bay+Area/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";font-weight:normal'>Bay Area.</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>We're still at it today. I
represent the sixth generation of my family to farm the land on <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sutter+Island/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Sutter Island</span></a>
directly adjacent to Steamboat Slough. We continue to farm 30 acres of pears
and sell them at local farmers' markets and throughout the country. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Continuing my family's
160-year vocation is a tradition I hope to pass down to my own children. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>My business is farming, but my
education is in biology. I earned a degree in wildlife, fish and conservation
biology from the <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/University+of+California/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";font-weight:normal'>University
of California,</span></a> Davis, and spent summers working for my professor <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Peter+Moyle/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Peter Moyle.</span></a>
I went on to the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/California+Department+of+Fish+and+Game/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>California Department of Fish and Game</span></a> in the agency's <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Heritage+Wild+Trout+Program/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Heritage Wild Trout Program</span></a> and as an adviser to then Lt.
Gov. <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/John+Garamendi/"><span style='font-size:
11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>John
Garamendi</span></a> on water and agriculture issues. As a result, my perspective
on <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta </span></a>water
controversies is perhaps more nuanced than many. I don't view water as a
zero-sum game – we have enough for agriculture, our cities and our
fisheries. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>But I also think we have to change
the way our public water is distributed. We can't continue exporting in excess
of 7 million to 8 million acre-feet of <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta </span></a>water
a year, selling it at subsidized rates to a handful of corporate agribusiness
enterprises in the western <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/San+Joaquin+Valley/"><span style='font-size:
11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>San
Joaquin Valley.</span></a> This relentless hijacking of the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta'</span></a>s
water threatens the hundreds of <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/family+farmers/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>family farmers</span></a>
who cultivate the region's 750,000 acres of cropland, destroys our precious
salmon fisheries and actually undermines <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Southern+California/"><span style='font-size:
11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Southern
California's</span></a> urban reliance on the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta.</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>The <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta'</span></a>s
fisheries are in immediate and dire jeopardy. This affects more than the fish
– the <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/chinook+salmon/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";font-weight:normal'>chinook
salmon,</span></a> steelhead, <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Delta </span></a>smelt and other native fishes faced with extinction.
It is also devastating the families and small towns that depend on commercial
and sport fishing. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>For years,
"Westside" corporate farmers have claimed water exports are not the
primary cause of the <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Delta'</span></a>s ecological collapse. They have made the disingenuous
argument that fish don't need more water – instead, they blame the
decline on invasive species, urban run-off, agricultural chemicals and
inadequate sewage treatment – anything that might divert attention from
the impact the pumps continue to have on the system. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>I agree that all these factors
play a role in the <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta./"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Delta'</span></a>s struggling ecosystem, but they are all tied to
overpumping, which either causes them or makes them worse. Export pumping is by
far the biggest problem. This point was made explicitly in a recent staff
report from the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/California+Water+Resources+Control+Board/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>California Water Resources Control Board,</span></a> which concluded
water exports must be cut by half to allow sufficient freshwater flows necessary
for the survival of these critically <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/endangered+species/"><span style='font-size:
11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>endangered
species.</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>It's really that simple: If we
want to resuscitate our once-mighty salmon runs, we have to allow twice as much
water as is currently flowing through the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta.</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>In my opinion these flows
should be observed as part of the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta+Stewardship+Council/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Delta Stewardship Council's</span></a> Interim <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta+Plan/"><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:normal'>Delta Plan.</span></a>
Specific biological responses or target fish populations should be developed
and be observed before any additional conveyance structures are considered.
Should these flows elicit a favorable response, they should be considered as
part of any conservation measure by the <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Bay+Delta+Conservation+Plan/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Bay Delta Conservation Plan</span></a> (BDCP).<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Corporate farmers in the
western <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/San+Joaquin+Valley/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>San Joaquin Valley</span></a> are pillorying the water board report,
and this is understandable. They are obtaining taxpayer-subsidized water at
incredibly low rates, and they are selling much of it to south state cities at
enormously inflated prices. They understand their future is in marketing water
and building homes, not growing crops. Their interests are not the interests of
the people of <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/California/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>California,</span></a> including most farmers. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>The state Water <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Resources+Control+Board/"><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black;font-weight:
normal'>Resources Control Board's</span></a> staff report is founded on sound
science and consistent with previous state board findings. For example, the
1978 Water Right Decision 1485 on supplemental water calculations declares:
"To provide full mitigation of project impacts on all fishery species now
would require the virtual shutting down of the project export pumps."
Sadly, this report was shelved and never saw the light of day because of this
inconvenient truth. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Given the charged political
climate, we must commend the staffers who had the courage to support the data
instead of yielding to prevailing pressures. We need to stand behind
them– and we must do everything we can to ensure the flow recommendations
in the report are honored and given the consideration they deserve. <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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