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<h1 align=left style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:left;
background:white'><span style='font-size:19.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:#053C63'>Fighting for water<o:p></o:p></span></h1>

<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><span style='font-size:10.5pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>California's battle should at
least be fought in public, not behind closed doors<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span class=by><span
style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'>By </span></span><span
class=byline1><span style='font-size:9.0pt'>The Record</span></span><span
style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'>September 22, 2010 12:00 AM<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>To the
absolute surprise of no one who has paid attention, participants in the
so-called Bay Delta Conservation Plan have been meeting behind closed doors
conjuring a plan highly unlikely to conserve any Delta.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>In
November, the group - which includes not one representative from the Delta
region - is expected to issue a report calling for construction of a system of
ditches or tunnels to bypass the Delta, sending more and more water south.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>In
California, whiskey's for drinkin' and water's for fightin' over, in words
widely attributed to Mark Twain. And while the fight certainly is on over Delta
water, the fix also seems to be in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>Lame-duck
governor and Southern California resident Arnold Schwarzenegger favors what he
calls a "conveyance system" around the Delta to quench the thirsty
south state as well as the water needs of south Valley farmers. Such a system
adds not a drop of water to the system but would severely cut flows through the
fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>Some
politicians, especially in this season of voter discontent, have framed the
issue as a choice between jobs and fish. That's a nice sound bite but is hardly
nuanced enough to get at the need to protect the largest freshwater estuary in
the Western United States. The Delta needs protecting, not just for the fish
that call it home, but also to protect against saltwater intrusion that
threatens this entire region. Talk about job losses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>A
conveyance system - aka a peripheral canal - would cost billions of dollars. At
last check, the state didn't have billions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>State
legislative leaders pulled an expensive and controversial water bond measure
off the Nov. 2 ballot, sensing voter outrage over government spending,
especially at a time Sacramento politicians have yet to fashion a state budget.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>That
bond was part of a package of five water bills also hatched in secret without
meaningful input from Delta region representatives but with considerable help
from south state water and south Valley farming interests.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>That's
not fair, of course, but fairness has a lot less to do with politics than
votes, and there are a lot of votes south of the Tehachapi Mountains, among
whose residents a knowledge of and an appreciation for the Delta might be
described as lacking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>"We
think these processes should include the people who are affected. ... It's
about our water, it's about our region, and it's about our land use,"
state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, said in a letter protesting the secrecy
surrounding the DCP's work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>We
could not agree more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=articlegraf style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>We know
there's going to be a fight over water. This is California. That's what we do.
But, at least, let's fight it out in public.<o:p></o:p></span></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;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#948A54'>Byron Leydecker, JcT<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#948A54'>Chair, Friends of Trinity River<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#948A54'>PO Box 2327<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#948A54'>Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#948A54'>415 383 4810 land/fax<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#948A54'>415 519 4810 mobile<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#4F81BD'>bwl3@comcast.net <o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#4F81BD'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org <o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#4F81BD'>http://www.fotr.org<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>

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