<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:31.5pt;
font-size:27.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#111111;}
h2
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 2 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:26.25pt;
font-size:20.5pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#111111;}
h4
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 4 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:15.75pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#111111;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoAcetate, li.MsoAcetate, div.MsoAcetate
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Balloon Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:windowtext;
font-weight:bold;}
span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#111111;
font-weight:bold;}
span.Heading2Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 2 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 2";
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#111111;
font-weight:bold;}
span.Heading4Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 4 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 4";
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#111111;
font-weight:bold;}
span.yahoobuzzbadge1
{mso-style-name:yahoobuzzbadge1;}
span.txtresizetoolheading4
{mso-style-name:txtresizetoolheading4;
color:#555555;
text-transform:uppercase;
font-weight:bold;}
span.byline5
{mso-style-name:byline5;
color:#697A85;}
span.fbconnectbuttontext11
{mso-style-name:fbconnectbutton_text11;}
span.fbsharecountinner5
{mso-style-name:fb_share_count_inner5;
background:#E8EBF2;}
span.BalloonTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Balloon Text Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Balloon Text";
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:825438505;
mso-list-template-ids:1820866514;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level1 lfo1
{mso-level-start-at:0;
mso-level-numbering:continue;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=WordSection1>
<h1 style='line-height:21.0pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:19.5pt;
color:#34486C'>Westlands Water investigation sought <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h2 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:13.5pt' id="story_subheadline"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#34486C;font-weight:normal'>Tainted drainage
water is moving, activists say.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h4 style='margin-bottom:3.75pt;line-height:10.5pt'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:#697A85;font-weight:normal'>Posted at 07:45 PM on
Friday, Oct. 15, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><span class=byline5><b><span
lang=EN style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>By Mark Grossi
/ The Fresno Bee</span></b></span><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#697A85'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<h4 style='mso-margin-top-alt:7.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:18.0pt;color:#272627;display:none;font-weight:normal'>River's
flow to ocean strong sign for San Joaquin rebirth <o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:17.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#272627;
display:none'>On the Valley's west side near Los Banos, something strange is
happening this summer in the San Joaquin River -- water. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:17.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#272627;
display:none'>The river has continued to flow to the Pacific Ocean throughout
the first summer after an ambitious restoration effort began, sending a
powerful signal about the project's potential for success. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:17.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#272627;
display:none'>This end of the river has been dry in summer since Friant Dam was
finished in the late 1940s. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in;
line-height:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#34486C'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h4 style='mso-margin-top-alt:7.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:18.0pt;color:#272627;display:none;font-weight:normal'>Kings
River park puts danger within floaters' reach <o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:17.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#272627;
display:none'>Floating the Kings River on an inflatable raft or inner tube with
nothing but a swimsuit, sunglasses and cooler of beer is a summertime
tradition. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:17.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#272627;
display:none'>But head upriver a few miles, closer to the foothills, and the
Lower Kings takes on a different character. The current quickens with the gain
in elevation, creating sections of rapids and navigational hazards. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:13.5pt;background:#EEEEEE'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:17.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#272627;
display:none'>Floaters unprepared for this kind of trip should steer clear of a
new launch facility just above the Highway 180 bridge, authorities and
experienced boaters say. They'll get more than the lazy, carefree ride they
bargained for. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>Calling for a state investigation, water activists say tainted
irrigation drainage from Westlands Water District is moving undetected into the
San Joaquin River.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>The nonprofit California Water Impact Network says underground
drainage in Westlands is migrating slowly downhill to neighboring farmland,
where subsurface drainage is captured and sent to the river.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>"We'd like to know how much Westlands contributes,"
said Tom Stokely of the water network. "We think it might be
significant."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>Westlands officials say the activists are wrong, adding that the
district has a history of trapped underground drainage that does not move.
Officials said they welcome the scrutiny.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>The activists' request for the state study came Thursday, just
days after the state approved a nine-year extension on a drainage cleanup
program for the neighboring farmland that sends some drainage into the river. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>Farmers on 97,000 acres downslope from Westlands have been
dramatically reducing drainage contaminants for many years in the Grassland
Bypass Project. The activist network, based in Santa Barbara, opposed the
extension and is considering legal action against it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>Activists say the farm drainage in the Grassland project makes
the San Joaquin exceed the standard for a natural element called selenium,
which is toxic to wildlife in high doses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>The contamination spreads downstream to the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta, where dwindling fish species suffer, activists say.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>Westlands was painted as an environmental villain in the 1980s
when biologists discovered high concentrations of selenium had killed and
maimed wildlife at evaporation ponds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>The selenium-laced water had been drained from beneath Westlands
fields. The underground geology in parts of Westlands traps the bad water,
which must be captured in perforated pipes and removed or it will poison the
land.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>After the wildlife disaster in the 1980s, the ponds were closed
and thousands of acres were taken out of production. But a lot of drainage
remains trapped. For years, the district has been involved in legal action
against the federal government to dispose of the bad water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>Even though Westland's fields are upslope from the Grasslands
Bypass Project, the water could only migrate very slowly over centuries, said
Westlands general manager Tom Birmingham.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:7.5pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:13.5pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#272627'>"The state has studied this type of claim against the
district many times before and has rejected them," Birmingham said.
"We think it's a good idea to put this ridiculous assertion to rest."</span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><br>
<br>
Read more: <a
href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/15/2120000/westlands-water-investigation.html#ixzz12kcIeSVX"><span
style='color:#003399'>http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/15/2120000/westlands-water-investigation.html#ixzz12kcIeSVX</span></a></span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#272627'><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><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</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>
</div>
</body>
</html>