<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 10pt; position: static; z-index: auto; "><div><br></div><div style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif; "><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><font size="2" face="Arial">----- Forwarded Message -----<br><b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Dan Bacher <<a href="mailto:danielbacher@fishsniffer.com">danielbacher@fishsniffer.com</a>><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> <br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, September 22, 2011 9:26
AM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Salazar admits peripheral canal could lead to more water exports <br></font><br><div id="yiv1662924558"><span class="yiv1662924558Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: Verdana; "><div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/09/21/salazar-admits-peripheral-canal-could-lead-to-more-water-exports/">http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/09/21/salazar-admits-peripheral-canal-could-lead-to-more-water-exports/</a></div><div><br class="yiv1662924558webkit-block-placeholder"></div>Photo of Ken Salazar courtesy of U.S. Department of Interior. <br></span> <br><img id="f98553fa-76d6-4616-a5d4-1371e0245dad" height="267" width="200" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:1.1035475243@web46210.mail.sp1.yahoo.com"><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:center;font:normal normal normal 10px/normal Verdana;color:rgb(17, 17, 17);min-height:12px;"><br></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:center;"><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#111111" style="font:10.0px Verdana;color:#111111;"><b>salazar_portrait_small.jpg</b></font></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;color:rgb(17, 17, 17);min-height:13px;"><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;">Salazar admits peripheral canal could lead to more water exports </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;">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;">The latest Restore the Delta newsletter (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://restorethedelta.org/1286"><font color="#17345c" style="color:#17345c;"><u>http://restorethedelta.org/1286</u></font></a>) states, "Salazar got so many things wrong about the Delta that it's hard to know where to start," in referring to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's remarks at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on September 19. </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;">I think that accurately summarizes Salazar's presentation on the Delta, a shameless promotion of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build a peripheral canal that former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the worst Governor in California history, would be proud of. </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 Bay Delta Conservation Plan is the most important – and most complex – long-term water and habitat management plan ever undertaken,” Salazar gushed. “The BDCP provides a comprehensive approach that includes new habitat for endangered fish species, coordinated measures to attack toxics that are fouling delta waters, and improvements to the state’s water infrastructure." </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;">However, in the question and answer period after his talk, Salazar revealed the true purpose of the BDCP and the
peripheral canal: to increase water exports. Salazar suggested the possibility of "extending" or "expanding" exports to accommodate a growing population. </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;">"He talked about working with others in Colorado to defeat a water grab there," according to Restore the Delta. "But in the Q&A session following his address, Salazar said building a new aqueduct around the Delta might increase the flexibility of water operations in such a way that it could lead to more water deliveries. Apparently he doesn't see any similarity between a water grab in Colorado and a water grab
in California." </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;">While claiming that Delta advocates' fears that the BDCP is a "water grab" were "unfounded," Salazar admitted that the "flexibility" of the new conveyance could lead to greater exports, in other words, to a "water grab!" If this isn't a classic case of political double-speak and cognitive dissonance, I don't know what is! (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_18929472?source=rss"><font color="#17345c" style="color:#17345c;"><u>http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_18929472?source=rss</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;">Venturing even further into the Theatre of Political Absurdity, Salazar claimed, "We're not taking shortcuts on the science" - while the overwhelming scientific evidence from federal, state and independent biologists points to the key role that Delta water exports play in the unprecedented decline of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail and other imperiled fish species. </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;">There is a direct correlation between fish declines and increases in water exports; to deny this is deny reality. It is impossible, now matter how much fake "habitat restoration" is done by the Obama and Brown administrations to greenwash the canal, to increase water exports to southern California water agencies and corporate agribusiness without seeing further fish declines. </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;">One of the most comical comments uttered by Salazar was, "We have to remain faithful to the open, collaborative and transparent process that brought the Bay Delta stakeholders together in the first place." </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;">Does Salazar live in a parallel universe or what? The BCDP process is one of the least "open, collaborative and transparent" government boondoggles that I've ever
encountered. </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 example, the BDCP "Management Committee" has completely excluded Delta residents, family farmers, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, California Indian Tribes, environmental justice communities and grassroots conservationists. What type of "open, collaborative and tranparent" process is this? </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;">Caleen Sisk-Franco, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu (McCloud River) Tribe, blasted Salazar as being a tool of big corporate interests - "big corporations' little thinkers." That's exactly what he is - a politician serving corporate agribusiness, southern California water agencies, development interests and water privateers such as Stewart Resnick, the owner of the giant Paramount Farms, not the people of California, fish or the environment. </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;">"So Salazar thinks this is the 'Granddaddy' of California water puzzles?" said Sisk-Franco. "This is just another example of big corporations' little thinkers influencing the top, who influence the law makers to do the wrong thing for most of the people and environment. We can't afford those kind of hair brained idiot mistakes now!" </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;">As Salazar spoke, one of the biggest fish kills in California history continued. The state and federal government agencies "salvaged" a total of
11,158,021 fish in the Delta water pumping facilities between January 1 and September 7, 2011, the result of record water exports. A horrific 8,985,009 Sacramento splittail, the largest number ever recorded, were salvaged during this period, according to Department of Fish and Game data (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/node/9352"><font color="#17345c" style="color:#17345c;"><u>http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/node/9352</u></font></a>). The salvage numbers also list 35,560 chinook salmon, 1,642 steelhead, 51 Delta smelt and 14 green sturgeon - all endangered or threatened species. </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 CalFed program mandated the construction of the state of the art fish screens a decade ago, but the screens have still not been installed. If they won't build these screens, do we we really expect them to comply with the laws protecting fish and environment if they build the canal? </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;">Rather than fast-tracking the construction of the peripheral canal, Salazar and his counterpart in the Brown administration, Natural Resources Secretary John Laird, should do something NOW to stop the
massive fish kill in the Delta pumps! </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 Salazar speech including the questions and answers is on iTunes: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-climate/id296762605"><font color="#17345c" style="color:#17345c;"><u>http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-climate/id296762605</u></font></a>. For more information about Restore the Delta, go to: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.restorethedelta.org/"><font color="#17345c" style="color:#17345c;"><u>http://www.restorethedelta.org</u></font></a>. </font></div></div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div><br></body></html>