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<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Media
Contact:<U></U><U></U></SPAN></I></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Nancy Vogel, <A
href="tel:%28916%29%20651-7512" target=_blank value="+19166517512">(916)
651-7512</A><U></U><U></U></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><A
href="mailto:nancy.vogel@water.ca.gov"
target=_blank>nancy.vogel@water.ca.gov</A><U></U><U></U></SPAN></I></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt">Brown Administration Releases Draft Statewide
Economic Report of Costs, Benefits of Bay Delta Conservation
Plan<U></U><U></U></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt">Report Shows Overall Net Benefits of Roughly $5
Billion; More than 500,000 Jobs Tied to Reliability of Delta Water
Supplies<U></U><U></U></SPAN></I></P></TD></TR>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A new economic analysis of
the costs and benefits of Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s plan to revitalize
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem and stabilize water deliveries
shows a net benefit to California residents of $4.8 billion to $5.4
billion statewide.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>Key findings of the analysis
include:<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P><U></U><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: symbol"><SPAN>·<SPAN
style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><U></U><SPAN>creation of 177,000 construction- and
habitat restoration-related jobs in the Delta, resulting in $11 billion in
additional employee compensation;<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P><U></U><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: symbol"><SPAN>·<SPAN
style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><U></U><SPAN>avoidance of water shortages that could
cost over 1 million jobs in counties that depend upon Delta water;
and<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P><U></U><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: symbol"><SPAN>·<SPAN
style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><U></U><SPAN>a net increase in statewide economic
activity of $84 billion over 50 years, even after factoring in the effects
of paying for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan
(BDCP).<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P><U></U><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: symbol"><SPAN>·<SPAN
style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><U></U><SPAN>increased hiking, birding, boating, and
other recreation in the Delta;<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P><U></U><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: symbol"><SPAN>·<SPAN
style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><U></U><SPAN>reduced emissions of greenhouse gases
<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>All of these benefits are anticipated over the
50-year duration of the BDCP. <U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>At the request of the California Department of
Water Resources, The Brattle Group and ICF International examined a
variety of economic impacts of the BDCP. The plan seeks the
conservation of 57 different Delta wildlife and plant species. It is
an application to federal and state wildlife agencies to permit the
continued operation of the Delta-based Central Valley Project (CVP) and
State Water Project (SWP) under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the
California Natural Community Conservation Planning Act. Those water
projects supply two-thirds of California’s population with at least some
of their water supply and provide water to irrigate 3 million acres of
farmland in the Central Valley.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>No regulation requires such a statewide economic
analysis, but it is part of the extensive economic research undertaken by
the state to design the plan, weigh its economic impacts, inform the
public, and help guide policymakers. The report released Monday is draft
and may be revised based upon public comments.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>The conservation plan includes 145,000 acres of
habitat restoration and protection in the Delta and construction of three
new intakes and two tunnels to divert water supplies in ways less harmful
to native fish species than possible with the current water project
infrastructure. The plan seeks to achieve the dual goals defined by
the California Legislature in the Delta Reform Act of 2009: provide
a more reliable water supply for California and protect, restore, and
enhance the Delta ecosystem.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>The economic study, available <U><A
href="http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/Libraries/Dynamic_Document_Library/Draft_BDCP_Statewide_Economic_Impact_Report_8-5-13.sflb.ashx"
target=_blank>here</A></U>, concludes that implementation of the $25
billion conservation plan is a worthy investment for the water districts
in the Santa Clara Valley, Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, and Southern
California that would pay 68 percent of the costs. It finds both
positive and negative impacts in the Delta, but far larger statewide
benefits from implementing the plan.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>“This report compares California’s economic
outcomes under the BDCP to the conditions we can expect without BDCP,”
said California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird. “The result
is clear: Achieving the water supply reliability goal of the BDCP is
crucial to California’s economic future. But what cannot be
quantified in an economic analysis like this is equally important.
By safeguarding and enhancing the fish and wildlife of the largest estuary
on the West Coast, we act in the interest of all Californians to
come.”<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>Impacts to the largely agricultural Delta region
are significant in terms of temporary, construction-related air pollution
and traffic delays and the loss of farm jobs as land is converted to tidal
wetlands and other habitat. An estimated 37,000 farm jobs could be
lost as habitat restoration is implemented, according to the economic
analysis. The economic cost of traffic disruption is estimated at
$53 million to $79 million over a nine-year construction period. The
study also predicts that the total costs of changes in regional air
quality will range up to $16 million.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>Overall changes in salinity in Delta waterways
due to implementation of the BDCP is expected to cost $1.86 million per
year in farm revenues – a decline of less than one-half of one percent of
total annual farm revenues in the Delta.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>The biggest economic stimulus of the conservation
plan would be centered in the Delta. The Delta would be home to an
estimated 110,600 construction jobs (over 7.5 years), 11,300 operations
and maintenance jobs (over 40 years), and 55,800 jobs related to
restoration (over 50 years). (A job is defined in the economic
analysis as a position equivalent to one full-time worker for an entire
year.)<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>Measures to protect, restore, and enhance
wildlife habitat are expected to provide a net increase to boating,
picnicking, wildlife viewing, waterfowl hunting, fishing, and other
recreational activities, with net economic benefits estimated at $222
million to $370 million over a 50-year period.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>One of 22 conservation measures described in the
BDCP involves building three new intakes along the Sacramento River near
Hood and twin 35-mile-long tunnels to carry water to the existing SWP and
CVP pumping plants in the south Delta near Tracy. The new northern
intakes would be screened to protect juvenile salmon and other passing
fish species. Use of the new intakes would allow water project
operators to reduce pumping in the south Delta, where reverse flows in
nearby channels can directly entrain and disorient
fish.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>The new water delivery system proposed by the
conservation plan would also help safeguard water deliveries in the event
Delta levees were breached by flood, earthquake, or other
forces.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>“Because the ultimate economic benefits of the
BDCP depend on factors that cannot be known with certainty (e.g., demand
growth, future hydrology, future regulations, climate change), an exact
quantification of the direct benefits of the BDCP is elusive,” states the
economic analysis. “Nonetheless, given the available evidence, two
conclusions seem certain. First, the BDCP will result in substantial
net benefits to the water contractors that rely on the Delta for at least
a portion of their water supplies. Second, implementing the BDCP
will reduce a range of risks that are of great consequence to the
public. These risks include the vulnerability to floods or
earthquakes in the Delta region that may disrupt water exports for an
unknown period of time; gradual, long-term sea level rise that could
progressively restrict Delta water exports unless mitigating action is
taken; and an increasingly strict regulatory environment under the state
and federal Endangered Species Acts that could further restrict exports
from the Delta.”<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>Among the key assumptions made in the economic
analysis is that operational components that may be implemented as part of
the conservation plan to help native fish species recover – including
higher seasonal flows to the ocean – may be imposed by federal and state
wildlife agencies even if the conservation plan is not implemented.
The imposition of such regulations on the current delivery system would
significantly reduce the water supplies that could be provided south of
the Delta.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>Additional economic analysis may be found in
Chapter 8, “Implementation Costs and Funding Sources,” and Chapter 9,
“Alternatives to Take,” of the administrative draft conservation
plan. Chapter 9 analyzes alternative ways to avoid harm to
endangered species. The entire conservation plan was posted <U><A
href="http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/Library/DocumentsLandingPage.aspx"
target=_blank>here</A></U> this spring to give the public ample time for
review before an official public review draft is released this
fall.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>Proponents of the plan also have posted an
administrative draft Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Impact
Statement (EIR/EIS). The 20,000-page document analyzes 15 plan
alternatives. Most involve new water intakes, canals, or tunnels of
varying capacities to divert water from the Sacramento River in the north
Delta.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN>A robust public participation process, including
in-Delta office hours, educational workshops, and formal public comment
hearings, will accompany the release of the public review draft of the
plan and EIR/EIS this fall.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></P></TD></TR>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt"><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P></TD></TR>
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<TD>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><I><SPAN>For
more information about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, please visit
</SPAN></I><A href="http://www.baydeltaconservationplan.com"
target=_blank><I><SPAN>www.baydeltaconservationplan.com</SPAN></I></A><I><SPAN>.<U></U><U></U></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN><U></U><U></U></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center>###<U></U><U></U></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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