<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Good Morning</span><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Here are four items for your weekend reading pleasure: The flyer for the Trinity River Bucket Brigade event at Lewiston Dam at noon on Saturday, August 24 (what a great idea!), my latest piece on the Westlands lawsuit against increased Trinity flows on fishsniffer.com, my commentary on the Mercury News website and on calitics about the long, strange saga of California's "Petro Princess," and finally, the "changed" plan to build the "Tunnels of Death" published on yuba.net (and the Sacramento Bee website).</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Have a great weekend!</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Thanks</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Dan </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font><img src="cid:90F9E7FF-81E6-429A-95C8-1665758A4946@local"><br></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 28px; "><br></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="#0014ee" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #0014ee"><a href="http://www.fishsniffer.com/blogs/details/order-against-trinity-river-high-flows-extended/"><u>http://www.fishsniffer.com/blogs/details/order-against-trinity-river-high-flows-extended/</u><u></u></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">Photo of Klamath fish kill, September 2002, courtesy of the Yurok Tribe.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 28px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div> <br><img src="cid:30F0BF23-4632-4B53-8479-96A2D00AE621@local"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: 18px; 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; line-height: 18px; 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; line-height: 18px; 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; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#111111" style="font: 10.0px Verdana; color: #111111"><b>fishkillclose_1.jpg</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; 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="6" color="#111111" style="font: 24.0px Verdana; color: #111111">Order against Trinity River high flows extended through August 21 </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">A federal judge in Fresno extended a controversial temporary restraining order to block a federal plan to increase water releases down the Trinity River, intended to avert a fish kill on the Klamath, through at least August 21. </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">Lawrence J. O’Neill, United States District Judge, put the burden of proof on the federal government in showing how the releases are needed - and set a hearing by the parties on August 21. </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 Westlands Water District and San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority filed the lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation alleging that the increased releases would cut water to west side San Joaquin Valley growers, resulting in "significant and irreparable harm." </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 Bureau and two intervenors - the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) - say the flows are necessary to prevent a fish kill like the one of September 2002, when over 78,000 salmon perished in the lower Klamath due to a disease outbreak spurred by low, warm water conditions. The fish kill resulted in severely limited Tribal and commercial fishing seasons. </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">"Both sides of this dispute represent significant public interests," wrote O'Neill. "Federal Defendants and Defendant Intervenors correctly point out that the federal government has invested large sums of money into the restoration of the fisheries in question. Yet, it is equally true that the government has and continues to invest in the long-term viability of agriculture in the Central Valley. Neither side holds veto power over the other. </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 Court finds that Plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits and the probability of irreparable harm that is not clearly outweighed by the equities on the other side. Accordingly, the TRO currently in force is extended..." concluded O'Neill. </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">On the day water releases began, the Hoopa Valley Tribe decried the court-ordered shut off of water - and followed up with a press release slamming the Westlands lawsuit on Wednesday. The Trinity River, the Klamath's largest tributary, flows through the Hoopa Valley Reservation in Humboldt County. </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">Scientists, federal officials and tribal leaders all say the water is needed now. But after issuing an order blocking the flow release until August 16, Judge O’Neill extended the order until at least August 21, according to the statement from the Tribe. </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">Hoopa Valley Tribal Chairwoman Danielle Vigil-Masten said, "I have received a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by Judge Lawrence J. O' Neill that has an adverse effect on the scheduled release of Trinity River water to advert a Klamath fish kill. This TRO contradicts almost 60 years of laws pertaining to the diversion of the Trinity River, which put the Hoopa Valley Tribal water rights and the Trinity fishery over the needs of Central Valley irrigators." </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 Tribe said they hope once the judge has the opportunity to review the scientific documents and history of the Trinity River diversions, he will lift the restraining order. They warn another catastrophic fish die off "will have political ramifications that could potentially hurt both the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and Klamath River Basin water talks." </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">At issue is the recent decision from the Department of Interior to release 62,000 acre feet of water from Trinity River reservoirs over the next six weeks to supplement low flows in the Klamath River to avoid a Klamath fish kill. "This action is overwhelming supported by the public, Tribes, fishermen, and the scientific community, who claim similar actions in prior years were effective in avoiding fisheries disasters," according to the Tribe. </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 Tribe emphasized that the TRO was issued despite the federal government’s briefings that stated, “Granting an injunction would result in immediate and irreparable injury to the public’s interest, including a significant risk of harm to fall-run salmon in the Klamath and Trinity River and, of special concern, the frustration of the government’s trust responsibility to the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes to restore their fisheries.” </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">Along with supporting the government’s temporary actions to avert a fish kill, the Hoopa Valley Tribe is asking for "long term solutions to the crisis in the Klamath and Trinity Rivers that reflect that most irrigators receiving water from the Klamath Basin are junior water right holders." </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">They say proposals such as Governor Jerry's Brown's Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreements would "actually take more water from the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, and elevate junior water right holders over Tribes." </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">Not only would construction of the peripheral tunnels hasten the extinction of Central Valley salmon and steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, but it would imperil salmon and steelhead runs on the Trinity and Klamath rivers. </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">“Central Valley water users have made untold billions of dollars at the expense of Trinity River salmon and communities. The greed and aggression represented by this lawsuit and the hypocrisy of the plaintiff’s exploitation of environmental protection laws both stuns and saddens us,” said Vigil Masten. </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">“But make no mistake,” she said. “If the injunction remains, then the Central Valley contractors’ attack on us, on who we are, on what we stand for, could launch a war for the Trinity that could engulf California from the Bay Delta Conservation Planning process to Klamath River Basin water settlement negotiations.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 28px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 15px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#0014ee" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #0014ee"><a href="http://www.calitics.com/diary/15170/ocean-fracking-is-no-surprise"><u>http://www.calitics.com/diary/15170/ocean-fracking-is-no-surprise</u><u></u></a></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 29px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="6" color="#37404e" style="font: 24.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">Ocean fracking is no surprise</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 29px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="6" color="#37404e" style="font: 24.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">'Petro Princess’ oversaw creation of marine protected areas</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">by Dan Bacher</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">The California Coastal Commission, under intense pressure from legislators and environmental activists, pledged yesterday at its meeting in Santa Cruz to investigate reports of fracking in ocean waters in the Santa Barbara Channel.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">"Blindsided by revelations of fracking in waters off the coast of California, the state's Coastal Commission on Thursday vowed an investigation into the controversial practice, including what powers the agency has to regulate it, “ according to the Associated Press. (<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23876202"><font color="#3b5d98" style="color: #3b5d98">http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23876202</font></a>)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">"Blindsided" by "relevations" of fracking? How can that be possible when the Coastal Commission and other state regulators failed to question the leadership role of a big oil lobbyist, the "Petroleum Princess," in the corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create alleged "marine protected areas?" </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">State officials and representatives of some corporate "environmental" NGOs shamelessly embraced Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, as a "marine guardian." </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">Reheis-Boyd, who lobbies relentlessly for increased fracking in California, the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the evisceration of environmental laws, served as the CHAIR of the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California. She also served on the MLPA task forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">She oversaw the creation of questionable "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from fracking and oil drilling, pollution, military testing, wind and wave energy projects and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">I'm glad that the Commission is calling for an investigation of offshore fracking now. However, where were they when grassroots environmentalists, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, Tribal members and advocates of transparency in government were calling for an investigation of conflicts of interest, corruption and the violation of state, federal and international laws under the privately-funded MLPA Initiative?</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">"We take our obligation to protect the marine environment very seriously and we will be looking at this very carefully," claimed Charles Lester, executive director of the Coastal Commission.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><font face="Verdana" size="4" color="#37404e" style="font: 13.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">If the Commission wants to really show that they take their obligation “very seriously,” they must call for an independent and thorough investigation of the conflicts of interest, corruption and violation of laws under the MLPA Initiative, starting with Reheis-Boyd’s role in creating so-called “marine reserves” that fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution and all other human impacts on our coastal waters than sustainable fishing and gathering!</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><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 more information about the MLPA Initiative, go to: <a href="http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-five-inconvenient-truths-about-the-mlpa-initiative/"><font color="#19345c" style="color: #19345c"><u>http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-five-inconvenient-truths-about-the-mlpa-initiative/</u></font></a></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(55, 64, 78); min-height: 16px; "><br></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="#0014ee" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #0014ee"><a href="http://yubanet.com/california/Dan-Bacher-The-39-changed-39-Delta-tunnel-plan-like-the-Owens-Valley-again.php"><u>http://yubanet.com/california/Dan-Bacher-The-39-changed-39-Delta-tunnel-plan-like-the-Owens-Valley-again.php</u><u></u></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">Photo of Natural Resources Secretary John Laird courtesy of the California Department of Natural Resources. </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 Helvetica; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 14px; "><br></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; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div> <br><img src="cid:0093F653-7C50-4C72-B0F6-B1E91C65CD78@local"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: 16px; 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; line-height: 16px; 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; line-height: 16px; 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; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal Verdana; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); min-height: 29px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="6" color="#111111" style="font: 24.0px Verdana; color: #111111">The 'changed' Delta tunnel plan: like the Owens Valley again </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 California Department of Water Resources Thursday announced “changes” to the proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels – but Delta advocates weren’t fooled by the so-called improvements, saying, "It is like the Owens Valley again." </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">Proposed changes announced include shrinking of the intermediate forebay surface area from 750 acres to 40 acres - and realigning a segment of the proposed tunnels to the east to utilize more public lands and avoid the Delta communities of Courtland and Walnut Grove. </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 changes outlined by California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird in a news conference also include: </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">• shortening the main tunnels from 35 miles to 30 miles; </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">• using DWR-owned properties south of Hood as a construction staging area and DWR-owned properties near Interstate 5 as a re-usable tunnel material storage area; </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">• decreasing from 151 to 81 the number of structures affected by the project; </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">• working with landowners and stakeholders to use excavated material to improve and preserve wildlife habitat on Zacharias Ranch on Glanville Tract and on Staten Island; and </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">• modifying and strengthening the existing Clifton Court Forebay for improved operations of north and south Delta conveyance. </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 map of the proposed changes is available at: <a href="http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/Libraries/Dynamic_Document_Library/Map_of_Proposed_BDCP_Changes_8-15-13.sflb.ashx"><font color="#1a345c" style="color: #1a345c"><u>http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/Libraries/Dynamic_Document_Library/Map_of_Proposed_BDCP_Changes_8-15-13.sflb.ashx</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">Laird also claimed that the proposed project analyzed in the documents has changed significantly in the last two years in response to concerns from state and federal wildlife agencies. He said the capacity of the proposed north Delta intakes has been downsized from a maximum of 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 9,000 cfs and the number of intakes along the Sacramento River has dropped from five to three. Laird also noted that the proposal has been modified to flow by gravity from the intermediate forebay to main forebay, rather than by pumping, to reduce the "carbon footprint." </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">Laird claimed the BDCP was a “transparent” process, just like he alleged the corrupt, privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create questionable “marine protected areas” on the California coast was. (<a href="http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-five-inconvenient-truths-about-the-mlpa-initiative"><font color="#0024ee" style="color: #0024ee"><u>http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-five-inconvenient-truths-about-the-mlpa-initiative</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">“We are committed to transparency. We are releasing the documents in stages, with more transparency than has traditionally been done in these processes,” Laird said. </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">Laird, who presided over record water exports and a record "salvage" of nearly 9 million Sacramento splittail in 2011, claimed that the BDCP would meet the co-equal goals of “ecosystem restoration” and water supply, in spite of arguments by critics who said the project would fail to accomplish either goal. </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 administration supports whatever it takes to be successful at this," said Laird, summarizing Governor Jerry Brown’s commitment to building the tunnels, in spite of the enormous economic cost to Californians and the catastrophic impacts it would have upon the Delta ecosystem and central Valley salmon populations. </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">“We take seriously the effects our proposal would have on the property and daily lives of Delta residents,” claimed DWR Director Mark Cowin in a news release. “We have worked hard to find ways to eliminate or modify some of the construction activity and permanent infrastructure in ways that minimize disruption to local residents. We’ll keep working to reduce impacts wherever possible, and we’re committed to mitigating those that are unavoidable.” </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">Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of the peripheral tunnels, described the changes outlined today as “a failed attempt by Jerry Meral to show that he and the other architects of the BDCP are sensitive to Delta communities." Meral, the Deputy Resources Secretary, is the point man for Governor Jerry Brown and Laird on the BDCP. </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">“It does not change the fact that 48 significant and unavoidable impacts that are identified in the BDCP will be inflicted on Delta communities, fisheries, farms, and boaters,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “This new proposal does not even consider the significant harm that would come to Sandhill Cranes that nest on Staten Island.” </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">“These magnificent birds will do even worse than Delta residents with around the clock construction noise, traffic, and tunnel muck, disrupting their nursing areas," she emphasized. “Jerry Meral refuses to acknowledge these 48 significant and unavoidable impacts publicly; he directed Dr. David Sunding to ignore these impacts in the incomplete economic analysis released last week; and this latest attempt to sell the plan as improved points to new disasters in the making." </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">“Meral thinks we are supposed to be satisfied that he has lessened some of the impacts on a few of our neighbors while continuing to sacrifice the entire region. It is like the Owens Valley all over again,” Barrigan-Parrilla concluded. </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 construction of the $54.1 billion peripheral tunnels will hasten the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as well as imperil salmon and steelhead populations on the Klamath and Trinity rivers. The water destined for the peripheral tunnels will be used by corporate agribusiness to irrigate drainage impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley - and by oil companies to expand the environmentally destructive practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in California (</font><font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#37404e" style="font: 12.0px Verdana; color: #37404e">www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/07/the-ocean-frackers) </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 more information, go to: <a href="http://www.restorethedelta.org/"><font color="#1a345c" style="color: #1a345c"><u>http://www.restorethedelta.org</u></font></a>.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="Verdana"><br></font></div></body></html>