<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><div>http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131002/A_NEWS/310020315/-1/A_NEWS14 <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 19px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><div class="noindex" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial; "><h1 class="articleHead" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 26px; color: rgb(5, 60, 99); font-weight: bold; text-align: left; text-transform: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Shutdown may mean costly
delay for Delta tunnel plan</h1></div><div id="artTools" style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; position: relative; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial; "></div></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 19px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 10px; "><div class="noindex" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; clear: left; "><div class="bylineText" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size:
1em; "><span class="by">By </span><span class="byline" style="font-size: 1.2em; font-style: italic; font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(34, 34, 34) !important; "><a href="http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131002/A_NEWS/310020315/-1/A_NEWS14" title="See Profile" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-decoration: none; ">Alex Breitler</a></span></div><div class="bylineExtra" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; ">Record Staff Writer</div><div class="bylineDate" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; "><span>October 02, 2013 12:00 AM<span></span></span></div></div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height:
1.35em; ">The shutdown of the federal government could delay the governor's twin tunnels plan for the Delta, a state official said Tuesday.</div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">The plan, said to be close to 25,000 pages in length, is supposed to be released for public comment Nov. 15.</div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">But the plan must first be reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, both of which were closed Tuesday.</div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">Richard Stapler, a spokesman for the California Natural Resources Agency, said every day the federal government is shut down will likely amount to a day's delay in releasing the plan, which has been in the works for seven years.</div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family:
Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">Each day that the plan is delayed equals a cost of about $100,000 to the state Department of Water Resources and to the public water agencies expected to pay for the bulk of the tunnels project, Stapler said. That's because those agencies must maintain a staff of biologists, planners and other experts working to finish the complex document.</div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">"It's real time and it's real money," Stapler said.</div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">About $176 million has already been spent preparing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the Legislative Analyst's Office reported in August. Building the tunnels to divert water past the Delta while also restoring large tracts of wetland habitat for fish and wildlife is expected to cost $24.5 billion overall.</div><div
class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">Another large project relying on the federal government is the restoration of the San Joaquin River upstream from Stockton. A senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group involved in the restoration, said Tuesday it was still uncertain what impact the shutdown might have on that project.</div><div class="articleGraf" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.35em; ">Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or<a href="mailto:abreitler@recordnet.com" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; ">abreitler@recordnet.com</a>. Visit his blog at<a href="http://www.recordnet.com/breitlerblog" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; ">www.recordnet.com/breitlerblog</a>.</div><div><br></div><div id="xtraFactWrapper" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;
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