<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_83926" dir="ltr"> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Activists-decry-plan-to-cut-habitat-aid-from-6212404.php" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84101">http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Activists-decry-plan-to-cut-habitat-aid-from-6212404.php</a><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_83926"> </div><div class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Times; font-size: 9px; line-height: 6px; vertical-align: baseline;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84032"><h1 class="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Sofia Pro Bold'; font-size: 34px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 37px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84031">Activists decry plan to cut habitat aid from delta tunnel project</h1><div class="" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 5px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); display: inline-block; width: auto;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84043">By <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/author/peter-fimrite/" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84042">Peter Fimrite</a></div> <h5 class="" title="2015-04-20T19:09:55Z" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); display: inline-block; width: auto;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84151">Updated 7:09 pm, Monday, April 20, 2015</h5></div><div class="" style="margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); font-family: Times; font-size: 9px; line-height: 6px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 869px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84044"><div class="" social-url="http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fbayarea%2Farticle%2FActivists-decry-plan-to-cut-habitat-aid-from-6212404.php%3Fcmpid%3D" social-hashid="" social-blurb="Environmental%20groups%20Monday%20blasted%20a%20proposal%20by%20the%20state%20to%20jettison%20the%20habitat%20restoration%20portion%20of%20the%20massive%20delta%20water%20tunnel%20project%20as%20an%20ill-conceived%20%E2%80%9Cbait%20and%20switch%E2%80%9D%20that%20will%20only%20make%20California%E2%80%99s%20water%20woes%20worse.%0A%0AThe%20environmental%20portion%20of%20the%20plan%20was%20designed%20to%20minimize%20the%20impact%20of%20siphoning%20out%20water%20and%20moving%20it%20south%2C%20but%20long-term%20water%20guarantees%20could%20not%20be%20justified%2C%20forcing%20state%20officials%20to%20consider%20alternatives.%0A%0ACentral%20Valley%20farming%20contractors%2C%20Southern%20California%20water%20agencies%20and%20some%20Bay%20Area%20water%20suppliers%2C%20meanwhile%2C%20complain%20that%20federal%20protections%20for%20fish%20have%20forced%20reductions%20in%20the%20amount%20of%20water%20they%20get%20from%20the%20delta.%0A%0AThe%20idea%20of%20separating%20habitat%20restoration%20and%20tunnel%20construction%20came%20about%20because%20one%20of%20the%20primary%20tenets%20of%20the%20plan%20over%20the%20past%20eight%20years%20%E2%80%94%2050-year%20water%20guarantees%20to%20the%20contractors%20paying%20for%20the%20project%20%E2%80%94%20appears%20to%20be%20falling%20apart.%0A%0AThe%20new%20environmental%20plan%20will%20include%20shorter%2010-year%20permits%20that%20would%20still%20require%20contractors%20to%20pay%20for%209%2C000%20acres%20of%20habitat%20restoration%2C%20Stapler%20said.%0A%0AProp.%201%20promised%20new%20storage%20facilities%2C%20conservation%2C%20recycled%20water%2C%20desalination%20and%20general%20drought%20preparedness%2C%20but%20prohibited%20spending%20any%20funds%20on%20%E2%80%9Cdelta%20conveyance%20facilities.%E2%80%9D%0A%0ABarbara%20Barrigan-Parrilla%2C%20the%20executive%20director%20of%20Restore%20the%20Delta%2C%20said%20the%20twin-tunnels%20plan%20is%20palatable%20to%20some%20environmentalists%20because%20it%20includes%20habitat%20restoration%20and%20to%20farming%20contractors%20because%20the%20long-term%20contracts%20would%20protect%20supplies%20against%20endangered%20species%20lawsuits.%0A%0A%0A%0A%5B...%5D%20she%20said%2C%20the%20new%20plan%20bolsters%20the%20perception%20that%20this%20is%20all%20a%20water%20grab%20by%20Southern%20California." media-url="http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fimg%2Fpages%2Farticle%2Fopengraph_default.png" social-title="Activists%20decry%20plan%20to%20cut%20habitat%20aid%20from%20delta%20tunnel%20project" style="margin: 0px; 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font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: left; max-width: 300px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84049"><div class="" id="ndn-video-player-1" data-config-distributor-id="45981" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div id="hst-mediumrectangle4" class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div id="TMP300_3" class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" height="250" width="300" id="_mN_gpt_207264117" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""></iframe></div></div></div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84051">Environmental groups Monday blasted a proposal by the state to jettison the habitat restoration portion of the massive delta water tunnel project as an ill-conceived “bait and switch” that will only make California’s water woes worse. </div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84056">The $25 billion twin-tunnel project was supposed to include $7.8 billion to restore 100,000 acres of habitat for fish, birds and other species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The environmental portion of the plan was designed to minimize the impact of siphoning out water and moving it south, but long-term water guarantees could not be justified, forcing state officials to consider alternatives.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84057">The new plan, according to water resources officials, is to use $17 billion from state water contractors just to build and operate the tunnels. That would allow habitat restoration work on the delta and surrounding waterways to begin immediately regardless of what happens with the tunnel project, said <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Richard+Stapler%22" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">Richard Stapler</a>, the spokesman for the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Bay+Delta+Conservation+Plan%22" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">Bay Delta Conservation Plan</a>, which has been championed by Gov. <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Jerry+Brown%22" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">Jerry Brown</a>. </div><div class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right;"></div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_84058">“The status quo in the delta is unsustainable,” Stapler said. “By decoupling habitat from the tunnel portion, we can get started immediately with the habitat restoration.” </div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Stapler said contractors would no longer be liable for the vast majority of the environmental work. Details about who — and how — that work would be funded will be released within the next two weeks, he said.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Longtime opponents of the tunnel plan were skeptical. </div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">“They are saying that they will, on a parallel track, pursue restoration,” but “no details have been provided,” said <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Jonas+Minton%22" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">Jonas Minton</a>, a water policy adviser for the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Planning+and+Conservation+League%22" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">Planning and Conservation League</a>. “Where (the governor) thinks those dollars will come from is a mystery. So this is bait and switch, without the bait.”</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Conservationists are battling the giant water project, which is designed to bypass the delta pumps used by both the state and federal water projects. They have come up with a laundry list of possible alternatives, including water recycling, groundwater storage and even cloud seeding.</div><div class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right;"></div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Rates likely to go up</strong></div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Central Valley farming contractors, Southern California water agencies and some Bay Area water suppliers, meanwhile, complain that federal protections for fish have forced reductions in the amount of water they get from the delta.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">The tunnels would be paid for with bonds sold by water districts, which would likely increase water rates to pay off the debt.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">The idea of separating habitat restoration and tunnel construction came about because one of the primary tenets of the plan over the past eight years — 50-year water guarantees to the contractors paying for the project — appears to be falling apart.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">“We cannot from a scientific standpoint accurately predict what the conditions will be like in the delta 50 years from now,” Stapler said, blaming climate change and the unpredictability of drought. </div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">The new environmental plan will include shorter 10-year permits that would still require contractors to pay for 9,000 acres of habitat restoration, Stapler said. </div><div class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right;"></div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">He acknowledged that the money could conceivably come from Proposition 1, the $7.5 billion water bond that California passed last year.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Not enough money</strong></div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Prop. 1 promised new storage facilities, conservation, recycled water, desalination and general drought preparedness, but prohibited spending any funds on “delta conveyance facilities.” </div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Separating the two projects might allow that money to be used on the delta, but Minton said there is not enough money in that pot to complete the job.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Meanwhile, large water contractors footing the bill have said they aren’t willing to pay for the plan if they don’t have long-term water guarantees. </div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Barbara+Barrigan-Parrilla%22" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla</a>, the executive director of Restore the Delta, said the twin-tunnels plan is palatable to some environmentalists because it includes habitat restoration and to farming contractors because the long-term contracts would protect supplies against endangered species lawsuits.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Besides, she said, the new plan bolsters the perception that this is all a water grab by Southern California.</div><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">“We oppose the delta tunnels because it makes it easier to deliver water to water wasters,” she said, calling it “a naked tunnels-only water grab for the unsustainable mega-farms.”</div><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><div style="padding-bottom: 24px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Peter Fimrite is a <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22San+Francisco+Chronicle%22" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">San Francisco Chronicle</a> staff writer. E-mail: <a href="mailto:pfimrite@sfchronicle.com" title="pfimrite@sfchronicle.com" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(93, 11, 11);" class="">pfimrite@sfchronicle.com</a>. Twitter: @pfimrite</div></em></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429638990145_83926" dir="ltr" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div></div></body></html>