<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Good Morning</div><div><br></div><div>Here are two of my latest pieces, the first on the Karuk Tribe and their allies adding the U.S. Forest Service and Klamath National Forest to the lawsuit protecting salmon from a bad logging plan and the second on RTD's "Dear Governor Brown" letter.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks</div><div>Dan</div><div> <div><a href="http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/03/15/karuk-tribe-conservationists-add-klamath-national-forest-to-westside-lawsuit/">http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/03/15/karuk-tribe-conservationists-add-klamath-national-forest-to-westside-lawsuit/</a> <div style="font-size: xx-large; "><br></div><div style="font-size: xx-large; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/15/1501728/-Karuk-Tribe-Conservationists-Add-Klamath-National-Forest-to-Westside-Lawsuit">http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/15/1501728/-Karuk-Tribe-Conservationists-Add-Klamath-National-Forest-to-Westside-Lawsuit</a></span></div> <br><div style="font-size: xx-large; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><img height="533" width="804" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:4AC845F8-6AF7-4F9A-A311-9F6A3C6A23FA"></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"> <br></font></div><div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6">Karuk Tribe, Allies Add Forest Service to Lawsuit Protecting Salmon</font></div><div><br><div><br></div><div>by Dan Bacher</div><div><br></div><div>The Karuk Tribe and four environmental groups today expanded their complaint challenging the Westside Post Fire logging plan to include the United States Forest Service and Klamath National Forest over allegations that they violated federal law protecting imperiled salmon and their watersheds. </div><div><br></div><div>The groups filing the complaint include the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild), Center for Biological Diversity, and Klamath Riverkeeper. </div><div><br></div><div>The lawsuit alleges the Klamath National Forest Plan, as approved by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, “illegally increases the risk of extinction” for threatened populations of coho salmon.” </div><div><br></div><div>The plaintiffs allege the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of NOAA Fisheries violated the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) when it issued a Biological Opinion (“BiOp”) and Incidental Take Statement (“ITS”) for the Westside Fire Recovery Project (“Westside Project”) on Forest Service lands in the Klamath River watershed. </div><div><br></div><div>NOAA Fisheries is an agency that the late Zeke Grader, the longtime Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), nicknamed “No Fisheries” for its many failures to protect salmon and other fish over the years. </div><div><br></div><div>Coho salmon, now listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts, were historically one of the most abundant fish species on the Klamath, Trinity and other California rivers. The coho population has declined dramatically after decades of bad forestry practices, water diversions and habitat degradation. </div><div><br></div><div>“The Klamath National Forest proposal will increase fire danger, degrade water quality, and harm at-risk salmon populations,” according to a statement from the Tribe and their allies. “An alternative to the Project developed by the Karuk Tribe would result in about 33% of the logging that the Forest Service proposed, but would be far more protective of fisheries, water quality, and communities at risk of wildfire.” </div><div><br></div><div>“The Westside proposal short changes our community by denying us an opportunity to restore the forest, manage wildfire, and put locals back to work,” said Karuk Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery. “There is no way that the Forest Service plan will pass a legal challenge. The Karuk alternative on the other hand has the support of local conservation groups, provides significant opportunities for bringing timber to market, and complies with applicable state and federal law.”</div><div><br></div><div>According to the groups, “The Tribe’s alternative proposal ensures that future fire events will be healthy for the environment and safe for local residents while providing marketable timber. The Forest Service did not analyze the Karuk Alternative because it rushed the environmental review process under the pretense of a ‘public emergency.’” </div><div><br></div><div>The litigation occurs at a critical time for imperiled Klamath River and West Coast salmon and steelhead populations. </div><div><br></div><div>Agency scientists estimate that there are only approximately 142,200 Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon in the ocean this year, based on the returns of two-year-old salmon, called “jacks” and “jills,” The salmon from the Klamath and Sacramento River make up the majority of salmon taken in California’s ocean and inland fisheries.</div><div><br></div><div>The low numbers of Klamath and Trinity River fish expected to return to the river and tributaries this year will result in more restricted seasons for both the recreational and commercial fisheries on the ocean and recreational and Tribal fisheries on the rivers in 2016. </div><div><br></div><div>“The Forest Service plan to clear-cut thousands of acres above the Klamath River disregards the reasonable Karuk Alternative and hurts at-risk salmon and river communities,” said Kerul Dyer of Klamath Riverkeeper. “A healthy Klamath River requires sensible forest restoration that addresses the needs of both fish and people, like that laid out in the Karuk plan.”</div><div><br></div><div>The Tribe and groups are challenging the “illegal harm to fish and watersheds” that they say will result from the proposed post-fire clear cutting timber sales in hopes that the federal government will change course. The fish play a major role in the culture, religion and food supply of the Karuk and other Klamath River Tribes.</div><div><br></div><div>“The Karuk Tribe has occupied lands along the Klamath River since time immemorial,” the complaint states. “The Klamath, Salmon, and Scott rivers are within Karuk ancestral territory, and are the lifeblood of the Karuk people. Before Europeans entered these lands, these waters provided the Karuk Tribe with a bountiful supply of anadromous fish, including coho and chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Today, in the Klamath River watershed, coho salmon are listed as threatened with extinction under the ESA.” </div><div><br></div><div>Initial arguments will likely be heard by the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California in the “very near future,” the groups said. The Western Environmental Law Center represents all of the plaintiffs and EPIC is represented by in-house counsel. </div><div><br></div><div>To read the full complaint, go to: <a href="http://www.karuk.us/images/docs/press/2016/Complaint.pdf">http://www.karuk.us/images/docs/press/2016/Complaint.pdf</a></div></div></div><div><br></div><div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; ">2. <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/16/1502337/-Dear-Jerry-Brown-Delta-Tunnels-Proposal-Is-Built-On-A-House-Of-Cards">http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/16/1502337/-Dear-Jerry-Brown-Delta-Tunnels-Proposal-Is-Built-On-A-House-Of-Cards</a> </span></font></div><div></div><div></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://redgreenandblue.org/2016/03/16/dear-governor-brown-time-to-admit-your-delta-tunnels-waterfix-plan-is-falling-apart/">http://redgreenandblue.org/2016/03/16/dear-governor-brown-time-to-admit-your-delta-tunnels-waterfix-plan-is-falling-apart/</a></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; "><img alt="Screenshot_2015-04-17_at_8.31.51_AM.png" class="img-responsive" data-src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/225153/story_image/Screenshot_2015-04-17_at_8.31.51_AM.png?1458152764" title="Screenshot_2015-04-17_at_8.31.51_AM.png" height="371" width="273" src="cid:AFE2FE44-0327-41FE-949D-2C7A98A6B81C"></span></font></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; ">Photo of Governor Jerry Brown by Dan Bacher.</span></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; "><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; ">Delta Tunnels Proposal Is Built On A House of Cards</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; "><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; ">by Dan Bacher</span></font></div><div style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; "><br></div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3c3736" face="'Open Sans'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; ">Restore the Delta (RTD) today released a powerful open letter to Governor Jerry Brown from Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, RTD Executive Director, stating “It’s time to detach your legacy from the Delta Tunnels proposal.” </span></font><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">“It’s time to face the reality that this plan is falling apart,” she said.</p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">Brown’s controversial California Water Fix to build the Delta Tunnels is in its biggest crisis ever as lack of a finance plan for the project to build the twin tunnels diverting Sacramento River water under the Delta becomes more obvious every day.</p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The Brown administration is currently reeling from a barrage of national and international news coverage of the Securities and Exchange Commission decision to fine the Westlands Water District, the major financial partner of the proposed Delta Tunnels, for engaging in “Enron-style” accounting in order to fool the bond market. </p><p class="" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">“The other big financial players in the Delta Tunnels proposal, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Met) and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, are reviewing data from CA WaterFix, the newest name for the Delta Tunnels proposal, that includes Westlands as a major contributor,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></p><p class="" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">“If Westlands relied on fraud for the down payment on the tunnels, how can they be trusted to be honest when they need to come up with more than $3 billion to fund their share? Met and Santa Clara would be wise to reconsider long-term agreements with a water district with a rap sheet. Without this dubious partner, they must think through how and where to make up Westlands’ contribution to the plan,” she explained.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">“You seem to have grown quiet regarding the Delta Tunnels over the last sixty days, much in the same way you grew quiet over the Porter Ranch gas leak crisis,” Barrigan-Parrilla noted. </p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">In a tweet, Mike Fitzgerald, Stockton Record columnist, said, “Cheers to Restore the Delta & all decrying The Westlands for cooking its books. Jeers to the feds' feeble response.” <a data-cke-saved-href="https://t.co/KlCNwqkxtP" href="https://t.co/KlCNwqkxtP" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">bit.ly/.</a>…”</p><p class="" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">In his blog, Fitzgerald said, “Time to kick the Westlands while it’s down. And Barbara Barrigan-Parilla does a brilliant job of it in a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown.” See more at: <a data-cke-saved-href="http://blogs.esanjoaquin.com/stockton-metro-columnist/2016/03/16/the-westlands-out-and-out-fraud/#sthash.8WXCHw57.dpuf" href="http://blogs.esanjoaquin.com/stockton-metro-columnist/2016/03/16/the-westlands-out-and-out-fraud/#sthash.8WXCHw57.dpuf" target="_blank" data-original-title="" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">blogs.esanjoaquin.com/...</a><br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">I completely agree with Fitzgerald’s assessment. <br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The Delta Tunnels will not create one single drop of new water — and will indebt ratepayers and taxpayers for up to $67 billion in costs for decades to come. The tunnels will hasten the extinction of Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish and wildlife species, as well imperil salmon and steelhead populations on the Klamath and Trinity rivers.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">Below is the open letter to Governor Brown.</p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: left; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; ">An Open Letter to Governor Brown</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Dear Governor Brown,<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">It’s time to detach your legacy from the Delta Tunnels proposal. It’s time to face the reality that this plan is falling apart.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Let me explain why.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Put simply, after ten years of trying, the Delta Tunnels still do not have a credible finance plan. There is little reason to think that another ten years would create one.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">The<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=4c0d37ea31&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=4c0d37ea31&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">New York Times</a>,<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=11c84b63f4&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=11c84b63f4&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">Los Angeles Times</a>,<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=f52a67bd81&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=f52a67bd81&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">Wall Street Journal</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span>and even the<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=21f1ab880e&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=21f1ab880e&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">International Business Times</a>, have all reported the news that the Westlands Water District, the major financial partner of the proposed Delta Tunnels, engaged in “Enron-style” accounting in order to fool the bond market. Westlands knowingly overstated revenue in order to secure a $77 million loan in 2012.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Beginning in the 2010 drought, Westlands reclassified reserves as revenue in order to hide that it could not meet the debt service ratio required of prior bond issuances, and then falsely claimed that they had indeed met that ratio over the five-year period prior to the 2012 bond issuance to investors. The SEC fined Westlands and its leaders a total of $195,000, a rare occurrence for municipal bond agencies, and Moody’s placed Westlands and their neighbors, the San Luis Mendota Water Authority, on<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=52706d1ac5&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=52706d1ac5&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">negative credit watch</a>.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">The other big financial players in the Delta Tunnels proposal, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Met) and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, are reviewing data from CA WaterFix, the newest name for the Delta Tunnels proposal, that includes Westlands as a major contributor.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">If Westlands relied on fraud for the down payment on the tunnels, how can they be trusted to be honest when they need to come up with more than $3 billion to fund their share? Met and Santa Clara would be wise to reconsider long-term agreements with a water district with a rap sheet. Without this dubious partner, they must think through how and where to make up Westlands’ contribution to the plan.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">After ten years and $250 million, we still do not have a Tunnels financing plan or operating plan that can pass the test with environmental agencies. Until there is an honest and independently-vetted financing plan and science proving that Bay-Delta communities and endangered species will be protected, the Delta Tunnels permit process underway should be tabled.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; ">Westlands – An Untrustworthy Partner</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Throughout the ten-year history of the Delta Tunnels proposal, Westlands indicated to the greater water community that they would be a major beneficiary, paying for the lion’s share of the 40 percent of the Federal contractor contribution for the Delta Tunnels. But the California WaterFix has never released a detailed finance plan showing exactly how the tunnels will actually be funded and by whom. Also, it’s still not known how much each urban water agency under the Metropolitan Water District or Santa Clara Valley Water Districts would pay for their fair share to the project. Will retail water agencies have the ability to opt out of the plan? What happens to financing if they do?<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">For argument sake, let’s assume that Westlands planned on paying the full forty percent contribution of the $15-billion-dollar plan, or $6 billion. How could they have possibly repaid their cost share of the project if the debt load would be almost 78 times greater than the debt they were carrying in 2010? Even if they were only intending to pay half of the forty percent, they could not afford $3 billion.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">After all, it’s not like Westlands could count on receiving more water from the Delta Tunnels project. In fact, the CA WaterFix was recently caught engaging in its own creative water accounting practices. As Dr. Jeff Michael, Director of the Center for Business and Policy Research, Eberhardt School of Business, University of the Pacific, wrote on his<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=9ba6f1e549&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=9ba6f1e549&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">Valley Economy Blog</a>:<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">They [WaterFix] create a website full of deceptive numbers with eye-catching graphics and giant bold numbers saying it will increase water diversions and storage, and then buried in a complex paragraph at the bottom of the page you find a sentence that says that the tunnels don't actually increase water supplies.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">“Unbelievable” declares Dr. Michael, incredulously.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">But magical thinking has never deterred Westlands (or California WaterFix) leadership. Westlands General Manager, Tom Birmingham, willingly participated in Restore the Delta’s documentary,<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Over Troubled Waters</em><span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span>in 2009 and told the film crew that even with current demand and existing storage, there was enough water to meet every demand in the<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=973f9e9be2&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=973f9e9be2&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">state of California</a>. To follow Westlands’ logic, there is enough water in the system for Westlands to receive its full share, that is until the 2010 drought when Westlands did not receive needed water deliveries to repay their bond debt.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">It’s not just irrigation districts that assume the water will be there. Urban water districts are building their futures on this same house of cards, and without greater water yields, the Delta Tunnels do not pencil out for them either.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; ">Santa Clara Valley Water District Faces a Big Decision</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">A recent revenue bond prospectus released by Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD), presents a glowing summary of the District’s financial strength. Indeed, SCVWD exists in one of the wealthiest regions of the country, or the world. Their ratepayers can afford to invest in the district’s future. However, digging deeper into the details several items should give their ratepayers and<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=7723bcd460&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=7723bcd460&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">investors pause</a>.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">The District’s<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=d53e44bcf0&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=d53e44bcf0&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">2016 prospectus</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span>states up front that “no reserve fund has been created or will be funded with respect to the 2016 bonds” it describes. This means that the District feels it needs no emergency fund set aside to repay the bonds, apparently heedless of future problems that may arise or to support its own debt coverage ratio (similar to Westlands’ 2010 problem).<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">While the prospectus does reflect the District’s recent drought experience of lower supplies and reduced water sales in 2013 and 2014, it proceeds to project deliveries and sales for the water it draws from both the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project from 2017 through 2020 as much higher than recent allocations. California is not yet out of its current drought. And no one knows if we are headed into more dry years. SCVWD’s prospectus does not show investors any sensitivity analysis about how its net revenues perform if water deliveries and sales to retail water agencies remain reduced due to conservation. The question a reasonably informed investor reading this prospectus would want answered is: How much would deliveries and sales have to fall before the District’s debt service ratio fails to meet SEC accounting standards?<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Buried in footnote 14 (pages 67-68) next to “Future Debt Issuances,” it is revealed that the District intends to seek out a lot of commercial paper and “long-term debt issuances” cumulating to over $900 million by fiscal year 2020. Plus, the District’s credit rating was recently downgraded slightly, and at least one Board member was not even fully aware of the downgrade because it was noted in the CEO’s report, rather than on the agenda.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Climate change modeling shows that Sierra snowpack will decrease markedly from historic levels in the future. This will decrease water in the Sacramento River which is the source water for the tunnels. This is the source water upon which water districts likes Santa Clara Valley are building their bond offerings. They premise their financial stability on decreasing future water supplies.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; ">Metropolitan Water District Grasping at Straws</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Metropolitan Water District faces even higher financial stakes in relation to the Delta Tunnels. Just twenty-four hours before the SEC announced its fine of Westlands Water District, tunnels proponent, Met’s General Manager, Jeff Kightlinger<span style="box-sizing: border-box; "> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=94abd3ab6c&e=886c8e9254" href="http://bpspr.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1914aefabf5c2d2e17d6a9950&id=94abd3ab6c&e=886c8e9254" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">pushed through a vote</a>for Met to purchase five islands in the Delta. He told the media that these islands will serve as a possible construction staging site for the project. Two of the islands are in the direct path of the tunnels, eliminating eminent domain concerns. However, they come with a price tag of roughly $200 million to be paid by Met customers.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">As Met receives about half of the water normally carried through the State Water Project, one can estimate that their contribution for the tunnels would have been $3.5 billion. But now with Westlands out of the picture, one cannot help but ask how much ratepayer and parcel tax funding are they willing to foist on their customers in order to move forward? Will Met contribute $7 billion to build the Delta Tunnels? And who will be their financial partners? Staff at the Santa Clara Valley Water District reported to their board in February that Santa Clara Valley’s contribution to the tunnels would be between $500 million and $1 billion. That would still leave the project significantly underfunded.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; ">Time for a Better Solution</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">That brings us to you Governor Brown. You seem to have grown quiet regarding the Delta Tunnels over the last sixty days, much in the same way you grew quiet over the Porter Ranch gas leak crisis.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Isn’t it time to develop a Plan B for water management for California?<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">It’s a shame you latched on to the Delta Tunnels as a legacy project when younger water leaders from think tanks, NGOs, and within government agencies want to begin work on a myriad of smaller projects that will capture rain, recycle water, restore groundwater, and generally adapt California to the reality of our changing climate. These water efficiency and supply projects will cost less, make more water, and create good permanent jobs throughout the state.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Governor Brown, it is time to admit the Delta Tunnels proposal is as unstable as a house of cards. The reality of climate, population and decisions regarding sustainability simply do not match up with your desire to build one big project. If you must continue the process of pushing forward with the Delta Tunnels, the proposal must be vetted by independent experts to show the real costs and risks to taxpayers and urban water districts.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "><br style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Sadly, that analysis will show that the $15.5 billion Delta Tunnels proposal is as leaky as the water mains supplying water to Los Angeles and the Bay Area that desperately need our investment now. </span></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: left; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Yours in service, </span></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla Executive Director Restore the Delta</span></p></div></div></div></body></html>