[Sosfbay-discuss] Schwarzenegger Signs The Delta's Death Warrant

Mon Nov 16 14:41:07 PST 2009

I'm restating Carol's post because formatting characters made it difficult to read. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the "Green Governor," last week signed a
five bill package that will lead to the construction of the peripheral
canal, more dams and the destruction of the California Delta unless this
insane plan is stopped. 

    Governor's Office Photo: Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger held a press conference at the Set Back Levee on
the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Isleton, California to sign
SBX7 1 by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), the final bill of the
package that will lead to the destruction of the Delta. Of course, the
locals weren't invited to witness the signing of the death warrant for
the Delta. From left to right: California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce
President and Chief Executive Officer Joel Ayala, Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. 

640_111209podium.jpg

original image ( 700x467)

Schwarzenegger Signs The
Delta's Death Warrant 

by Dan Bacher 

After an all night session, the California Legislature on November 4
passed a water package including an $11.1 billion bond that provides a
clear path to the construction of the peripheral canal and more dams.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger then signed the bills that he described as
"an historic legislative package to reform and rebuild California's
water system" during a series of press conferences and highly
choreographed photo opportunities over the past week. 

While Schwarzenegger and Darrell Steinberg lauded the package for being
an “historic compromise,” Delta legislators, fishermen and Indian Tribes
slammed the legislation for leading to the destruction of the Delta, its
farms and its fish. 

"Water is the lifeblood of everything we do in California,"
said Schwarzenegger. "Without clean, reliable water, we cannot
build, we cannot farm, we cannot grow and we cannot prosper. That is why
I am so proud that the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, came
together and tackled one of the most complicated issues in our state's
history. This comprehensive water package is an historic
achievement." 

Schwarzenegger praised the efforts of his Democratic collaborator, Senate
President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, to push the water policy and bond
package through the legislature. "He has been a tireless leader, a
relentless advocate for the environment and a true statesman,” said
Steinberg. 

Steinberg claimed the legislation enacts “landmark improvements to the
environment and investments in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – the
heart of California’s water supply system – to ensure the restoration of
the Delta’s fragile ecosystem while enhancing water reliability for all
Californians.” 

“Over the last several decades, numerous efforts to comprehensively
address the state’s water problems have consistently failed,” Steinberg
gushed. “But the Senate this week rose to the occasion, overcoming
enormous regional, philosophical, and political obstacles to forge an
historic, bipartisan compromise.” 

On October 11, Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation calling for the
legislature to meet in an extraordinary session to address California's
water crisis, in effect strong arming the legislature to pass the water
package that he wanted. 

While the Legislature approved the water policy and bond measures, they
killed a bill by Assemblywoman Alsyon Huber that would prohibit the
construction of a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta without a full fiscal analysis and a vote of the state legislature.

“I offered up a simple bill, a common sense approach,” Huber stated.
“Unfortunately, my bill was killed without a hearing.” She vowed that she
will resubmit this bill so it will have a full debate. 

“I opposed the water package because it creates a new layer of
bureaucrats who will make decisions on water that will impact the
communities I represent, without allowing us to have a voice, “ she
emphasized. “I opposed the bond, especially because of the billions in
pork for LA. This dead of night pork giveaway is exactly why voters give
us low marks.” 

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta, agreed
with Huber’s assessment. “The package lost any semblance of rational
debate and turned into a pork festival with the water bond ballooning to
over $11 billion dollars. With our state already facing a massive debt
and more red ink on the horizon, how can we afford this?” 

The “pork festival” bond measure includes $455 million for drought
relief, $1.4 billion for regional water supply, $2.25 billion for Delta
“sustainability, $3 billion for water storage , $1.7 billion for
watershed conservation, $1 billion for groundwater and $1.25 billion for
water recycling and water conservation. 

The $1.7 allocated for watershed conservation includes $250 million for
California's portion of funding to remove four dams on the Klamath,
directly linking Klamath Dam removal to building the peripheral canal and
Temperance Flat and Sites reservoirs. 

Representatives of fishing groups were outraged by the passing and
signing of the bills. "Today is a sad day for the San Francisco
Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary," said Roger Mammon, board
member of Restore the Delta and the West Delta Chapter of the California
Striped Bass Association after the passage of the package. “The
implications are unbelievable and could possibly lead to the worst
ecological disaster to ever hit the United States." 

The passage of the water package could not have taken place without the
back room negotiations that large national environmental groups,
including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense
and the Nature Conservancy, made with Westlands Water District,
Metropolitan Water District, Steinberg and Schwarzenegger to craft the
package. 

Laura Harnish and Spreck Rosecrans of Environmental Defense, strong
supporters of the water policy package, said “It is important to realize
that the legislation does not authorize a peripheral canal.” 

However, the legislation sets up a Delta Stewardship Council of seven
members, 4 of whom are appointed by the Governor. The Governor reaffirmed
that he wants to build a peripheral canal at a press conference in
Stockton the same day the package was passed, so you can be sure that he
will make the canal’s construction a priority for the council members he
appoints. In addition, the water bond sets up the infrastructure that
will be used in tandem with the canal. 

The vast majority of environmental organizations lobbied against the
water package. The water package was opposed by the Sierra Club
California, Planning and Conservation League, Friends of the River, Butte
Environmental Council, Restore the Delta, California Sportfishing
Protection Alliance, the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN),
California Striped Bass Association, Clean Water Action, the
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Center
for Biological Diversity, Northern California River Watch, the Public
Trust Alliance and the Environmental Protection Information Center.

Major unions including the California Teachers Association and SEIU, the
five Delta counties and regional governments throughout the Sacramento
region opposed the legislation also. 

During the water package's development, the Planning and Conservation
League (PCL) had insisted that any solution focus on reducing reliance on
an already over-allocated Delta and require dedicated in-stream flows
through the Delta and the San Francisco Bay for endangered and threatened
fish populations. 

“The package missed the mark on both fronts,” said Charlotte Hodde, water
policy coordinator for PCL. “Instead of guaranteeing the flows that
species in the Delta need to recover, the package provides no regulatory
assurance that the water will be there. Even the legislators' own staff
analyzed this portion of the bill as unenforceable. This will only worsen
the fishery collapse and may lead to even more restrictions on water
supply exports from the Delta.” 

The plans by Schwarzenegger and Steinberg to build the canal in order to
export more water from the Delta to agribusiness and southern California
will be met by years of lawsuits, protests, direct action and other
resistance by the communities impacted. When the $11 billion water bond
goes to a vote by the taxpayers, I predict that it will be voted down
just like the peripheral canal initiative was defeated in 1982. 

“There is no way that when the state is cutting budgets for schools, fire
departments, health care for children and other services that the voters
are going to approve an $11 billion bond that will create a total
ecological nightmare,” said Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem Wintu
Tribe at the California Tribal Water Summit that began just hours after
the legislation passed. “The children of our tribe have suffered for
seven generations and now our children for seven generations ahead will
be paying for this if this measure is approved.” 

“We will continue to use every means possible to oppose this package
which sets in motion the canal and allows an unelected body to make key
decisions that will impact our Delta Communities, while we are left on
the sidelines,” Barrigan-Parilla concluded. “It’s no wonder Californians
have such a low opinion of their elected representatives.” 

For more information about the battle against the peripheral canal, go to

http://www.restorethedelta.org
. 

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