[GPSCC-chat] Fw: Bay Delta Plan Update

[Caroline Yacoub]

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Peter Drekmeier <Peter at Tuolumne.org>
To: Peter Drekmeier <Peter at Tuolumne.org>
Sent: Tue, March 26, 2013 10:50:40 AM
Subject: Bay Delta Plan Update

Friends, 

Last week's State Water Board hearing on the Bay Delta Water Quality Control 
Plan was very disappointing.  We were told public comment would be in the 
morning, so I and others arrived an hour early to submit speaker cards to make 
sure we would get a chance to speak.  But then the chair filled the morning with 
various panels and such, and to cap it off, he called up the people who had been 
bussed in from the Central Valley by the Modesto, Turlock and Merced Irrigation 
Districts first so that they could speak and then get home to their families. 
 I, and many others, had to leave before we could comment.  It was a very unfair 
process!

Fortunately, there's still time to weigh in on the Plan.  Written comments are 
due by noon on Friday, and it would be great if you could send a letter or email 
to the Board and make your voice heard.  The details are below.

Also, if you haven't already checked out our brief Youtube slideshow, you can do 
so at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHsXy7WHOw8&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for your support!

-Peter
About the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan

The California Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) is currently updating 
The Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan to meet the co-equal goals of ecosystem 
protection and maintaining a reliable water supply.  Phase I was initiated in 
2009 to update flow objectives for the San Joaquin River and its major 
tributaries to protect fish and wildlife, and to update salinity objectives to 
protect agriculture in the southern Delta.In 2010 the State Water Board issued a 
report titled Development of Flow Criteria for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 
Ecosystem that determined that approximately 60% of unimpaired flow between 
February and June would be fully protective of fish and wildlife in the lower 
San Joaquin River and its three major tributaries. 
At the end of 2012, the Water Board released a draft environmental impact 
document for Phase I of the Plan that analyzed a range of unimpaired flows (what 
would occur if there were no storage or diversion of water upstream) in the San 
Joaquin River and its tributaries from 20% to 60%. Disturbingly, the Water Board 
is proposing requiring only 35% of unimpaired flows for the Merced, Tuolumne and 
Stanislaus Rivers from February through June, and no additional flows in the 
July through January season.
Submit Written Comments
By noon on March 29, 2013

Include in the subject line: “Comment Letter – Bay Delta Plan SED”

Jeanine Townsend
Clerk of the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 100
Sacramento, CA 95814-0100
FAX TO: (916) 341-5620
EMAIL TO: commentletters at waterboards.ca.gov

Key Points you can mention in your letter

- At least half of the San Joaquin River’s natural flow should reach the Delta 
during the first six months of each year.  Flows in the summer and fall should 
be sufficient to maintain fish and wildlife, water quality and recreational 
opportunities.
- Low river flows impede fish passage, concentrate pollutants, raise water 
temperatures, decrease dissolved oxygen, and eliminate migratory clues.
- Historically, populations of spawning salmon may have exceeded 400,000 fish in 
the San Joaquin River Basin, but in many recent years that figure has plummeted 
to just a few thousand fish.
- Salmon are a keystone species, providing food for other animals and 
transporting nutrients from the ocean to upland habitats.  More than 100 species 
depend on salmon.
- The commercial salmon fishery in California is on the brink.  The salmon 
population was so low in 2008 and 2009 that the commercial fishing season had to 
be cancelled.
- The Bay-Delta forms the West Coast’s largest estuary, providing habitat for 
more than 500 species of wildlife.  It serves as a major stopover for the 
Pacific Flyway and as a migration path for salmon, steelhead and sturgeon 
traveling to and from their home streams to the Pacific Ocean.
- Up to 6.8 million acre-feet (2.2 trillion gallons) of water per year are 
pumped from the southern Delta for agriculture and urban uses.
- Through better management of snowmelt, water efficient irrigation practices, 
and replacing lower-value, water-intensive crops with higher-value, 
water-efficient crops, we could grow more food with less water.
-----------------------------
Peter Drekmeier
Bay Area Program DirectorTuolumne River Trust111 New Montgomery, #205
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 882-7252 x 302
peter at tuolumne.org
http://www.tuolumne.org/bayarea
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