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Central Valley
VA Launches Hotline to Answer Questions on VA Health Care and Benefits for Women Veterans
1-855-VA-WOMEN (1-855-829-6636)
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a new hotline — 1-855-VA-WOMEN — to receive and respond to questions from Veterans, their families and caregivers about the many VA services and resources available to women Veterans. The service began accepting calls on April 23, 2013.
“Some women Veterans may not know about high-quality VA care and services available to them,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The hotline will allow us to field their questions and provide critical information about the latest enhancements in VA services.” Continue reading
TRAFFIC ADVISORY
TRAFFIC ADVISORY
I-5/French Camp Road Interchange Reconstruction
(Stockton, CA)—Beginning today, April 25, 2013, to accommodate work required for reconstruction of the Interstate 5/ French Camp Road Interchange, the inside #1 lane on the northbound off-ramp at the interchange and the inside #1 lane on the southbound off-ramp will be closed indefinitely. At least one lane at each off-ramp will be open at all times.
This work is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and/or materials and construction-related issues.
For the safety of workers and other motorists, please Slow for the Cone Zone.
The Tale of Two Tunnels: Gov. Brown’s Tainted BDCP Process Versus Honestly Solving the Problem
Staten Island in the Delta
When I first interviewed California’s Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird, I was thrilled to meet a man with a great reputation as a conservationist. As a newly-minted reporter, I hoped that he and Gov. Brown would bring positive change to California’s deteriorating environment.
But the conversation quickly shifted from Laird’s life story to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), an expensive scheme to build two tunnels and export more water out of the beleaguered SF-Bay Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast. Laird called the Delta, the “Rubik’s Cube” of water policy for its complexity.
True. I’ve investigated it for more than a year, but it’s really not all that complicated. The Delta’s two primary tributaries are in trouble. The San Joaquin River often runs dry due to excessive diversions, and the Sacramento River is sucked south by two massive pumps sitting in the estuary. The pumps cause rivers to flow backwards and entrap thousands of fish en route to spawn, including salmon, steelhead and smelt.
In a nutshell, the Delta needs more water and less pumping. Why? The Delta is home to more than 750 species of plants and animals, 33 of which are endangered, and likely to go extinct within the next 25 to 50 years, if not sooner, unless flows increase. But by how much? In 2010, the State Water Resources Control Board issued public trust recommendations that showed that flows need to increase by nearly 50 percent to restore the ecosystem. That’s a lot, but it’s possible.
I interviewed scientists. I drove to Southern California and talked to residents who put in dry landscaping. I met farmers who installed drip irrigation systems. I talked to Central Valley irrigation district managers who showed me new technology. I went to water recycling plants and drank purified sewage. In sum, I discovered that we can reduce water use by that much—in fact, there is more “new” water in recycling, conservation and technology, than California regularly exports from the Delta.
But there are major snags. One is Gov. Brown’s leadership; he wants to win an age-old battle to build the latest version of the peripheral canal, which voters soundly rejected years ago. The other is entrenched urban and agricultural interests, which are already refueling Brown’s reelection campaign. On my way to L.A., I noticed signs peppered all over the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley, an alkaline desert that receives a large of portion of Delta water. I’d read that the area had drainage issues, so I got my boots dirty, again—actually my sandals dusty.
I learned that in 1980s, west side drainage water caused massive bird, fish and livestock deformities at Kesterson Reservoir, due to selenium, a naturally occurring mineral, which is toxic in large doses. Selenium can’t be removed nor can it be diluted with more water. It bio-accumulates and works its way up the food chain. The current proposed solution? Filter it into a toxic sludge, and then dispose of it somewhere else. The hard truth? West side farming isn’t suitable for irrigated agriculture in the long run because of the drainage problem, but there are other viable uses for the land, like dry cropping or solar farming, and some land has been retired. Herein lies a potent solution.
Consider that 1.3 million acres on the west side is impaired because of salt and selenium buildup. Gradually retiring these lands might free up nearly 4 million acre-feet of water, which happens to be enough to fulfill the public trust recommendations for flows for the north and south delta. That’s not all the water that’s needed, but it would go a long way. That and effective conservation would solve the primary problems associated with the water supply and the ecosystem.
But BDCP continues to go another direction.
The California State Seal Outside the Natural Resources Building
At the last public budget meeting, Dr. David Sunding spoke about a benefit-cost analysis for the tunnels. I wondered how he could justify the project since it’s well-known that conservation is the cheapest way to create new supplies, and the $23 to $50 billion tunnel project won’t increase supplies. I quickly learned that the fundamental assumptions behind Sunding’s budget analysis are so heavily skewed towards the tunnels; they’re essentially false. He assumes that urban water use will increase, and that agriculture use will remain steady. Yet, urban use has declined or remained flat since the 1990s, despite an increase in population. Agriculture demand has also declined, due to improvements in efficiency, among other things.
Instead of dealing straight, the BDCP is trumping up data and attempting to get science to match the tunnel project. It could bolster new industries, create high-paying jobs and preserve one of the most bio-diverse and beautiful places in the country, both its agriculture and its environment. But integrity and honesty would have to take the lead, along with a strong conservation program. Instead, the BDCP is feeding the public false data to build a project that will not serve anyone in the long run.
What happening now? Most immediately, the State Water Board is holding a hearing on Wednesday, March 20 at 9 a.m. in the Coastal Hearing Room, Cal/EPA Building, 1001 Street, Second Floor, Sacramento. The meeting regards the public trust recommendations for Delta flows; the Board is currently considering lowering its standards. Comments can be emailed to commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov by March 29, 2013. Include “Comment Letter – Bay Delta Plan SED” in the subject line.
The next BDCP meeting is also on March 20. It begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Ramada in West Sacramento, on 1250 Halyard Drive.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.—E. F. Schumacher
The BDCP Meeting(s) Get Heated: A Benefits Analysis, Angry Environmental Groups, 57 Threatened Species & 100,000 Acre-Feet
Staten Island in the Delta, Photo by Deanna Lynn Wulff
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), also known as the twin tunnels or the latest version of the peripheral canal, recently held two public meetings with all the big players present, but with some interesting twists.
Presentations, given in the customary tight-lipped monotone, were interrupted by fiery environmental groups and the frank questions and remarks of Melinda Terry, Manager of the North Delta Water Agency.
“We really don’t have an avenue in this process, and it’s been very frustrating,” Terry said. “My one plea is going to be, when you come out with your draft, please don’t indicate that it really had the input of these stakeholders and that we helped develop it. My agency will be put in a position to refute that.”
Terry represents a district, which exists to protect Delta farmers, who get their irrigation water directly from the Sacramento River and its tributaries. The district has a contract with the Department of Water Resources, which forbids the state from harming the agency. If the BDCP builds its tunnel intake in the north delta, water quality could be affected and so could the habitat for 57 threatened species.
And environmental groups are up in arms.
Sandhill Crane in a corn field on Staten Island. Photo by Deanna Lynn Wulff
“We will continue to oppose the tunnels or any of the peripheral export schemes,” said Nick Di Croce, Co-Facilitator of the Environmental Water Caucus, a collection of 30 conservation groups. “We are pushing for taking less water out of the Delta; let’s make up for the reduced exports with conservation and efficiency.”
The reduced exports that Di Croce refers to, relate to environmental protections, which restrict water exports to state and federal contractors, like Metropolitan Water District, the Kern County Water Agency and Westlands Water District. In a nutshell, there are 57 endangered and threatened species in the Delta, several of which have been decimated by the lack of water flowing through the system. The Delta’s primary tributaries have big problems. The San Joaquin River has often run dry due to diversions, and the Sacramento River is used to convey water to massive pumps that sit in the southern part of the estuary. The pumps draw water into the California Aqueduct and create a north to south flow across a tidal estuary, which is meant to flow east to west, causing rivers to flow backwards and entrapping thousands of endangered fish en route to spawn, including steelhead and salmon.
The BDCP is supposed to be a habitat conservation plan, but the twin tunnels have dominated the conversation. The original hope was that by increasing Delta land habitat, the BDCP could increase water exports and build a new intake in the northern part of the Delta. Last February, the BDCP planned to increase exports by 15 to 24 percent. But the Delta ecosystem is in dire need of more water—not less. This isn’t news to anyone. The State Water Resources Control Board issued public trust recommendations in 2010, which indicated that Delta water use needs to decline by nearly 50 percent. Addressing this issue directly has not been a primary tenet of the BDCP. Instead, BDCP planners are still talking tunnels.
Questionable Fiscal Benefits of the BDCP’s Twin Tunnels
The California State Seal on the Natural Resources Building in Sacramento. Photo by Deanna Lynn Wulff
At another BDCP meeting held at the Natural Resources Building, the benefits of the tunnel plan were outlined in a presentation given by Dr. David Sunding, a Professor in the College of Natural Resources at U.C. Berkeley.
Under hypothetical modeling conditions, the BDCP’s current selected alternative could increase urban supplies on average less than 100,000 acre-feet annually during shortages. That increases urban reliability less than 1 percent. Meanwhile, effective conservation measures could yield millions of acre-feet in new water supplies at lower costs.
Sunding’s underlying assumptions are that urban demand will grow and that agricultural demand will remain steady. “It’s not clear whether his urban demand calculations use up-to-date population forecasts,” said Dr. Jeffrey Michael, the Director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific.
Sunding noted that his report was based on conditional data, but he could not be reached to discuss his modeling techniques and research, despite repeated phone calls and emails. Sunding will begin work on a benefit-cost analysis to determine the value of the $23 to $50 billion project. As yet, it is unclear what data will be included in that study. Thus far, only the benefits of the project have been evaluated, without the capital costs of the project included. Until this meeting, the BDCP had refused to perform a cost-benefit analysis.
Why the reversal? No one knows exactly. ”I can only speculate that they felt political pressure, and it’s inevitable, they would prefer to control the process,” Michael said. “I am happy that they are working on it, but it has to be compared to a no-tunnel alternative that satisfies the ESA (Endangered Species Act).” That kind of comparison could keep the environmental benefits of conservation from distorting the fiscal analysis of the tunnels. An economic evaluation of Sunding’s presentation is also available on Dr. Jeffrey Michael’s blog.
What’s Next?
The BDCP promises to release updated flow recommendations and hold another meeting in January or February. If all goes as usual, the presentations won’t be publicly released until the day of the meeting or the day after the meeting, making public participation and direct inquiry difficult.
Thus far, the BDCP has revised its predicted level of exports in a downward direction. The original plan, presented nearly a year ago, was to increase exports to 5.9 million acre-feet, then it was downsized to 5.3 million acre-feet. The current range recommended by state and federal wildlife agencies in May hovers around 4.3 to 4.7 million acre-feet, but that amount is a moving target, which few will commit to. Instead, the agencies refer to an adaptive management program, which is notably vague.
What remains implacable is a court-ordered export limit of 4.9 million acre-feet, which is about a million-acre feet shy of the public trust recommendations. According to the Doctrine of Public Trust, it is the duty of the state to protect the people’s common heritage to streams, rivers, lakes, marshlands and tidelands—all components of the Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast.
PG&E TO SEND MORE THAN 150 ELECTRIC PERSONNEL TO NEW YORK TO HELP RESTORE POWER IN AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE SANDY
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.— Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced today that it is sending more than 150 employees to New York to help restore power in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Crews from all over PG&E’s Northern and Central California service area will depart from Sacramento within the next couple of days.
“Providing support to other utilities throughout the nation during major natural disasters is one of the hallmarks of PG&E and the electric utility industry,” said Geisha Williams, executive vice president of electric operations. “The men and women of PG&E are proud to help restore power to the victims of Hurricane Sandy, who are expected to experience widespread and long-term outages. We pulled crews from throughout our service area so that we can continue to provide safe, reliable and affordable electric service to our customers here in California while also providing critical restoration assistance in New York.”
Many utility companies in the storm’s projected path are calling upon extra workers and resources from across the country through the industry’s Mutual Aid Network. PG&E is part of the network of U.S. utilities that call on one another to assist in power restoration efforts after major events like hurricanes, winter storms and wildfires.
PG&E has coordinated with Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies, and the Mutual Aid Network to determine where its assistance would be most beneficial. PG&E resources will assist Con Edison in New York City and Westchester County.
PG&E will send overhead and underground maintenance and construction crews, electric first responders who determine the cause of an outage and how best to restore power, and damage assessment personnel. The utility will also send logistics support and field safety personnel.
As many as 10 states along the Eastern Seaboard — Virginia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, as well as Washington, DC, — have declared states of emergency. Additionally, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Connecticut have announced evacuations in certain parts of their states.
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Information provided by PG&E
Lower Sacramento Road Underpass to Open Tomorrow After Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
Stockton, CA —Members of the public are invited to join the City of Stockton in celebrating the opening of the underpass on Lower Sacramento Road at Whistler Way/Grider Way. Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston and Councilmember Elbert Holman; Steve Dial, Deputy Executive Director/Chief Finance Officer, San Joaquin Council of Governments; San Joaquin County Supervisor Ken Vogel; and other local dignitaries will be present to join in the celebration.
Opening ceremonies will be held tomorrow, Thursday, November 1, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. on the south side of the underpass at Whistler Way/Grider Way. Immediately following the ceremony, Lower Sacramento Road will be open to vehicular traffic.
The new railroad bridge crossing and underpass has been designed to accommodate the ultimate width of Lower Sacramento Road according to the City’s General Plan. The new underpass improves safety to vehicles traveling on Lower Sacramento Road and allows emergency responders and other vehicles to cross under the railroad tracks unimpeded.
Project partners include area residents and businesses, San Joaquin Council of Governments, San Joaquin County, California Department of Transportation, California Transportation Commission, and Union Pacific Railroad. RGW Construction, Inc. is the contractor. Construction management is being provided by the City of Stockton and PSOMAS.
The project was designed by Mark Thomas & Company, Inc. and includes public art elements by Vicki Scuri, VS SiteWorks.
The Lower Sacramento Road underpass is part of the $50 million North Stockton Railroad Grade Separations Project which also includes two overcrossings: Eight Mile Road/Union Pacific Railroad (West) Bridge Overcrossing and Eight Mile Road/Union Pacific (East) Bridge Overcrossing. The Project is funded by Measure K (the voter-approved, half-cent sales tax), California Proposition 1B bonds, State-Local Partnership Program, and the Union Pacific Railroad. City of Stockton General Funds have not been used in constructing this project.
Annual Holiday Ballet Folklorico “Posada Navideña”; Set for December 2 at Modesto’s Gallo Center for the Ar ts
Sacramento, CA – Continuing in a grand tradition,Compañía Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento announces the annual holiday, “Posada Navideña” set for Sunday, December 2 at The Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, CA.
Compañía Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento presents a festival of vibrant sound and shimmering colors in this special Mexican Christmas production. Featuring 30 dancers and live musicians, this south-of-the-border celebration includes a traditional Christmas processional (posada), Mexican holiday songs (villancicos), a visit from the Three Wise Men, a festive piñata scene and a vibrant holiday finale performed in the spirit of a true fiesta. In addition
to its seasonal flavor, “Posada Navideña” provides a whirlwind tour of Mexico’s many distinct cultural regions, from Veracruz to
Guerrero to Jalisco, all with live musical accompaniment. And, a brand new piece, "Yucatan- Fiesta del pueblo!," choreographed by CMBA guest artist
David Lopez-Mancilla, will debut this holiday season.
Watch a short preview of the Posada here:
Gallo Center for the Arts
Mary Stuart Rogers Theater
1000 I Street
Modesto, CA 95354
$10-$40
Tickets available now : www.galloarts.org
CMBA HISTORY:
In the beginning in 1994, founder and Executive Director Yolanda Colosio, began teaching traditional folk dances of Mexico to about 20 students. She brought fabrics, buttons and decorative notions back from her homeland trips and custom-created all (and still does) the many regional costumes by hand.
Her students’ small group performances quickly found an audience. They became regulars at regional fairs and holiday celebrations. The school attracted more students, exceptional ones, and so a professional dance company was born. In 1998, a youngenergeticprofessional dancer/ choreographer, Steven Valencia, was brought in as Artistic Director.The name changed to Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes for the school and Compañía Mazatlán Bellas Artesfor the professional company. Along with the growing acclaim, were performances at prestigious venues, bigger audiences.
Since 2000, CMBA has toured throughout California and the southwest as well as in China and Mexico, winning national and international competitions.
In the spring, they will be traveling to perform at the 2013 International Folk Festival in Tennessee. The faculty have impressive performance backgroundsand have danced with many of the most prestigious companies in the Mexico, including Ballet Folklórico de Mexico, La Universidad de Guadalajara,
La Universidad de Colima, Instituto National de Bellas Artes (Campeche), and the Sacramento Ballet.
"Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento has long been established in our region and around California as one of the most authentic and committed of Mexican folkloric dance companies," said Mondavi Center Executive Director Don Roth of their 2008 performance there.
Cultural affirmation through folklórico is an important notion for Valencia, one of ten Californians to receive The 2011 Maestro Award from The Latino Arts Network of California. The Latino Arts Network (LAN) partnered with the California Arts Council to "identify and honor individuals who are masters of cultural practice who have demonstrated a commitment to community-based work and who have distinguished themselves as Masters in their field."
In late 2011, the sister school to the professional company, Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes, realized a dream with the opening of a brand new dance center “Studio 4300”at 4300 Stockton Blvd in Sacramento where they champion “A New Space to Dance. A New Space to Teach. Open to All Forms of Dance & Performing Arts.” The School of Dance educates students interested in Mexican folklore, teaches the fundamentals of dance, and trains students to become performing artists, offerings classes for all ages and levels from all different backgrounds. IMBA’s attention to developing social responsibility within the community is visible in its ongoing scholarship program.
Celebrating Chávez Monument, But Where Are Farm Workers Now?
New America Media, Video, Ivan Delgado, Aurora Saldivar, Johnny Flores, Posted: Oct 11, 2012
KEENE, Calif. — On October 8, 2012, over 6,000 people descended upon Villa La Paz — the home, operational headquarters and final resting place of civil rights and labor leader César Chávez — for President Barack Obama’s dedication of the César Chávez National Monument. They came from throughout the country to see this 187-acre property in the foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains take its place among national monuments such as the Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon.
Although the dedication was celebratory in tone, many in attendance acknowledged that the dreams Chávez had for farm workers — such as fair wages, safe working conditions, job protection, dignity and respect — have not been entirely fulfilled.
Estimates put the number of seasonal and migrant farm workers in the United States at more than 3 million, and while farm workers form the backbone of a national agriculture industry that is projected to generate more than $222 billion in crop sales in 2012 alone, many of those who toil in the fields — more than four decades after the formation of the UFW — continue to live an impoverished life in the shadows of society, collecting low hourly wages and sometimes paid by the piece, or amount, of produce they can harvest.
As recently as 2009, 23 percent of farm worker families were found to have a total household income below the national poverty guidline.
Sub-standard housing continues to be a chronic issue for farm workers, in particular migrant workers who travel to keep up with regional crop harvests. In a 2007 survey conducted among migrant workers based in the Coachella Valley, 30 percent of workers surveyed reported living in housing "not meant for human habitation" — camping outdoors, living out of their automobiles or converted, overcrowded garage spaces.
Despite the obvious challenges that remain, the unveiling of the the Chávez National Monument in Keene and the emotional response of those who bore witness to it, were a reminder that the hopeful spirit embodied in the UFW rallying cry, sí se puede (yes, it can be done), remains present in the hearts and minds of many Californians.
The slideshow was produced by youth reporters from Coachella Unincorporated, a community and youth-led news outlet founded by New America Media to serve residents of the Eastern Coachella Valley, the fifth largest agriculture producing region in the nation and home to many farm worker families. Coachella Unincorporated is supported by a grant from The California Endowment.
Stockton Traffic Advisory: Brookside, Swain and River Roads Under I-5
STOCKTON, CA – Caltrans would like to update drivers on the closures at Brookside, Swain and River Roads as part of the Interstate 5 (I-5) North Stockton Improvement Project.
Brookside Road under I-5 is scheduled to re-open the week of October 15, 2012, once the falsework has been removed.
Swain Road is scheduled to close the week of October 22, 2012, to vehicle traffic while crews work to widen I-5 in the median at that location.
River Road is scheduled to re-open in March, 2013. The closure has been extended due to a delay in construction activities from flood control oversight activities, the availability of equipment and materials and other construction related issues.
These closures are necessary for the safety of motorists during bridge construction. Because of clearances, and the construction activities, there is not enough vertical clearance under these structures for the installation of falsework unless the road is closed.
Caltrans would like to apologize for the inconvenience caused by closing these roads, but assures you it is necessary in order to complete the widening of I-5 prior to starting on Stage 2 of the project. We appreciate drivers’ patience as we work to improve I-5 through Stockton. —
Information provided by Caltrans
A new study examines the behavior of smokers among people from Mexico and Mexican Americans
SACRAMENTO, CA – Led by researchers at UC Davis, the first study of smoking and transnational migration from Mexico to the United states and that of Mexican Americans born in the United States start smoking at a younger age but are more likely to quit their counterparts in Mexico. Continue reading
Mexico’s Independance Celebrated in Stockton
Coat of arms of Mexico. Español: Escudo Nacional de México. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(bw) STOCKTON, CA - Saint Mary’s Church in Stockton California and La Jamaica Hall will host a celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day Continue reading
SJ Bar Association Offers Free Law Clinic
STOCKTON, CA- San Joaquin County residents now have a place to answer their legal questions and get free legal advice. Continue reading
The BDCP Circus Continues –Toilets, Tunnels, Exports & Scientific Data Ignored
The Tuolumne River is a tributary the San Joaquin River, which flows into the Delta.
Of the 38 million people affected by the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), at least 60 phoned in to get an update last week. The public meeting held in Sacramento was chaotic, with sounds of dogs barking, neighborhood chit-chat and the double-toilet-flush from the call-in listeners who forgot to mute their lines.
Despite the bizarre atmosphere, serious clarifications were made regarding the big-picture plan to build two giant tunnels through or around the Delta—the largest estuary on the West Coast.
Gov. Brown’s tunnel conveyance plan continues to dance around the science, although the project’s leaders have publicly claimed to embrace it.
The latest news? The current plan being pushed ahead is an operations proposal known as Alternative 4. That alternative intends to raise the limit on exports for south of delta contractors from an average of 4.9 million acre-feet to 5.3 million acre-feet.
And that may be a problem—4.9 isn’t an arbitrary number. It’s a vetted biological opinion put in place to keep key species, such as delta smelt, chinook salmon and steelhead from perishing forever. Among other things, water diversions and pumping have severely impacted the beleaguered estuary. Giant pumps sit in the south Delta and send water uphill to drier parts of the state, including Los Angeles, the Central Valley and Santa Clara. When the pumps operate, rivers flow in the reverse direction and entrap fish trying to spawn. On average, 95 percent of juvenile San Joaquin River salmon and 60 percent of Sacramento River salmon don’t survive migration through the Delta. The biological opinion limits the damage.
“It was widely recognized that the alternatives analyzed in the February effects analysis would lead to further fishery declines and the likely extinction of several salmon runs,” said Kate Poole, Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The state has promised that BDCP would be a science-driven process and would recover the ecosystem and imperiled salmon and other fisheries.” Choosing Alternative 4 means that the process is not being driven by science, Poole added.
What’s driving the process seems to be the state and federal contractors who are funding the BDCP, and their interest lies in increasing water exports.
Regardless, fish and other wildlife need fresh water flowing through the system, and a lot more than they’re getting. The public trust recommendations for flow, as set forth by the State Water Resources Control Board, would limit exports to 3.7 to 3.9 million acre-feet. That’s more than a million-acre feet less than the current proposal.
But there is a caveat. The current plan suggests that by increasing land habitat more water can be exported—although it is unclear whether scientific studies will validate that.
“They keep saying trust us; we will build it now and figure out the science later,” said Bill Jennings,the Executive Director of California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA). “We no longer trust those who guided these species to the brink of extinction to do the right thing. The science and assurances must come first.”
State and federal wildlife agencies are responsible for permitting the BDCP, and they are trying to ensure that science does come first, but they’re still working out the numbers. Remediating habitat is an important part of that process as well. The Delta has only five percent of its original wetlands intact.
The costs are another matter. It’s an expensive project and who will pay for it appears to be in flux.
“At least they are being honest that they expect more water,” said Dr. Jeffrey-Michael, Director of the Business Forecasting Center at the Eberhardt School of Business. “But from a benefit-cost perspective for the state, 5.3 million acre-feet is still not enough to justify the costs of the project. It is not a good project for the state. The fact that they won’t do an official analysis shows the truth to that. If they could prove its value, believe me, they would do it.”
The project cost hovers around $23 billion, with an additional $1.1 billion in debt servicing for 35 years. The debt costs nearly double the price. Currently, contractors are set to pay 75 percent of the costs, and taxpayers the other 25 percent. But those percentages will be adjusted in the future, as noted at the meeting.
Funds from state bonds provided 78 percent of the financing for the construction of the original State Water Project.
Other details were not discussed, in particular, the total capacity of the system to export water. The topic makes local delta farmers nervous. They rely on fresh water from the Sacramento River to irrigate their crops, and the tunnels may affect that. At the meeting, one commenter verbalized his concern that the project would “bleed the river dry.”
The California Aqueduct along Highway 5
The current alternative decreases the intake size of the proposed tunnels and limits tunnel exports to 6.5 million acre-feet a year. But that’s an incomplete picture of the system. The pumps in the southern end of the Delta will still be there, and they also have a similar export capacity.
Thus, the only physically limiting factor is the size of the California Aqueduct. The system would have the capacity to export nearly 10 million acre-feet a year.
Mike Taugher, Communications Director for the California Department of Fish and Game, carefully noted that the state pumps have always had the capacity to export more water, but they’ve always been limited by operational regulations.
What next? More meetings and a forthcoming Environmental Impact Report.
I Have a Voice: Memoirs of Our Community
STOCKTON, CA – Friday, September 14 2012 the Mexican Heritage Center in collaboration with the Bilingual Weekly will host a reception for the exhibition called, I Have a Voice: Memoirs of Our Community.
Ace Tomato workers continue to fight for a fair contract
MANTECA, CA- Dozens of farm workers and community supporters gathered across from ACE Tomato company’s headquarters in Manteca on Tuesday, August 21st, to demanding the company to implement a fair contract. Continue reading
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