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Urgent Action Alert: Water Contractors File New Water Bond Measure!
This morning the California Chamber of Commerce filed yet another version of a "water contractors bail out" bond filled with new language to incorporate recommendations for "conveyance" - the peripheral canal - to the Delta Vision Task Force and members of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. Of course, the water barons are not including any possibility of reducing, rather than increasing, water exports from the Delta in their water measure. "Like the multi-headed Hydra, the push for a water bond, that includes a peripheral canal, seems to continually spring a new head despite our efforts," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta.
This resurrected water boondoggle is being introduced at a time when the Delta ecosystem and Central Valley salmon stocks are collapsing. The California Department of Fish and Game recently released the results of the fall mid water trawl suvey data that revealed that delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, American shad and juvenile striped bass populations continue to plummet. Meanwhile, the Pacific Fishery Management Council last week disclosed that Central Valley salmon stocks are in "unprecedented collapse," declining from 802,000 fish in 2002 to 90,000 fish in 2007.
Massive increases of water exports from the Delta by the state and federal governments over the past several years are believed to be the main culprit behind the pelagic fish and salmon population crashes. The state and federal water projects exported 7,000,000 acre feet of water, a new record for water exports, from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, in 2007. This massive delivery of water to subsidized agribusiness and southern California can no longer continue if we want to see salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, striped bass and other fish populations restored.
Parrilla is urging everybody to call Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Diane Feinstein to let them them know you are opposed to the water bond initiatives proposed by the California Chamber of Commerce. If you live in Representative Ellen Tauscher's District, make sure that you call her also.
Here's today's action alert from Parrilla, who is working with California Delta anglers, farmers and residents to stop the peripheral canal and restore the estuary. I urge to make your calls RIGHT NOW!
This resurrected water boondoggle is being introduced at a time when the Delta ecosystem and Central Valley salmon stocks are collapsing. The California Department of Fish and Game recently released the results of the fall mid water trawl suvey data that revealed that delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, American shad and juvenile striped bass populations continue to plummet. Meanwhile, the Pacific Fishery Management Council last week disclosed that Central Valley salmon stocks are in "unprecedented collapse," declining from 802,000 fish in 2002 to 90,000 fish in 2007.
Massive increases of water exports from the Delta by the state and federal governments over the past several years are believed to be the main culprit behind the pelagic fish and salmon population crashes. The state and federal water projects exported 7,000,000 acre feet of water, a new record for water exports, from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, in 2007. This massive delivery of water to subsidized agribusiness and southern California can no longer continue if we want to see salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, striped bass and other fish populations restored.
Parrilla is urging everybody to call Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Diane Feinstein to let them them know you are opposed to the water bond initiatives proposed by the California Chamber of Commerce. If you live in Representative Ellen Tauscher's District, make sure that you call her also.
Here's today's action alert from Parrilla, who is working with California Delta anglers, farmers and residents to stop the peripheral canal and restore the estuary. I urge to make your calls RIGHT NOW!
Dear Restore the Delta supporters,
Last week, we asked you all to sign on to an urgent letter which we sent to Governor Schwarzenegger in response to the water bond initiatives that have been filed by the California Chamber of Commerce. Our goal was to make it clear to the Governor and Senator Feinstein why the Chamber’s initiatives are bad for the Delta and bad for the state budget – both of which are at critical junctures.
But like the multi-headed Hydra, the push for a water bond, that includes a peripheral canal, seems to continually spring a new head despite our efforts. This morning the California Chamber of Commerce filed yet another version of a bond filled with new language to incorporate conveyance recommendations to the Delta Vision Task Force and the members of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, rather than allowing these processes to move toward their own conclusions. And of course, nothing in these bonds speak of a permanent reduction in water exports from the California Delta.
In other words, rather than stating directly in this fifth bond proposal their support for building the peripheral canal as they did in their first version, the California Chamber is now playing a shell game with language to cover their true intention with California’s voters– a new water conveyance system that in turn will finish off the estuary.
We also understand that the Chamber is continuing to lobby Senator Diane Feinstein and Governor Schwarzenegger to support their initiatives.
Today, we are asking Restore the Delta supporters to please do the following. First, call Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Feinstein and let them know that you are opposed to the water bond initiatives proposed by the California Chamber of Commerce. You will find their phone numbers at the end of this email. If you need talking points, you will find last week’s letter copied below.
Second, if you live in Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher’s District, please contact her and ask her to let Senator Feinstein know that the Chamber’s water bond initiatives are bad for the California Delta. Likewise, you will find Representative Tauscher’s number at the end of this email.
Please respond to our action alert as soon as possible. And if you can, drop us an email to let us know that you called.
Thank you for your support as we work to protect the California Delta.
Yours in solidarity for the Delta,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Senator Diane Feinstein -- (415) 393-0707 San Francisco Office
(310) 914-7300 Los Angeles Office
(619) 231-9712 San Diego Office
(559) 485-7430 Fresno Office
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- 916-445-2841
Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher – (925) 757-7187 – Antioch Office
(925) 932-8899 Walnut Creek Office
(707) 428-7792 Fairfield Office
***************************************************************************************************************
January 28, 2008
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
The purpose of this letter is to express Restore the Delta’s opposition to the four Chamber of Commerce Water Bond Initiatives that have been filed with the Secretary of State. Restore the Delta -- the Delta’s grassroots campaign consisting of concerned citizens, fishermen, farmers, people of faith, environmentalists, boaters, wake boarders, and local Delta business leaders – knows that each of these four initiatives would undermine the health of the California Delta, our state’s most important aquatic ecosystem.
What is even more alarming is that one of the Chamber’s initiatives would mandate the construction of a Peripheral Canal, without any meaningful protections for the Delta’s ecosystem. Whereas current science indicates that a real and lasting reduction in water exports is necessary for bringing Delta fisheries back from the brink of irreversible destruction, the Chamber is poised to push an initiative that will fail to remedy the eco-emergency at hand, only to devise a new way to send water south ten years from now.
Restore the Delta also maintains that each of these Chamber proposals would be detrimental to California’s economy and, in fact, would do little to bolster California’s water supply. First off, the annual repayment for these bonds would add a half a billion dollars to our annual budget for years to come – at a time when funding for schools and other vital services is being cut. Second, initial cost estimates for new dam projects that could be funded by these bonds reveal that they are extraordinarily expensive and produce little water. The state’s own State Water Plan found that there is far more water available from conservation, wastewater recycling and better groundwater management for significantly fewer investment dollars than from the construction of these new dams.
Even more infuriating to Delta locals is that most of the water from these proposed dam projects sent via the peripheral canal would likely go to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests, the same groups who have driven the record setting Delta exports of the last eight years – all to the detriment of our communities. And our urban neighbors, from throughout the state, while footing the bill, would see little water for their dollar spent.
Last, each initiative would undermine the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force. The Task Force, which was created by legislation and an executive order, enjoys strong support and has recommended reforms in the agencies that govern the Delta. These bonds would take that reform decisions out of the hands of the Task Force and the legislature, and, instead, would put in motion new Delta conveyance facilities without a comprehensive plan to restore the California Delta.
We thank you for your consideration of our points expressed in this letter.
Respectfully yours,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Cc: Senator Diane Feinstein
Cc: Congressman Jerry McNerney
Cc: Congressman George Miller
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Making the Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable by 2010!
Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org
http://www.restorethedelta.org
ph: 209-479-2053
PO Box 691088
Stockton, CA 95269
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Making the Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable by 2010!
Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org
http://www.restorethedelta.org
ph: 209-479-2053
PO Box 691088
Stockton, CA 95269
Last week, we asked you all to sign on to an urgent letter which we sent to Governor Schwarzenegger in response to the water bond initiatives that have been filed by the California Chamber of Commerce. Our goal was to make it clear to the Governor and Senator Feinstein why the Chamber’s initiatives are bad for the Delta and bad for the state budget – both of which are at critical junctures.
But like the multi-headed Hydra, the push for a water bond, that includes a peripheral canal, seems to continually spring a new head despite our efforts. This morning the California Chamber of Commerce filed yet another version of a bond filled with new language to incorporate conveyance recommendations to the Delta Vision Task Force and the members of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, rather than allowing these processes to move toward their own conclusions. And of course, nothing in these bonds speak of a permanent reduction in water exports from the California Delta.
In other words, rather than stating directly in this fifth bond proposal their support for building the peripheral canal as they did in their first version, the California Chamber is now playing a shell game with language to cover their true intention with California’s voters– a new water conveyance system that in turn will finish off the estuary.
We also understand that the Chamber is continuing to lobby Senator Diane Feinstein and Governor Schwarzenegger to support their initiatives.
Today, we are asking Restore the Delta supporters to please do the following. First, call Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Feinstein and let them know that you are opposed to the water bond initiatives proposed by the California Chamber of Commerce. You will find their phone numbers at the end of this email. If you need talking points, you will find last week’s letter copied below.
Second, if you live in Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher’s District, please contact her and ask her to let Senator Feinstein know that the Chamber’s water bond initiatives are bad for the California Delta. Likewise, you will find Representative Tauscher’s number at the end of this email.
Please respond to our action alert as soon as possible. And if you can, drop us an email to let us know that you called.
Thank you for your support as we work to protect the California Delta.
Yours in solidarity for the Delta,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Senator Diane Feinstein -- (415) 393-0707 San Francisco Office
(310) 914-7300 Los Angeles Office
(619) 231-9712 San Diego Office
(559) 485-7430 Fresno Office
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- 916-445-2841
Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher – (925) 757-7187 – Antioch Office
(925) 932-8899 Walnut Creek Office
(707) 428-7792 Fairfield Office
***************************************************************************************************************
January 28, 2008
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
The purpose of this letter is to express Restore the Delta’s opposition to the four Chamber of Commerce Water Bond Initiatives that have been filed with the Secretary of State. Restore the Delta -- the Delta’s grassroots campaign consisting of concerned citizens, fishermen, farmers, people of faith, environmentalists, boaters, wake boarders, and local Delta business leaders – knows that each of these four initiatives would undermine the health of the California Delta, our state’s most important aquatic ecosystem.
What is even more alarming is that one of the Chamber’s initiatives would mandate the construction of a Peripheral Canal, without any meaningful protections for the Delta’s ecosystem. Whereas current science indicates that a real and lasting reduction in water exports is necessary for bringing Delta fisheries back from the brink of irreversible destruction, the Chamber is poised to push an initiative that will fail to remedy the eco-emergency at hand, only to devise a new way to send water south ten years from now.
Restore the Delta also maintains that each of these Chamber proposals would be detrimental to California’s economy and, in fact, would do little to bolster California’s water supply. First off, the annual repayment for these bonds would add a half a billion dollars to our annual budget for years to come – at a time when funding for schools and other vital services is being cut. Second, initial cost estimates for new dam projects that could be funded by these bonds reveal that they are extraordinarily expensive and produce little water. The state’s own State Water Plan found that there is far more water available from conservation, wastewater recycling and better groundwater management for significantly fewer investment dollars than from the construction of these new dams.
Even more infuriating to Delta locals is that most of the water from these proposed dam projects sent via the peripheral canal would likely go to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests, the same groups who have driven the record setting Delta exports of the last eight years – all to the detriment of our communities. And our urban neighbors, from throughout the state, while footing the bill, would see little water for their dollar spent.
Last, each initiative would undermine the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force. The Task Force, which was created by legislation and an executive order, enjoys strong support and has recommended reforms in the agencies that govern the Delta. These bonds would take that reform decisions out of the hands of the Task Force and the legislature, and, instead, would put in motion new Delta conveyance facilities without a comprehensive plan to restore the California Delta.
We thank you for your consideration of our points expressed in this letter.
Respectfully yours,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Cc: Senator Diane Feinstein
Cc: Congressman Jerry McNerney
Cc: Congressman George Miller
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Making the Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable by 2010!
Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org
http://www.restorethedelta.org
ph: 209-479-2053
PO Box 691088
Stockton, CA 95269
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Campaign Director
Restore the Delta
Making the Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable by 2010!
Barbara [at] restorethedelta.org
http://www.restorethedelta.org
ph: 209-479-2053
PO Box 691088
Stockton, CA 95269
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