Mark V
03-15-2016, 01:11 PM
Thanks to top striper guide Maury Hatch for linking this article on his FB page:
https://www.change.org/p/most-important-action-you-can-take-stop-met-s-water-land-grab-in-the-delta
I sent my letter below via email, and urge everyone to do similarly.
The board of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Met) voted on March 8 to buy 20,000 acres of farm islands in the heart of the Delta. Two of the islands lie in the heart of the proposed tunnels route.
Jeff Kightlinger, Metropolitan’s general manager, told the Sacramento Bee the islands will be used as a staging ground for equipment, excavated dirt and other materials. But his Board of Directors is not unified. Board members from Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the San Diego County Water Authority voted no.
We need as many signatures as we can get by April 20th. Met will be holding a special meeting on the Delta islands purchase in April, they have put a down payment on the islands and are in escrow — but they have the ability to walk away from the deal.
How can Met afford the islands and then the Delta tunnels for which they are buying the islands for, if there is no longer the 40% financial contribution from Westlands Water District for the tunnels? We need everyone in Northern California to oppose the purchase of the Delta islands, they can’t buy a watershed.
Please sign this letter encouraging the Met's Board to reconsider this decision:
To: Office of the Board of Directors
Dawn Chin
(213) 217-6291
dchin@mwdh2o.com
Dear Metropolitan District Board Members,
Please reconsider your recent vote to purchase four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Please look at the dissenting votes of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Monica -- water districts that recognize that real water security for California will be achieved through conservation, recycling, local infrastructure upgrades, and new water technologies that will put more water back in the system.
Your own General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger told the Sacramento Bee following the vote that the four Delta islands in question will be used for staging construction of the Delta tunnels. But the EPA said last October 2015 that the tunnels project does not meet sound science standards and that according to recent admissions on the California Water Fix website will not result in any additional water for Southern California.
Developing regional self-reliance is the best way to provide a more reliable water supply. This requires investment in water conservation; maximizing waste water reuse and groundwater recharge; while capturing storm water and gray water, and fixing leaky pipes.
The Los Angeles-based nonprofit Economic Roundtable found that investments in water conservation create large numbers of jobs that pay sustaining wages, while reducing dependence on large, statewide diversion projects that have adverse environmental impacts.
Furthermore, Southern California labor unions have expressed interest in mass deployment of gray water systems and the economic expansion that will result. Jobs building water sustainability deliver benefits for decades.
Conservation costs just $210 per acre-foot of water according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. New conveyance and surface storage water projects cost between $760 to $2000 per acre-foot of water.
In Southern California, 2.7 million acre-feet of treated waste water – which could be used for irrigation – is dumped into the ocean annually. Treating and reusing urban waste water, gray water, and storm water can generate an additional 2 million acre-feet per year by 2030 and provide long-lasting employment.
The Water Replenishment District of Southern California recently unveiled plans for a water purification plant that would make the district entirely self-reliant on local water. Furthermore, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Urban Water Management Plan for 2010 set a goal of using 35 percent less imported water in Los Angeles and has presented a detailed plan.
Does it make financial sense for Metropolitan Water District to spend $200 million to purchase land to support an infrastructure project that will not meet Southern California's water needs?
Sincerely,
https://www.change.org/p/most-important-action-you-can-take-stop-met-s-water-land-grab-in-the-delta
I sent my letter below via email, and urge everyone to do similarly.
The board of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Met) voted on March 8 to buy 20,000 acres of farm islands in the heart of the Delta. Two of the islands lie in the heart of the proposed tunnels route.
Jeff Kightlinger, Metropolitan’s general manager, told the Sacramento Bee the islands will be used as a staging ground for equipment, excavated dirt and other materials. But his Board of Directors is not unified. Board members from Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the San Diego County Water Authority voted no.
We need as many signatures as we can get by April 20th. Met will be holding a special meeting on the Delta islands purchase in April, they have put a down payment on the islands and are in escrow — but they have the ability to walk away from the deal.
How can Met afford the islands and then the Delta tunnels for which they are buying the islands for, if there is no longer the 40% financial contribution from Westlands Water District for the tunnels? We need everyone in Northern California to oppose the purchase of the Delta islands, they can’t buy a watershed.
Please sign this letter encouraging the Met's Board to reconsider this decision:
To: Office of the Board of Directors
Dawn Chin
(213) 217-6291
dchin@mwdh2o.com
Dear Metropolitan District Board Members,
Please reconsider your recent vote to purchase four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Please look at the dissenting votes of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Monica -- water districts that recognize that real water security for California will be achieved through conservation, recycling, local infrastructure upgrades, and new water technologies that will put more water back in the system.
Your own General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger told the Sacramento Bee following the vote that the four Delta islands in question will be used for staging construction of the Delta tunnels. But the EPA said last October 2015 that the tunnels project does not meet sound science standards and that according to recent admissions on the California Water Fix website will not result in any additional water for Southern California.
Developing regional self-reliance is the best way to provide a more reliable water supply. This requires investment in water conservation; maximizing waste water reuse and groundwater recharge; while capturing storm water and gray water, and fixing leaky pipes.
The Los Angeles-based nonprofit Economic Roundtable found that investments in water conservation create large numbers of jobs that pay sustaining wages, while reducing dependence on large, statewide diversion projects that have adverse environmental impacts.
Furthermore, Southern California labor unions have expressed interest in mass deployment of gray water systems and the economic expansion that will result. Jobs building water sustainability deliver benefits for decades.
Conservation costs just $210 per acre-foot of water according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. New conveyance and surface storage water projects cost between $760 to $2000 per acre-foot of water.
In Southern California, 2.7 million acre-feet of treated waste water – which could be used for irrigation – is dumped into the ocean annually. Treating and reusing urban waste water, gray water, and storm water can generate an additional 2 million acre-feet per year by 2030 and provide long-lasting employment.
The Water Replenishment District of Southern California recently unveiled plans for a water purification plant that would make the district entirely self-reliant on local water. Furthermore, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Urban Water Management Plan for 2010 set a goal of using 35 percent less imported water in Los Angeles and has presented a detailed plan.
Does it make financial sense for Metropolitan Water District to spend $200 million to purchase land to support an infrastructure project that will not meet Southern California's water needs?
Sincerely,