[b]CSPA Advisory----Governor’s Staff DropsThe Ball! [/b]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/STRPBASS.gif
The South Delta Improvement Project (SDIP) - Moving Forward! :x :x :x :evil: :evil:

The campaign to stop the SDIP and additional water export from the Delta until the estuary’s foodweb and fisheries are restored has made an impact. The fishing and environmental community have put on enough pressure to delay the decision to export more water out of the Delta, but if we want to win the battle we have to write and telephone the Governor Now and keep doing it till he gets the message :!: :!:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...rmike/bang.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...rmike/bash.gif


The C.S.P.A.'s last advisory contained a copy of the letter we sent to the Governor on behalf of the “Allied Fishing Groups�. In this letter we carefully explained why we opposed any additional Delta exports. We asked for no more that what the government promised the public when they completed the CALFED Bay-Delta Program. This wasn’t the first time the government promised to restore our fisheries. If they had honored the Central Valley Project Improvement Act passed by Congress in1992, the anadromous fisheries of the Central Valley would have been doubled and maintained at viable levels by 2002.

The response to our letter from the Governor’s shop failed to address the crucial issues we raised! Instead they thanked us for “supporting additional funding for CALFED�, the very program that has failed to achieve the restoration promises made to the public! Given the magnitude of what is at stake, if the giant holes in the foodweb are not self correcting, we will surely see more parts of the foodweb collapse and additional declines of Central Valley salmon, steelhead, striped bass and American shad. If losing the productivity of the Delta is not bad enough, this could result in additional closures in salmon and steelhead fisheries.

Below you will find the Governor’s contact information and a copy of a letter his staff sent to many of those who emailed him asking for his help. That letter basically says it is OK for the SDIP to move forward, build the SDIP infrastructure and re-engineer the southern Delta. Once complete, then the government would decide if they want to increase exports from 6,680 cfs to 8,500 cfs, with other possible increases up to 10,500 cfs down the road.

They are going to do this while they try to scientifically determine the causes for the foodweb and fishery declines. If such a determination is possible it will probably take years of research. It makes little economic or policy sense to build additional export capacity and then find out it is the amount of water being exported that is driving the estuary into oblivion.

The handwriting is on the wall! When the government spends millions of dollars on a project, they intend to put it to use and that’s exactly what is likely to happen if they build more of the “Through Delta� facility infrastructure. While they couch this in terms that sound good, one must remember that “spin masters� abound in government and they would love you to be spun around by concepts like “reducing the straying of San Joaquin salmon into the south Delta�. What their email fails to note is that the salmon “stray� into the southern Delta because the water projects pumps suck them out of the lower San Joaquin River channels in the Delta into those of the water projects. They want to build permanent barriers to “reduce� the very impact they have created! It’s unfortunate the letter from our government could not manage to put this project element in the proper perspective!

The angling and commercial fishing groups have opposed building any part of this project until the problems with the estuary’s foodweb have been corrected and our fishery resources re-established at viable, self-sustaining levels. If and when the governments long unfulfilled promise is kept, then other considerations could be discussed that were not counter productive to the management and protection of the Delta’s aquatic resources.

Unfortunately, our groups may take all the public policy positions we like, but that does not mean the government will seriously consider our perspective. You – collectively– have the power to make them listen! Now is the time to let the Governor know that you are taking a stand for the estuary and its fisheries while there is still a reasonable opportunity to restore them! The best way to stop the SDIP is to contact Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger....

You can send a letter or card to him at:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

You can also call (916-445-2841) or fax (916-445-4633) his office. The message is simple. Ask the Governor to stop the plans of the Department of Water Resources to implement the South Delta Improvement Project and the export of any additional water out of Delta until our estuary and its fisheries are restored. Tell him that we’ve had a decade of broken promises that these public resources would be restored. Given the collapse of the Delta foodweb, now is the time to restore the estuary and our fisheries before any more water is exported out of the estuary!

You can mention that DWR’s recently released Bulletin 160 clearly demonstrates that the state's water needs will be met for at least the next decade with the existing water infrastructure. There is no water crisis that would justify the destruction of the Delta! It is time to raise our collective voice. The estuary is truly at stake!

For those who would like to see how the Governor’s shop is dealing with this situation, below I have provided a copy of the email from the Governor’s Office of Constituent Affairs. This document has been received by a number of our members and fishing groups in response to their email urging the Governor to put a halt to the SDIP.

John Beuttler
For CSPA

We all should call James Hicks at the Governors office (as I just did) and tell them they obviously haven't gotten the MESSAGE :!: :!:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...rmike/bash.gif

Sent 8-19-05
Re: Delta Fisheries

Thank you for your email expressing your opposition to increased water pumping from the San Francisco Bay-Delta. The work to ensure that California has enough water to support its growing population and economy, as well as to restore and maintain its ecological treasures, is both difficult and never-ending.

As you know, the CALFED Bay-Delta Program plays an important role in meeting California's future water needs and it must be part of the long-term water resource investment strategy for the state. Governor Schwarzenegger has directed Resources Agency Secretary Chrisman to work with the Secretaries for Food and Agriculture, Environmental Protection and the Chair of the California Bay-Delta Authority to develop just such a long-term strategy for stable water resources investment funding. This long-term funding strategy will ensure that we continue to improve water supply reliability, protect water quality and restore our ecosystems to support California's needs.

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) recently announced plans to release a draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/S) for the South Delta Improvements Program (SDIP). Objectives of the SDIP program include reducing the straying of San Joaquin salmon into the south Delta, maintaining adequate water levels and quality for local farmers and improving the State Water Project's delivery capability.

The proposed plan will be staged in two parts. The first stage involves physical components and would be accomplished by installing permanent operable gates, performing limited dredging and extending some agricultural diversions in the south
Delta.

The second stage, involving changes to increase the maximum rate at which the State Water Project is permitted to pump water from the Delta beginning in 2009, can be accomplished with no new construction. It is important to emphasize that while stage two planning will be underway during implementation of stage one, no action regarding increased pumping will take place until a decision is made on stage one.

The current water export limit is 6,680 cubic feet per second (except in the winter when the volume may be higher.) The proposed increase would bring the new pumping volume up to 8,500 cubic feet per second. Although this appears to be an increase of 27%, environmental constraints and hydrologic conditions would only allow the annual amount of water pumped to increase by less than 1% to 3%, depending on the alternate evaluated by the SDIP.

Recently, there have been declines in the population of several Delta fish species. Although the exact reason is not yet known, some theories include pesticides, invasive species and changes in State and Federal water operations. The Interagency Ecological Program has begun an aggressive $1.7 million augmentation of existing studies to look at the possible causes.

As this study proceeds, the DWR plans to release the draft EIR/S for the SDIP. This will give the public an opportunity to thoroughly review the plan and provide comments on the proposals. DWR officials will hold a series of workshops throughout the State to provide information, respond to questions and concerns and solicit recommendations. This public participation is vital to the decision-making process and the eventual implementation of any water use plan.

Again, thank you for your email. In California, we are faced with the difficult task of regulating a limited water supply so as to guarantee adequate resources for farming, industry, neighborhoods and wildlife. Together, we can meet the challenge.

Sincerely,


James Hicks
Office of Constituent Affairs

There you have it :!: :!:

Mike