Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Peripheral Canal - California Delta Update by Joe Canciamilla
Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta must not be destroyed just to send more water to southern California.
| Dear Stop the Canal Friends, Thought you might be interested in the latest news on the water wars as called to my attention by the group, Restore the Delta. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Governor Schwarzenegger, a number of state lawmakers and water interests met in Sacramento last week for a two-hour private meeting to discuss the future of water policy in California. |  |
For a more detailed article, try visiting Water war foes have discussion - Recordnet 22feb2008.
While the Legislature is regrouping after the defeat of Proposition 93, the Term Limits Initiative, the issue of a water bond and the need for a canal or bypass still percolates in Sacramento. In fact, the Southern California water interests are gearing up for a big fight. Water bond supporters call themselves Californians for Clean & Reliable Water. You have probably seen some of their commercials on television.
There’s a new group just formed to help fight the prospects of a new Delta bypass or canal. It’s “Californians for Clean, Safe Drinking Water.” You can see their new ad at Stop the Governor's Water Give-Away - YouTube.
We need to stay on top of what is happening in Sacramento, so that we are ready to fight any last-minute water deal that could come along. If you have any comments or thoughts to add as we work together to protect our water supply, please contact me via my website stopthecanal.org. Thanks.
Sincerely, Joe Canciamilla
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California needs a water policy that serves the entire state. The solutions to California's water supply crisis must serve the needs of all residents, not just the greedy special interests in southern California.
Guest Author Joe Canciamilla lives in the California Delta, is a former State Assemblyman and Chair of the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. Joe is forming stopthecanal.org to fight the California Governor's plan to build a peripheral canal to carry water around the California Delta.
For more information:
• Water supply crisis in the Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta, California 26dec2007.
• Stop the peripheral canal again - the California Delta crisis needs a better solution 19dec2007.
• Water Supply Policy and California River Conservation.
• California Delta Directory - Conservation, Recreation & Water Policy. (42 sites).
Tags: California Delta, water policy, water, water supply.
Labels: conservation
Comments:
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This is so short sighted...we need a canal, and we need it to be done correctly. No further damage to Sac'to or SJ Rivers has to be done, no greater amount of water will be sent to LA...the damage that's been done to the Delta can be reversed in large part. This will not be the same peripheral canal we voted down in 1982.
# posted by 
: 8:36 AM
: 8:36 AM
This is essentially the same peripheral canal that we rejected in the past and I continue to oppose it for the same reasons. Any new or old canal design that takes more clean water out of the system upstream will leave less clean water flowing through system, inevitably causing The Delta environment to be further degraded.
I understand that California's water system needs updating and upgrading, but I cannot support any new system that risks further destruction of The Delta just to send more water to southern California. If any change is to be made there must be ironclad protections for local use of water to support the economy and environment of northern California. In wet or normal years maybe there is some surplus water that could be exported to southern California, but exports must be severely reduced or totally eliminated in drought years.
I don't see how The Delta environment can be repaired without reducing the amount of water exported to southern California. Irrigation of the selenium-poisoned soils of the western San Joaquin valley must stop in order to protect the environment by reducing the amount of toxic agricultural wastewater flowing into The Delta via the San Joaquin River. Retiring this high-pollution agricultural district would have the double benefit of permanently reducing the amount of water that we need to export to southern California.
What we really need is more water conservation and water recycling in southern California. The current practice of dumping stormwater and treated wastewater into the ocean is a terrible waste of water. Those who choose to live in the deserts of southern California should pay the costs for treating 100% of this water to a high standard and then recycling that water to serve their needs.
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I understand that California's water system needs updating and upgrading, but I cannot support any new system that risks further destruction of The Delta just to send more water to southern California. If any change is to be made there must be ironclad protections for local use of water to support the economy and environment of northern California. In wet or normal years maybe there is some surplus water that could be exported to southern California, but exports must be severely reduced or totally eliminated in drought years.
I don't see how The Delta environment can be repaired without reducing the amount of water exported to southern California. Irrigation of the selenium-poisoned soils of the western San Joaquin valley must stop in order to protect the environment by reducing the amount of toxic agricultural wastewater flowing into The Delta via the San Joaquin River. Retiring this high-pollution agricultural district would have the double benefit of permanently reducing the amount of water that we need to export to southern California.
What we really need is more water conservation and water recycling in southern California. The current practice of dumping stormwater and treated wastewater into the ocean is a terrible waste of water. Those who choose to live in the deserts of southern California should pay the costs for treating 100% of this water to a high standard and then recycling that water to serve their needs.
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