[env-trinity] A Real Halloween Horror Show: Jerry Brown's Delta Death Tunnels

[Dan Bacher]

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/10/29/18779405.php

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/29/1442205/-A-Real-Halloween-Horror-Show-Jerry-Brown-s-Delta-Death-Tunnels

http://www.elkgrovenews.net/2015/10/a-real-halloween-horror-show-jerry.html


halloween-pumpkin-grim-re...

A Real Halloween Horror Show: Jerry Brown's Delta Death Tunnels

by Dan Bacher

The real life horror show of Governor Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels Plan  
keeps revealing its deadly surprises as the public comment period for  
the California Water Fix draws to a close on Friday, October 30.

Like an evil vampire that you just can't seem to kill, the Delta- 
destroying tunnels plan keeps coming back.

The voters overwhelmingly defeated the water-sucking and fish- 
exterminating vampire project, originally known as the Peripheral  
Canal, in November 1982.

However, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger resurrected the undead project  
from its electoral tomb starting in 2007 under new, less scary- 
sounding names - the Delta Vision Plan and the Bay Delta Conservation  
Plan - and did everything he could push the plan through without  
allowing the voters to vote, including pressuring the Legislation to  
pass a water policy/water bond package in November 2009 that cleared  
the path to the construction of the peripheral canal.

Jerry Brown embraced the water-guzzling vampire project of  
Schwarzenegger's as his own "legacy" when he entered his third term as  
Governor in January 2015 - and in fact fast-tracked the project as the  
peripheral canal became the twin tunnels.

However, after the scientists from Environmental Protection Agency,  
Delta Independent Science Board, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,  
National Academy of Sciences and every science panel examining the  
project issued scathing reports revealing how the tunnels could hasten  
the extinction of Central Valley salmon and steelhead, Delta and  
longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, the Brown and  
Obama administrations resurrected the conveyance plan as the  
"California Water Fix" - and stripped the "habitat restoration"  
component out of the plan to become the "Eco Restore" proposal.

In addition to hastening the extinction of Central Valley steelhead  
and salmon and other species, the killer project will imperil the  
salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.  
Massive quantities of water from Trinity Reservoir are diverted every  
year to the Sacramento River via a tunnel through the Trinity  
Mountains that releases the water into Whiskeytown Reservoir and then  
into Clear Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento.

New horrors unveiled: Kern County Water Agency demands unlimited water  
without restrictions!

Every week its seems that new horrors about the Delta-killing nature  
of the tunnels plan are revealed - and that was the case on October 28  
when Restore the Delta (RTD) exposed a new document that unveils the  
true goals of the Kern County Water Agency - "unlimited water, on  
demand, with few environmental restrictions."

If that it isn't scary at a time when endangered Sacramento winter-run  
Chinook salmon, Delta smelt and other imperiled fish species are  
getting closer and closer to the dark abyss of extinction, I don't  
know what is. If preliminary figures released by the National Marine  
Fisheries Service this week are confirmed, this would be the second  
year in a row that nearly all of the juvenile winter-run Chinook  
salmon perished in lethally warm water conditions on the Sacramento  
River, due to the over-appropriation of water to agribusiness.

“The bottom line is they (the state and federal regulators) ignored  
the law,” Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California  
Sportfishing Projection Alliance told the Sacramento Bee. “We’ve over- 
appropriated and over-promised, and this is the result.” (http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article41684160.html 
)

As the latest grim data on winter-run Chinook was unveiled, the Kern  
County Water Agency's draft public comments letter on the Recirculated  
EIR/S for the Delta Tunnels revealed the true goals of agricultural  
water exporters - "unlimited water supplies, even if it violates  
federal Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts," according to a  
statement from RTD.

In the letter the Kern County Water Agency (KWCA) declares  
appreciation for this revised draft because they believe it is “an  
important” first step toward creating a workable solution for their  
agency. Yet, they still want more; otherwise, the project is not  
“economically feasible.”

The letter reveals their goals: greater deliveries for the State Water  
Project and allowing for "adaptive management" with limited  
adjustments to the water supply of the project, RTD stated.

"Their demands are clear: Proposition 1 money to be used for water  
purchases (never mind that Prop 1 claimed no such thing would happen);  
no limits on supply to the State Water Project or the Central Valley  
Project during spring months (regardless of Delta fishery needs or  
Federal ESA protections)," said RTD.

The letter concludes:

"Finally, in addition to revising the operational criteria, the Agency  
requests that the description of the alternatives in the RDEIR/SDEIS  
be revised to clarify that the spring outflow criteria will be  
satisfied in accordance with the following hierarchy:

a. Available State and federal public funding will be used to purchase  
water necessary for spring outflow (e.g., through Proposition 1  
funding).
b. State and federal agencies will attempt to obtain additional water  
to satisfy the spring outflow criteria if it becomes available.
c. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and  
Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service will  
include spring outflow requirements in their permitting decisions on  
all issues related to water in the Delta watershed.
d. All other available sources of water will be considered by the Real  
Time Operations and/or Adaptive Management Program teams prior to  
reducing SWP and Central Valley Project (CVP) exports.
e. Water should be made available by the SWP and CVP only in amounts  
determined to be necessary by the Real Time Operations and/or Adaptive  
Management Program processes.
f. No spring outflow contributions should be required from the SWP or  
CVP for the first 10 years of Project operations.”

Page 124 -- http://www.kcwa.com/public/documents/PublicBoardPacket.pdf
User Name: publicuser
Password: kcwa1234

KCWA letter exposes Brown administration's "Big Lie"

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta,  
slammed the KCWA for demanding a project that "defies both nature and  
the law."

"It also exposes the big lie that BDCP officials and Governor Brown’s  
office have used to mollify San Francisco Bay-Delta residents and  
fishing communities who depend on a healthy Delta ecosystem," she  
said. "Tunnel proponents like BDCP Director Jerry Meral, DWR Director  
Mark Cowin, Resources Secretary John Laird, Fish and Wildlife Director  
Chuck Bonham, and California Water Fix Director Karla Nemeth have  
stated on numerous occasions that the project would not increase the  
total water exports from the Delta, it would simply rebalance where  
the water is being drawn from and the timing of exports, in a way that  
protects the Delta."

She said the Kern County Water Association comment "destroys that  
talking point" and reveals what Dr. Jeff Michael from the University  
of the Pacific has pointed out repeatedly -- the project is not cost  
effective for farmers without guaranteed water supply.

"The KCWA wants all the water they can use, delivered on their  
schedule, even if it pushes protected species like the Central Valley  
Spring-run Chinook Salmon to extinction, or causes salt-water  
intrusion or toxic buildup in the Delta, in violation of the federal  
Clean Water Act," noted Barrigan-Parrilla.

“Californians were told the Delta Tunnels will meet the co-equal goals  
of the Delta Reform Act of 2009, to provide a more reliable water  
supply for California AND protect, restore, and enhance the Delta  
ecosystem,” she concluded. “Sadly, this letter confirms what we have  
always suspected: the Tunnels are simply a water grab by Big Ag in the  
Southern San Joaquin Valley. To get what they want, they are willing  
to sacrifice the San Francisco Bay-Delta, its residents, farmers, and  
endangered species.”

Take Action Against This Vampire Project NOW!

We don't want the zombie-like advocates of the Governor's tunnels plan  
to convert the Bay Delta Estuary into a fish and wildlife graveyard!  
That prospect is scarier than the Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of  
the Dead, Revenge of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Phantasm, Pet  
Sematary, the Shining, the Descent, Pan's Labyrinth or any classic  
horror movie.

If you haven't already, you should sign the Restore the Delta petition  
at Change.org: http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=09bcd6ca08&e=120d0c2b69

The petition letter outlines three objections to the Tunnels plan for  
officials based on 1) environmental, 2) public health, and 3) economic  
concerns. It also encourages investment in shovel-ready water projects  
that will bring jobs and sustainability to California.

I also highly recommend writing a letter based your experience and  
expertise: http://restorethedelta.org/take-action-oppose-the-delta-tunnels/

Also, on the final day of public comments for the Environmental Impact  
Report (EIR) on Governor Jerry Brown's proposed Delta Tunnels, a  
coalition of fishermen, environmentalists, residents, and elected  
officials will reveal why the Delta Tunnels (BDCP/WaterFix) would be  
an "ecological and economic disaster for California."

The press conference will take place on the North Side of the State  
Capitol in Sacramento on Friday, October 30, 2015 at 11:00 am. Tunnels  
opponents are encouraged to attend.

Speakers include State Senator Cathleen Galgiani; Assemblymember Susan  
Talamantes Eggman; Conner Everts, Environmental Water Coalition;  
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta; Bob Wright, Friends of  
the River; Tim Sloane, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's  
Associations; Esperanza Vielma, Café Coop; and Ryan Camero, Delta  
Activist, 2015 Brower Youth Award Winner.

For more information, go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/28/1441675/-Coalition-to-deliver-closing-arguments-against-Delta-Tunnels

Finally, you must check out the great Rage Against the Tunnels music  
video, "Get Fracked," about the tunnels scheme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi9UXcYPcas&feature=youtu.be 
  
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