[env-trinity] Karuk Tribe, Allies Add Forest Service to Lawsuit Protecting Salmon/Delta Tunnels Proposal Is Built On A House of Cards

[Dan Bacher]

Good Morning

Here are two of my latest pieces, the first on the Karuk Tribe and  
their allies adding the U.S. Forest Service and Klamath National  
Forest to the lawsuit protecting salmon from a bad logging plan and  
the second on RTD's "Dear Governor Brown" letter.

Thanks
Dan

http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/03/15/karuk-tribe-conservationists-add-klamath-national-forest-to-westside-lawsuit/

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/15/1501728/-Karuk-Tribe-Conservationists-Add-Klamath-National-Forest-to-Westside-Lawsuit



Karuk Tribe, Allies Add Forest Service to Lawsuit Protecting Salmon


by Dan Bacher

The Karuk Tribe and four environmental groups today expanded their  
complaint challenging the Westside Post Fire logging plan to include  
the United States Forest Service and Klamath National Forest over  
allegations that they violated federal law protecting imperiled salmon  
and their watersheds.

The groups filing the complaint include the Environmental Protection  
Information Center (EPIC), Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS  
Wild), Center for Biological Diversity, and Klamath Riverkeeper.

The lawsuit alleges the Klamath National Forest Plan, as approved by  
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries,  
“illegally increases the risk of extinction” for threatened  
populations of coho salmon.”

The plaintiffs allege the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of  
NOAA Fisheries violated the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) when it  
issued a Biological Opinion (“BiOp”) and Incidental Take Statement  
(“ITS”) for the Westside Fire Recovery Project (“Westside Project”) on  
Forest Service lands in the Klamath River watershed.

NOAA Fisheries is an agency that the late Zeke Grader, the longtime  
Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s  
Associations (PCFFA), nicknamed “No Fisheries” for its many failures  
to protect salmon and other fish over the years.

Coho salmon, now listed under the state and federal Endangered Species  
Acts, were historically one of the most abundant fish species on the  
Klamath, Trinity and other California rivers. The coho population has  
declined dramatically after decades of bad forestry practices, water  
diversions and habitat degradation.

“The Klamath National Forest proposal will increase fire danger,  
degrade water quality, and harm at-risk salmon populations,” according  
to a statement from the Tribe and their allies. “An alternative to the  
Project developed by the Karuk Tribe would result in about 33% of the  
logging that the Forest Service proposed, but would be far more  
protective of fisheries, water quality, and communities at risk of  
wildfire.”

“The Westside proposal short changes our community by denying us an  
opportunity to restore the forest, manage wildfire, and put locals  
back to work,” said Karuk Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery. “There  
is no way that the Forest Service plan will pass a legal challenge.  
The Karuk alternative on the other hand has the support of local  
conservation groups, provides significant opportunities for bringing  
timber to market, and complies with applicable state and federal law.”

According to the groups, “The Tribe’s alternative proposal ensures  
that future fire events will be healthy for the environment and safe  
for local residents while providing marketable timber. The Forest  
Service did not analyze the Karuk Alternative because it rushed the  
environmental review process under the pretense of a ‘public  
emergency.’”

The litigation occurs at a critical time for imperiled Klamath River  
and West Coast salmon and steelhead populations.

Agency scientists estimate that there are only approximately 142,200  
Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon in the ocean this year, based on  
the returns of two-year-old salmon, called “jacks” and “jills,” The  
salmon from the Klamath and Sacramento River make up the majority of  
salmon taken in California’s ocean and inland fisheries.

The low numbers of Klamath and Trinity River fish expected to return  
to the river and tributaries this year will result in more restricted  
seasons for both the recreational and commercial fisheries on the  
ocean and recreational and Tribal fisheries on the rivers in 2016.

“The Forest Service plan to clear-cut thousands of acres above the  
Klamath River disregards the reasonable Karuk Alternative and hurts at- 
risk salmon and river communities,” said Kerul Dyer of Klamath  
Riverkeeper. “A healthy Klamath River requires sensible forest  
restoration that addresses the needs of both fish and people, like  
that laid out in the Karuk plan.”

The Tribe and groups are challenging the “illegal harm to fish and  
watersheds” that they say will result from the proposed post-fire  
clear cutting timber sales in hopes that the federal government will  
change course.  The fish play a major role in the culture, religion  
and food supply of the Karuk and other Klamath River Tribes.

“The Karuk Tribe has occupied lands along the Klamath River since time  
immemorial,” the complaint states. “The Klamath, Salmon, and Scott  
rivers are within Karuk ancestral territory, and are the lifeblood of  
the Karuk people. Before Europeans entered these lands, these waters  
provided the Karuk Tribe with a bountiful supply of anadromous fish,  
including coho and chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Today, in the  
Klamath River watershed, coho salmon are listed as threatened with  
extinction under the ESA.”

Initial arguments will likely be heard by the Federal District Court  
for the Northern District of California in the “very near future,” the  
groups said. The Western Environmental Law Center represents all of  
the plaintiffs and EPIC is represented by in-house counsel.

To read the full complaint, go to: http://www.karuk.us/images/docs/press/2016/Complaint.pdf

2. http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/16/1502337/-Dear-Jerry-Brown-Delta-Tunnels-Proposal-Is-Built-On-A-House-Of-Cards
http://redgreenandblue.org/2016/03/16/dear-governor-brown-time-to-admit-your-delta-tunnels-waterfix-plan-is-falling-apart/


Photo of Governor Jerry Brown by Dan Bacher.

Delta Tunnels Proposal Is Built On A House of Cards

by Dan Bacher

Restore the Delta (RTD) today released a powerful open letter to  
Governor Jerry Brown from Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, RTD Executive  
Director, stating “It’s time to detach your legacy from the Delta  
Tunnels proposal.”


“It’s time to face the reality that this plan is falling apart,” she  
said.

Brown’s controversial California Water Fix to build the Delta Tunnels  
is in its biggest crisis ever as lack of a finance plan for the  
project to build the twin tunnels diverting Sacramento River water  
under the Delta becomes more obvious every day.

The Brown administration is currently reeling from a barrage of  
national and international news coverage of the Securities and  
Exchange Commission decision to fine the Westlands Water District, the  
major financial partner of the proposed Delta Tunnels, for engaging in  
“Enron-style” accounting in order to fool the bond market.

“The other big financial players in the Delta Tunnels proposal,  
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Met) and the Santa  
Clara Valley Water District, are reviewing data from CA WaterFix, the  
newest name for the Delta Tunnels proposal, that includes Westlands as  
a major contributor,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.

“If Westlands relied on fraud for the down payment on the tunnels, how  
can they be trusted to be honest when they need to come up with more  
than $3 billion to fund their share? Met and Santa Clara would be wise  
to reconsider long-term agreements with a water district with a rap  
sheet. Without this dubious partner, they must think through how and  
where to make up Westlands’ contribution to the plan,” she explained.

“You seem to have grown quiet regarding the Delta Tunnels over the  
last sixty days, much in the same way you grew quiet over the Porter  
Ranch gas leak crisis,” Barrigan-Parrilla noted.

In a tweet, Mike Fitzgerald, Stockton Record columnist, said, “Cheers  
to Restore the Delta & all decrying The Westlands for cooking its  
books. Jeers to the feds' feeble response.” bit.ly/.…”

In his blog, Fitzgerald said, “Time to kick the Westlands while it’s  
down. And Barbara Barrigan-Parilla does a brilliant job of it in a  
letter to Gov. Jerry Brown.” See more at: blogs.esanjoaquin.com/...

I completely agree with Fitzgerald’s assessment.

The Delta Tunnels will not create one single drop of new water — and  
will indebt ratepayers and taxpayers for up to $67 billion in costs  
for decades to come. The tunnels will hasten the extinction of  
Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead,  
Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish and wildlife  
species, as well imperil salmon and steelhead populations on the  
Klamath and Trinity rivers.

Below is the open letter to Governor Brown.

An Open Letter to Governor Brown

Dear Governor Brown,

It’s time to detach your legacy from the Delta Tunnels proposal. It’s  
time to face the reality that this plan is falling apart.

Let me explain why.

Put simply, after ten years of trying, the Delta Tunnels still do not  
have a credible finance plan. There is little reason to think that  
another ten years would create one.

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and even  
the International Business Times, have all reported the news that the  
Westlands Water District, the major financial partner of the proposed  
Delta Tunnels, engaged in “Enron-style” accounting in order to fool  
the bond market. Westlands knowingly overstated revenue in order to  
secure a $77 million loan in 2012.

Beginning in the 2010 drought, Westlands reclassified reserves as  
revenue in order to hide that it could not meet the debt service ratio  
required of prior bond issuances, and then falsely claimed that they  
had indeed met that ratio over the five-year period prior to the 2012  
bond issuance to investors. The SEC fined Westlands and its leaders a  
total of $195,000, a rare occurrence for municipal bond agencies, and  
Moody’s placed Westlands and their neighbors, the San Luis Mendota  
Water Authority, on negative credit watch.

The other big financial players in the Delta Tunnels proposal,  
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Met) and the Santa  
Clara Valley Water District, are reviewing data from CA WaterFix, the  
newest name for the Delta Tunnels proposal, that includes Westlands as  
a major contributor.

If Westlands relied on fraud for the down payment on the tunnels, how  
can they be trusted to be honest when they need to come up with more  
than $3 billion to fund their share? Met and Santa Clara would be wise  
to reconsider long-term agreements with a water district with a rap  
sheet. Without this dubious partner, they must think through how and  
where to make up Westlands’ contribution to the plan.

After ten years and $250 million, we still do not have a Tunnels  
financing plan or operating plan that can pass the test with  
environmental agencies. Until there is an honest and independently- 
vetted financing plan and science proving that Bay-Delta communities  
and endangered species will be protected, the Delta Tunnels permit  
process underway should be tabled.

Westlands – An Untrustworthy Partner

Throughout the ten-year history of the Delta Tunnels proposal,  
Westlands indicated to the greater water community that they would be  
a major beneficiary, paying for the lion’s share of the 40 percent of  
the Federal contractor contribution for the Delta Tunnels. But the  
California WaterFix has never released a detailed finance plan showing  
exactly how the tunnels will actually be funded and by whom. Also,  
it’s still not known how much each urban water agency under the  
Metropolitan Water District or Santa Clara Valley Water Districts  
would pay for their fair share to the project. Will retail water  
agencies have the ability to opt out of the plan? What happens to  
financing if they do?

For argument sake, let’s assume that Westlands planned on paying the  
full forty percent contribution of the $15-billion-dollar plan, or $6  
billion. How could they have possibly repaid their cost share of the  
project if the debt load would be almost 78 times greater than the  
debt they were carrying in 2010? Even if they were only intending to  
pay half of the forty percent, they could not afford $3 billion.

After all, it’s not like Westlands could count on receiving more water  
from the Delta Tunnels project. In fact, the CA WaterFix was recently  
caught engaging in its own creative water accounting practices. As Dr.  
Jeff Michael, Director of the Center for Business and Policy Research,  
Eberhardt School of Business, University of the Pacific, wrote on his  
Valley Economy Blog:

They [WaterFix] create a website full of deceptive numbers with eye- 
catching graphics and giant bold numbers saying it will increase water  
diversions and storage, and then buried in a complex paragraph at the  
bottom of the page you find a sentence that says that the tunnels  
don't actually increase water supplies.

“Unbelievable” declares Dr. Michael, incredulously.

But magical thinking has never deterred Westlands (or California  
WaterFix) leadership. Westlands General Manager, Tom Birmingham,  
willingly participated in Restore the Delta’s documentary, Over  
Troubled Waters in 2009 and told the film crew that even with current  
demand and existing storage, there was enough water to meet every  
demand in the state of California. To follow Westlands’ logic, there  
is enough water in the system for Westlands to receive its full share,  
that is until the 2010 drought when Westlands did not receive needed  
water deliveries to repay their bond debt.

It’s not just irrigation districts that assume the water will be  
there. Urban water districts are building their futures on this same  
house of cards, and without greater water yields, the Delta Tunnels do  
not pencil out for them either.

Santa Clara Valley Water District Faces a Big Decision

A recent revenue bond prospectus released by Santa Clara Valley Water  
District (SCVWD), presents a glowing summary of the District’s  
financial strength. Indeed, SCVWD exists in one of the wealthiest  
regions of the country, or the world. Their ratepayers can afford to  
invest in the district’s future. However, digging deeper into the  
details several items should give their ratepayers and investors pause.

The District’s 2016 prospectus states up front that “no reserve fund  
has been created or will be funded with respect to the 2016 bonds” it  
describes. This means that the District feels it needs no emergency  
fund set aside to repay the bonds, apparently heedless of future  
problems that may arise or to support its own debt coverage ratio  
(similar to Westlands’ 2010 problem).

While the prospectus does reflect the District’s recent drought  
experience of lower supplies and reduced water sales in 2013 and 2014,  
it proceeds to project deliveries and sales for the water it draws  
from both the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project from  
2017 through 2020 as much higher than recent allocations. California  
is not yet out of its current drought. And no one knows if we are  
headed into more dry years. SCVWD’s prospectus does not show investors  
any sensitivity analysis about how its net revenues perform if water  
deliveries and sales to retail water agencies remain reduced due to  
conservation. The question a reasonably informed investor reading this  
prospectus would want answered is: How much would deliveries and sales  
have to fall before the District’s debt service ratio fails to meet  
SEC accounting standards?

Buried in footnote 14 (pages 67-68) next to “Future Debt Issuances,”  
it is revealed that the District intends to seek out a lot of  
commercial paper and “long-term debt issuances” cumulating to over  
$900 million by fiscal year 2020. Plus, the District’s credit rating  
was recently downgraded slightly, and at least one Board member was  
not even fully aware of the downgrade because it was noted in the  
CEO’s report, rather than on the agenda.

Climate change modeling shows that Sierra snowpack will decrease  
markedly from historic levels in the future. This will decrease water  
in the Sacramento River which is the source water for the tunnels.  
This is the source water upon which water districts likes Santa Clara  
Valley are building their bond offerings. They premise their financial  
stability on decreasing future water supplies.

Metropolitan Water District Grasping at Straws

Metropolitan Water District faces even higher financial stakes in  
relation to the Delta Tunnels. Just twenty-four hours before the SEC  
announced its fine of Westlands Water District, tunnels proponent,  
Met’s General Manager, Jeff Kightlinger pushed through a votefor Met  
to purchase five islands in the Delta. He told the media that these  
islands will serve as a possible construction staging site for the  
project. Two of the islands are in the direct path of the tunnels,  
eliminating eminent domain concerns. However, they come with a price  
tag of roughly $200 million to be paid by Met customers.

As Met receives about half of the water normally carried through the  
State Water Project, one can estimate that their contribution for the  
tunnels would have been $3.5 billion. But now with Westlands out of  
the picture, one cannot help but ask how much ratepayer and parcel tax  
funding are they willing to foist on their customers in order to move  
forward? Will Met contribute $7 billion to build the Delta Tunnels?  
And who will be their financial partners? Staff at the Santa Clara  
Valley Water District reported to their board in February that Santa  
Clara Valley’s contribution to the tunnels would be between $500  
million and $1 billion. That would still leave the project  
significantly underfunded.

Time for a Better Solution

That brings us to you Governor Brown. You seem to have grown quiet  
regarding the Delta Tunnels over the last sixty days, much in the same  
way you grew quiet over the Porter Ranch gas leak crisis.

Isn’t it time to develop a Plan B for water management for California?

It’s a shame you latched on to the Delta Tunnels as a legacy project  
when younger water leaders from think tanks, NGOs, and within  
government agencies want to begin work on a myriad of smaller projects  
that will capture rain, recycle water, restore groundwater, and  
generally adapt California to the reality of our changing climate.  
These water efficiency and supply projects will cost less, make more  
water, and create good permanent jobs throughout the state.

Governor Brown, it is time to admit the Delta Tunnels proposal is as  
unstable as a house of cards. The reality of climate, population and  
decisions regarding sustainability simply do not match up with your  
desire to build one big project. If you must continue the process of  
pushing forward with the Delta Tunnels, the proposal must be vetted by  
independent experts to show the real costs and risks to taxpayers and  
urban water districts.

Sadly, that analysis will show that the $15.5 billion Delta Tunnels  
proposal is as leaky as the water mains supplying water to Los Angeles  
and the Bay Area that desperately need our investment now.

Yours in service,

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla Executive Director Restore the Delta
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