[env-trinity] U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying Lion's Share for Brown's Delta Tunnels

[Dan Bacher]

http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/05/05/taxpayers-are-paying-lions-share-for-browns-delta-tunnels/
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/28/1521285/-U-S-Taxpayers-Are-Paying-for-Brown-s-Delta-Tunnels



U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying Lion's Share for Brown's Delta Tunnels

by Dan Bacher

How would you like to pay for a massive government public works  
project that will drive Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central  
Valley steelhead, Delta smelt and other fish species to extinction but  
won't create one single drop of new water?


In fact, you and every other taxpayer in this country are already  
being billed for this giant boondoggle, Governor Jerry Brown's Delta  
Tunnels, whether you like or not.

Federal taxpayers, not the federal water contractors, are paying the  
lion’s hare for Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels, a coalition of  
environmental and fishing groups revealed on April 28. The water will  
be exported for use for corporate agribusiness interests, Southern  
California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and  
extreme oil extraction methods.

In response to a January 25, 2016 letter sent by conservation groups,  
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Regional Director David G. Murillo has  
confirmed that over $86.9 million of the costs for the Delta Tunnels  
have been billed to federal taxpayers to date!

The alarming data was revealed in a news release, including a copy of  
the letter, issued by Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta;   
Carolee Krieger, California Water Impact Network; Conner Everts,  
Southern CA Watershed Alliance & Environmental Water Caucus (EWC); and  
Tim Sloane, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation letter affirmed the tunnels project is  
not authorized by Congress and they have no plans to conduct the  
required feasibility study or pay the construction costs which will  
more than double the current State Water Project debt to be paid by  
ratepayers and property taxpayers if permitted, according to the groups.

In the letter, Murillo wrote:

"Due to the State separating the BDCP into two programs and due to the  
fact that Reclamation does not have construction authority for the new  
conveyance facilities, Reclamation does not anticipate formally  
submitting a feasibility report to Congress.

Currently, there are no plans for Reclamation to fund the construction  
of California WaterFix, nor provide financial assistance agreements to  
provide funding for construction.”

Murillo also divulged that the federal contractors paid zero money of  
the $73,733,099 of federal dollars granted to the Department of Water  
Resources (DWR) for the Delta Tunnels Plan through FAA #1 and #2.

"The federal CVP contractors contributed $0. The funding source was  
Federal appropriations," said Murillo.

In addition, he said, "Westlands Water District paid $0. The funding  
source was Federal appropriations."

The Environmental Water Caucus, along with several of its member  
groups who sought answers regarding this gouging of the federal  
taxpayers, called on the State Auditor to investigate why state laws  
requiring federal contractors such as Westlands Water District are  
“shirking their responsibilities to pay for the water export tunnels  
environmental review .”

“In response to our questions, it is clear Congress and the American  
people are being misled," stated Tim Sloane, PCFFA Executive Director.  
"While our salmon heritage hangs on the brink of extinction and toxic  
algae blooms build, funds to protect fish and wildlife and restore the  
Delta Estuary have been diverted to fund water tunnel export plans to  
take even more essential fresh water from this critical estuary.”

"As federal investigators probe the California Department of Water  
Resources overcharges, double billings and $300+ per hour charges to  
the federal government for the water export tunnels, the Bureau of  
Reclamation's admission that federal contractors such as Westlands,  
have not paid their required 50% share of the tunnels in accordance  
with state law, needs to be investigated," asserted Conner Everts,  
Executive Director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance and  
the Environmental Water Caucus.

"How have the federal contractors been shirking their duties under  
state law to pay for the CA WaterFix environmental analysis, while the  
state contractors (ratepayers) are pouring money into the effort (over  
$60 million from MWD alone, to date)?" he asked.

“The largest irrigation district in the nation which receives 100’s of  
millions in taxpayer subsidies, Westlands Water District wants the  
nation to not only give them a permanent water contract for free with  
virtually no strings as to how they will contain their toxic  
groundwater pollution, now we find out they have been gaming their  
responsibility to pay for these expensive tunnels to export even more  
water to these toxic lands,” explained Carolee Krieger, Executive  
Director of California Water Impact Network. “Continuing to send more  
water to irrigate these toxic soils at taxpayer expense makes no sense.”

“State ratepayers and taxpayers are footing the bills along with folks  
in New Jersey, while Westlands, the largest irrigation district in the  
nation, funds phony advertising campaigns hiding behind their hard  
working farm workers, to solicit even more taxpayer dollars to fund  
this expensive risky tunneling project,” stated Barbara Barrigan- 
Parrilla of Restore the Delta. “We are calling on the State Auditor to  
investigate.”

The Department of Interior’s Inspector General in April opened an  
investigation into the possible illegal use of millions of dollars by  
the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in preparing the  
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Delta Tunnels Plan. (http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/12/feds-to-probe-misuse-of-state-funds-for-jerry-browns-delta-tunnels/ 
)

“These funds have been spent on the environmental studies –NEPA review— 
and hired contractors paid by DWR with Federal Grants," the groups  
stated. "These federal grants are under investigation for a variety of  
reasons—double billing, failing to follow federal procedures such as  
competitive bidding and questions about “reasonable and prudent”  
charges among others."

The investigation resulted from a complaint the Public Employees for  
Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed on the behalf of a Bureau of  
Reclamation employee on February 19, 2016.

Yes, we have a real "win-win" scenario here, don't we. Salmon,  
steelhead and Delta smelt will be exterminated, not one drop of new  
water will be created, and the taxpayers will be hosed! And it's all  
to create a "legacy project" for Jerry Brown, one of the worst  
governors for fish, water and the environment in recent California  
history, at the same time that a federal investigation of illegal use  
of funds for the Delta Tunnels by the Brown administration moves  
forward!

Questions the State Auditor Should Ask

The Reclamation response to the NGO letter raises additional  
questions, especially for the State Auditor Elaine Howle, according to  
the groups. For example:

How have the federal contractors been shirking their duties under  
state law to pay for the WaterFix environmental analysis, while the  
state contractors are pouring money into the effort (over $60 million  
from MWD alone, to date)?
Are Federal CVP Contractors Paying Their 50% for the Tunnels Planning  
and Environmental Review? The letter confirms federal taxpayers have  
been billed more than $86.9M for the Delta water export tunnels.
It appears State Law, California Water Code Section 85089 is being  
circumvented by Westlands and other federal contractors, Why?
Recall Water Code Section 85089 requires….Construction of a new Delta  
conveyance facility shall not be initiated until the persons or  
entities that contract to receive water from the State Water Project  
and the federal Central Valley Project or a joint powers authority  
representing those entities have made arrangements or entered into  
contracts to pay for both of the following:    (a) The costs of the  
environmental review, planning, design,…

Background: Tunnels Plan Just One of Brown's Terrible Environmental  
Policies

While the Delta Tunnels plan poses a huge threat to the ecosystems of  
the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Klamath and Trinity river systems, it’s  
not the only environmentally devastating policy promoted by Governor  
Jerry Brown. Brown is promoting the expansion of fracking and extreme  
oil extraction methods in California and is overseeing water policies  
that are driving winter run-Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt  
and other species closer and closer to extinction.

Jerry Brown also oversaw the "completion" of so-called “marine  
protected areas” under the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act  
(MLPA) Initiative, overseen by a Big Oil lobbyist and other corporate  
interests, in December 2012. These faux “Yosemites of the Sea” fail to  
protect the ocean from oil drilling, fracking, pollution, corporate  
aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable  
fishing and gathering.

As if those examples of Brown’s tainted environmental legacy weren’t  
enough, Brown has promoted carbon trading and REDD policies that pose  
an enormous threat to Indigenous Peoples around the globe; has done  
nothing to stop clearcutting of forests by Sierra-Pacific and other  
timber companies; presided over record water exports from the Delta in  
2011; and oversaw massive fish kills of Sacramento splittail and other  
species in 2011.

While Brown spouts "green" rhetoric when he flies off to climate  
conference and and issues proclamations about John Muir Dayand Earth  
Day, his actions and policies regarding fish, water and the  
environment are among the worst of any Governor in recent California  
history.

For more information about the real environmental record of Governor  
JerryBrown, go to: www.dailykos.com/...
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