"We are writing to ask that you attend the August 3rd, State Water Resources Control Board Hearing on Delta flows. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. and will run the majority of the day. It should be noted that the resolution concerning Delta Flow Criteria is the last item on the agenda for August 3rd. So prompt attendance at 9 a.m. may not be necessary.
We believe that this hearing may be the most important public forum for protecting the Delta to be held this year. If we let the board know that we appreciate the honest and scientifically sound recommendation for Delta in-flows and that we want them to rely on this information when reviewing the BDCP and Delta Plan, well this may be the best way for us to kill the process. SWRCB meetings are not exciting/sexy or wonderful public forums for us to express ourselves poetically. It's business, business, business - tedious business. But I stress that having our voices heard in this forum (via our 3 minute public comments) is more important than what happens with the DSC because the Delta Plan will ultimately have to go forward to the SWRCB - the only entity with quasi-judicial authority.
Here are the details:
The increased flow recommendations made last week by the SWRCB are consistent with the vast majority of testimony by scientists, biologists and hydrologists during the recent hearing and with the recommendations of resource agencies and scientists during previous evidentiary hearings over the last 30 years.
We believe that the flow recommendations are based on the "best scientific information," that ecosystem variability in the Delta is crucial and "fundamentally inconsistent with continuing to move large volumes of water through the Delta for export" and that the recommendations are designed to restore estuarine populations as required by law and not simply, as in the biological opinions, to prevent extinction of listed species.
It would be great for as many people as possible from the Delta to make a comment along the following lines: "We commends the State Water Resources Control Board for coming forth with explicit estimates on flows needed to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The results, however, are not surprising to Delta residents. We have always known that more water needs to flow through the Delta for real ecological restoration to occur. We understand that these Delta flow recommendations will inform both the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) process underway and proceedings of the Delta Stewardship Council. The culmination of those efforts will result in a comprehensive "Delta Plan" that will be forwarded to the State Water Board for subsequent evidentiary hearings that will balance competing water needs, approve potential structural modifications of delivery systems and revise water rights to implement the plan. We sincerely hope that the State Water Board will keep these findings in mind when evaluating the BDCP and the Delta Plan. We urge you all to use this information to make the right decisions that will lead to the restoration of the Delta."
For Delta residents, we believe that the future implementation of these findings is the best way to subvert the co-equal goals of the BDCP and the Delta Plan. Co-equal goals simply cannot be managed when the estuary needs to double the water that is presently flowing through it.
Bring reading, knitting, a cell phone with browser capacity. But please come. FYI I am not posting this on our website or doing a large alert because I don't want the other side showing up in great numbers.
If you have questions, please call me.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Restore the Delta
209-479-2053"
Address:
Coastal Hearing Room - Second Floor
Joe Serna Jr./Cal/EPA Building
1001 I Street, Sacramento
To view the meeting agenda click here.
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/board_info/agendas/2010/aug/080310agnda.pdf
We believe that this hearing may be the most important public forum for protecting the Delta to be held this year. If we let the board know that we appreciate the honest and scientifically sound recommendation for Delta in-flows and that we want them to rely on this information when reviewing the BDCP and Delta Plan, well this may be the best way for us to kill the process. SWRCB meetings are not exciting/sexy or wonderful public forums for us to express ourselves poetically. It's business, business, business - tedious business. But I stress that having our voices heard in this forum (via our 3 minute public comments) is more important than what happens with the DSC because the Delta Plan will ultimately have to go forward to the SWRCB - the only entity with quasi-judicial authority.
Here are the details:
The increased flow recommendations made last week by the SWRCB are consistent with the vast majority of testimony by scientists, biologists and hydrologists during the recent hearing and with the recommendations of resource agencies and scientists during previous evidentiary hearings over the last 30 years.
We believe that the flow recommendations are based on the "best scientific information," that ecosystem variability in the Delta is crucial and "fundamentally inconsistent with continuing to move large volumes of water through the Delta for export" and that the recommendations are designed to restore estuarine populations as required by law and not simply, as in the biological opinions, to prevent extinction of listed species.
It would be great for as many people as possible from the Delta to make a comment along the following lines: "We commends the State Water Resources Control Board for coming forth with explicit estimates on flows needed to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The results, however, are not surprising to Delta residents. We have always known that more water needs to flow through the Delta for real ecological restoration to occur. We understand that these Delta flow recommendations will inform both the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) process underway and proceedings of the Delta Stewardship Council. The culmination of those efforts will result in a comprehensive "Delta Plan" that will be forwarded to the State Water Board for subsequent evidentiary hearings that will balance competing water needs, approve potential structural modifications of delivery systems and revise water rights to implement the plan. We sincerely hope that the State Water Board will keep these findings in mind when evaluating the BDCP and the Delta Plan. We urge you all to use this information to make the right decisions that will lead to the restoration of the Delta."
For Delta residents, we believe that the future implementation of these findings is the best way to subvert the co-equal goals of the BDCP and the Delta Plan. Co-equal goals simply cannot be managed when the estuary needs to double the water that is presently flowing through it.
Bring reading, knitting, a cell phone with browser capacity. But please come. FYI I am not posting this on our website or doing a large alert because I don't want the other side showing up in great numbers.
If you have questions, please call me.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
Restore the Delta
209-479-2053"
Address:
Coastal Hearing Room - Second Floor
Joe Serna Jr./Cal/EPA Building
1001 I Street, Sacramento
To view the meeting agenda click here.
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/board_info/agendas/2010/aug/080310agnda.pdf