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Two Gates: another slick connivance from the cabal that brought fisheries to the brink of destruction, says Bill Jennings

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2009 at 8:48 am

From Bill Jennings of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, this commentary:

“Having spent much of the last week reviewing the draft Biological Assessment and draft Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Two Gates project, including several hours with Metropolitan Water District (MWD) technical staff reviewing the projects assumptions and modeling, I’m concerned that this project is another bullet speeding toward the Delta’s heart.

Two Gates is a project developed by MWD and other state water contractors to install operable barriers in Old River and Connection Slough. The stated purpose is to circumvent the export restrictions in the recent Biological Opinions (BiOp) issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) by preventing Delta smelt from entering the south Delta where they are susceptible to entrainment in the massive export pumps of the state and federal projects. The project was hatched in secrecy but has now been handed to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation where it is on a breathtaking fast track to construction this fall.

Two Gates is being merchandised as a scientific experiment and admittedly seeks answers to a series of hypotheses that need to be verified (i.e., do Delta smelt “surf” the tide, can intermittent operation of the gates affect turbidity, will subtle changes in turbidity cause smelt to avoid certain areas, etc.). Unfortunately, the reality is that the project is an increased water export scheme masquerading as science. Suggestions that conveyance be decoupled from the actual scientific experiment and that any positive effects serve to restore smelt abundance have been rejected. The clear intent of the project is to increase water exports over limits imposed by Judge Wanger’s Delta smelt decision and the recent BiOp. …”

More of Bill Jenning’s commentary by clicking here.

July 31, 2009 · Filed Under Delta Issues

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