This is just one post in the Salmon Category

Rising tide of litigation for Delta

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 4, 2008 at 7:50 am

From Stockton’s Record:

Good rivers attract people. Bad rivers attract attorneys.

That being so, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta is not only the largest freshwater estuary on the Pacific Coast, it is a whitewater boil of litigation. That came home this week. A sportfishing group and a south Valley coalition of water-takers - excuse me, of farmers - both announced they will sue the city of Stockton.

The groups are suing because the city’s sewer plant and storm drains are illegally polluting the Delta. Notice I didn’t say “allegedly.” Perhaps I should, but most information on which suits are based appears to come from the city’s own records.

“We’re not aware of any violations of our permit,” City Attorney Ren Nosky said in defense of the city.

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance is going after city sewage pollution. The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta is going after storm-drain pollution. The suits overlap.

The CSPA collected damning data on raw sewage spills. “In 2005, there were 335 spills or 37.2 per 100 miles of pipe. In 2006, there were 371 spills or 41.2 per 100/miles. In 2008, there were already 95 spills by 7 April. A well-run collection system experiences 0 to 3 spills per 100 miles per year and California’s median spill rate is about 4 spills per 100 miles.”

In other words, this city spills a lot of poop into the Delta. Likewise, pollution draining through the storm drains and into the Delta is soaring above legal levels.

“They are by far one of the worst actors up and down the Delta,” said Michael Boccadoro, a spokesman for the Delta Coalition, asked why the group targeted Stockton.