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Editorial: A bitter pill - Lake Red Bluff lost

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 5, 2008 at 6:29 am

From the Tehama County Daily News, this editorial:

Red Bluff’s recent decision to file a lawsuit against Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority over its proposed pumping project next to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam has stirred up quite a buzz around town and within the farming community. It is unfortunate, though, that too many folks in our community confuse the multiple issues surrounding the future of Lake Red Bluff.

Let’s start with the hardest pill to swallow. In all likelihood, the community will lose Lake Red Bluff. Best case, it would remain a few weeks to two months each year. Worst case, it’s drained permanently. Nobody wants to be the first to say this publicly, but it needs to be said.

We’re not happy about it and don’t expect anyone in Red Bluff or Tehama County to be. But the fate of the lake is in the hands of Judge Oliver Wanger of the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District in Fresno. He has given every indication the lake will be returned to a river - including a ruling July 18 that water diversions on the Sacramento River-San Joaquin Delta pose irreparable harm to three endangered species of fish.

We could beat our chests and argue that improved quality of life, a quarter-billion dollars of agriculture and $4 million annual benefit to Red Bluff should trump three species of fish. We may be right, but we would be ignoring the reality of the situation.

Read more of this editorial from the Tehama County Daily News by clicking here.

October 5, 2008 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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