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Is the Delta Plan off track? No – not yet, says commentary

Posted by: Maven on December 12, 2011 at 8:25 am

Received via email, this commentary by Nick Di Croce of the Environmental Water Caucus:

The California Environmental Water Caucus is a group of environmental organizations advocating for sustainable and cost effective water policies for all Californians, with a special focus on the Bay Delta. For the last year the Caucus has been participating in the Delta Plan process and has responded to the Draft Delta Plans that have been released during 2011.

Nick Di Croce, Co-Facilitator for the Caucus participated in a panel at the recent semi-annual ACWA conference in Anaheim. The panel was asked to answer the question: “Is the Delta Plan Charting a Course for the Future or Is It Off-Track\” Nick answered the question this way:

Without the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), there is not much of a project to evaluate, so let's first take a look at BDCP. BDCP is not just getting off the track, it started off on the wrong set of tracks to begin with. BDCP has been primarily an objective-driven project to increase exports for water exporters, with Delta restoration and a scientific underpinning almost a side show.

It seems inconceivable that the Delta can be restored by taking more water out of the Delta; in fact, just the opposite needs to occur. The State Water Resources Control Board has weighed in again on the need for increased flows through the Delta as a requirement for recovery of species and Delta habitat. That can't mean anything except reduced exports.

Is BDCP on the wrong track Clearly it has been right from the start. The latest brouhaha over the BDCP Memo of Agreement is only the latest manifestation of how far off base the project is.

As for the Delta Plan: Is it off track Our surprisingly short answer is: No\”¦.not yet.

Looking down the track, there's a switch that will need to be thrown. And the direction that it is thrown will either drive the Delta Plan off the tracks or carry us into a reasonable direction for the future. I'll come back to the track in a moment, but first allow me to summarize the key recommendations our Environmental Water Caucus has made to the Council during this year:

1. In order to recover the health of the Bay-Delta ecosystems and its fisheries, scientifically developed criteria that would allow increased flows through the Delta need to be established, as indicated by the State Water Board. The health of the Delta is one of the co-equal goals required by law.

2. Water exports from the Delta need to be decreased, and the current federal and state water contract levels must be reduced in keeping with a safe, healthy, and RELIABLE water supply. That's the other co-equal goal.

3. In order to compensate for reduced exports from the Delta, the state must sponsor a longer- term, more aggressive water efficiency program state wide that would apply to both urban and agricultural users.

o The favorable economics of water efficiencies and water recycling have been proven and would be billions of dollars less expensive for your rate payers than constructing a new version of the Peripheral Canal or major new surface storage dams.

o The latest Los Angeles Economic Round Table report on the preference for local water efficiencies reinforces that point.

4. In order to further reduce the export pressures and reliance on the Delta : one of the key objectives of the Delta Reform Act : thousands of acres of impaired and pollution generating farmlands south of the Delta need to be retired from irrigation and turned into more sustainable and profitable uses, such as solar energy generation, as an example.

5. Delta levees need to be improved beyond the current Corps of Engineer standards in order to address potential earthquake and future sea level rise concerns.

o The reinforcement of core levees beyond current standards is estimated by the Delta Protection Commission to cost between $1 to $2 billion and is orders-of-magnitude less expensive than major conveyance projects that are currently being contemplated by BDCP for those same purposes.

o The bottom line is that we can take care of earthquake and sea level rise concerns for a lot less money.

6. The Delta ecosystems and wildlife cannot be restored without major reductions of pollutants that are currently being poured into the Delta or without a significant program of habitat improvements for the Delta.

7. We have seen no indications that the Delta Plan : or BDCP : will seriously consider and balance Public Trust values : one of the foundations of our state water management policy : as it looks at competing alternatives.

All of these points : and more : are contained in our report California Water Solutions Now and in our previous comments to the Delta Stewardship Council, which are posted on our web site (ewc.california.org)

In summary, let's go back to the question: “Is the Delta Plan off track\”

Let's look down that track again: if the switch gets thrown in favor of certifying the current BDCP approach with a 15,000 cubic feet per second tunnel or Peripheral Canal as virtually the only alternative, it will certainly run off the track. It will not achieve the co-equal goals, it will not comply with CEQA's requirement to meaningfully examine alternatives, and it will cost the state and your rate payers billions more than we need to spend.

December 12, 2011 · Filed Under Delta Issues

Comments

One Response to “Is the Delta Plan off track? No – not yet, says commentary”

  1. Mike Wade on December 12th, 2011 9:48 am

    This presentation of whether the BDCP is “getting off the track” is based on the viewpoints of an organization with a goal of less water for growing a healthy and safe food supply and 25 million Californians. The co-equal goals of the Delta Stewardship Plan is not to decrease California’s available water supply, as suggested in point #2. Rather it is to make that water supply a reliable source; there are no preconditions relating to volume. Point #4 calls for the abandonment of thousands of farm acres that are some of the most productive farmland in the world. The efforts of the BDCP and the Delta Stewardship Council has moved California closer to a reliable water supply for the future while providing needed economic benefits. To walk away from these efforts would be disastrous.

    Mike Wade
    California Farm Water Coalition

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