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Delta plan draws ire of locals; BDCP meeting in Clarksburg called “one of their liveliest” meetings

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 2, 2009 at 1:17 pm

From the Capital Press:

State officials constructing a conservation plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta made a long circuit of public-input events up and down the state last month, delivering a Powerpoint outline of alternatives in a plan to save the delta’s collapsing native fish habitat while maintaining water exports in future dry years.

It was all part of the required public-comment process for the state’s Bay Delta Conservation Plan. Some previous meetings had been calmer. Others – especially those in and near the delta, where locals feel they’re on the losing end – were more lively.

Their last meeting was one of their liveliest events.

On March 26, the middle school auditorium in the tiny town of Clarksburg, which hugs the western levee of the Sacramento River south of the capital, was packed to standing room.

The team of federal and state officials made its usual presentation, and the following comment period lasted the rest of the night. The surrounding Clarksburg winegrape appellation accounted for a number of speakers, who protested a move toward higher salinity in delta waters and the loss of property values they said would result.

References to past wars were abundant. One speaker compared the plan to the aggression of Nazi Germany, another to the internment of Japanese-Americans, saying its confiscation of rights and possessions would be similar. The entire plan was denounced as a water grab for Los Angeles. Four-letter words were used. Some speakers drew a connection from restored wetlands to West Nile virus, including a woman recently left paralyzed by a mosquito bite.

“We are not prepared to see the delta restored to its natural state, as environmentalists are clamoring for,” said Dave Sterling, a resident of nearby Walnut Grove. “Please don’t throw those of us who call the delta home under the bus.”

Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here.

April 2, 2009 · Filed Under Bay Delta Conservation Plan

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