work in the event that we can’t fi x those problems.”
The tumult surrounding the BDCP has been covered extensively, but the complete picture may be missing, according to Tori Sundheim, a legal intern with the Delta Stewardship Council. In a March 18 paper published in the University of Denver Water Law Review, “California’s Bay Delta Con- servation Plan and Governor Brown’s Tunnels,” Sundheim wrote that “there is little discussion on what exactly the BDCP is and how it may be seen to fruition.”
Gov. Jerry Brown spoke at the May Association of California Water Agencies Conference.
strong support” for the BDCP and warned against settling for a smaller sized facility. “California’s economic and social future is directly tied to a safe supply of reliable, high quality water and we cannot go in with half measures when it comes to water reliability or environ- mental sustainability,” the letter says. Proponents of the BDCP acknowl- edge the anxiety it causes for some stakeholders, but stress its components are squarely in line with existing water supply, water quality and environmen- tal protection regulations.
Watch Gov. Brown and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar discuss the BDCP
“I think it gets lost on many people that this program is being developed within context of the Endangered Species Act; it’s breaking new ground for this area,” said Arakawa. Poole said “the key question” is not the size of the facility but how it is operated and that “to be credible” the BDCP has to recover listed species. As proposed, the BDCP would lead to the extinction of two salmon runs, make certain sturgeon species worse off and result in a “highly uncertain, if any” benefi cial effect on Delta smelt, she said. “Those are big problems for a recovery plan,” she said. “Maybe they can be fi xed, but whether or not they can we are all better off having another viable approach on the table that will
6
“The media alternately character- izes the proposals as either an excuse to increase the amount of water exported from Northern California, or the best way to restore California’s environment and preserve water supplies for munici- pal, agricultural and other consumptive uses,” the paper says. “This inconsistent rhetoric fails to provide information to help the public understand what the BDCP is, how it relates to ‘Brown’s Tunnels’ and why some might be for or against it.”
While the BDCP grinds it way
toward a fi nal decision, probably in 2014, a group of water stakeholders continues to support projects that everyone believes can help with water supply, water quality, fl ood protection, ecosystem restoration and continued promotion of the Delta’s communities and culture.
Dubbed the Coalition to Support Delta Projects, the group has met for more than a year and is fronted by a six-member team of “inviters” repre- senting various Delta interests that are supportive of advancing sensible, benefi cial projects currently in the planning or near implementation stag- es. The initial inviters for the Coalition are Jonas Minton, water policy advi- sor to the Planning and Conservation League, Jason Peltier, chief deputy general manager with Westlands Water District; Greg Gartrell, former assistant general manager for planning and water resources with Contra Costa Water District, Randall Neudeck, program manager with MWD, Tom Zuckerman
Western Water
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