Home 
Current News Congressional hearing
Current News Congressional hearing | Congressional hearing |
|
|
|
| Friday, 29 June 2007 | |
|
Useless rhetoric must be cast aside if members of a congressional committee truly want to
seek solutions to solving the Delta crisis.
San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority
Release Immediate (209) 826-9696
INACTION IS NOT A
SUSTAINABLE WATER POLICY
Agricultural water leaders from California's
San Joaquin Valley will testify at an oversight hearing Monday in Vallejo called by
Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk). This important and timely hearing will
investigate causes for the recent ecological decline in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
and subsequent reduction in water deliveries to significant numbers of farms, homes and
businesses throughout the state. "We commend Congresswoman Napolitano for her leadership in advancing the discussion on the health of the Delta," said Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA). "California water users cannot wait any longer for officials to talk about how to "fix" the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Last month's shutdown of the State Banks Pumping Plant and the curtailment of water through the federal Jones Pumping Plant placed California in unnecessary jeopardy," Nelson added. "We have known for years that serious concerns exist with the Delta. Too much time, money and effort has focused solely on the Delta export pumps as the cause of these concerns. Scientists are now saying that there is compelling evidence that the pumps are not causing the decline in the Delta smelt population. "The effects caused by the reduced flows from the Delta pumps impacted 25 million water users in our state, including urban residents and farms throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Cities are instituting mandatory and voluntary rationing programs and farmers are being forced to abandon some crops due to a lack of water. This kind of reduction in agricultural production could create impacts on farmworkers and other agricultural-related businesses." Other causes for the Delta problems have been identified as invasive species such as the Asian clam decimating the Delta smelt food supply, unscreened water diversions from the Delta and toxic releases into Delta waterways and tributaries. To see over $140 million spent and millions of acre-feet of water lost with little ecosystem benefit is a tragic tale of failure and waste. The real losers are California tax payers and water users. Dr. William J. (BJ) Miller will testify at the hearing. According to Miller, statistical analyses shows that there is no correlation between entrainment (take) of Delta smelt at the export pumps and the declining trend in Delta smelt populations. However, several analyses show that the decline in Delta smelt abundance has been caused by significant declines in the densities of certain zooplankton, the primary food source for the Delta smelt. "We have lost critical time as a result of the pumps being blamed for all of the problems," Nelson insisted, "The congressional oversight must help move forward the discussion towards a solution in the Delta. California will be the loser if the problems in the Delta are not resolved. Science needs to be the governing force behind any discussions relating to the Delta. Officials, such as the committee members, must be willing to listen to the scientists and work in concert with stakeholders and the ongoing process to find a solution to complex water supply and ecosystem problems. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority has been engaged in many efforts to improve water supply reliability, conveyance and storage in the state and has worked cooperatively with state and federal regulators to manage a significant portion of California's water supply for the benefit of Delta ecosystems. "Putting people out of business needs to be avoided; putting people out of business without good reason is unconscionable," said Nelson. ### (The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority consists of 32 water agencies representing approximately 1.25 million irrigated acres of federal and exchange water service contractors within the western San Joaquin Valley, San Benito and Santa Clara counties.) |
Newsflash
|
2008 Farm Water Leadership Tour |
|
| Read more... |
|
|
