June 13, 2011 – Leading water managers submit Delta Stewardship Council an Alternate Delta Plan
To help the Delta Stewardship Council fulfill its charge to further the co-equal goals as established in the 2009 comprehensive legislative package on water, leading water managers from throughout the state have developed an alternative to the latest staff drafts of the Delta Plan to promote a more robust discussion of policy questions facing the Delta Stewardship Council.
The Ag-Urban group is concerned that the Council has not adequately articulated key questions that must be answered before the Council can make an informed decision on the Delta Plan.
The Alternate Delta Plan seeks to protect and enhance the Delta ecosystem, as well as the economic vitality of the Delta and other regions of the state. It recognizes that the only way to achieve the co-equal goals is to base decisions on the best available science and to be able to adapt as conditions change. The Plan employs an array of management tools including local resources development, conveyance improvements, steps to address Delta stressors and other strategies to achieve the co-equal goals. In sharp contrast, the latest Council staff draft appear to focus on reducing Delta exports from current levels and augmenting flows to attempt to benefit fisheries. The Ag-Urban group believes such a one-dimensional approach cannot achieve the co-equal goals.
In addition, the Alternate Delta Plan seeks to:
- Significantly improve water supplies for all areas of the state compared to current available supplies. The staff drafts appear aimed at reducing water supplies.
- Assure the long-term health of California’s agricultural economy. The latest staff drafts appear likely to impair agricultural activity by reducing water supplies in some areas.
- Recognize that accomplishing the co-equal goals will require unprecedented levels of partnership and collaboration. The latest staff drafts appear to rely on sets of prescriptive regulatory approaches to reduce Delta supplies. Such a path will not lead to collaborative partnerships or incentives to pay for necessary investments.
- Seek to provide a path for a successful Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The plan is predicated on the success of the BDCP in a manner that promotes that co-equal goals and protects the interests of those who are not at the BDCP table.
- Seek to support a healthy and sustainable Delta economy that protects and enhances the unique values of the Delta consistent with the Delta Reform Act.
Including the Alternate Delta Plan as a project alternative in the draft Environmental Impact Report will provide the Council with an appropriate range of options as it formulates a final Delta Plan.
The Ag-Urban group is requesting that the Council include the Alternate Delta Plan in its entirety as an alternative for further analysis in the upcoming environmental review process as mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act.
The “Ag-Urban Alternate Delta Plan” has the strong support of a large and diverse coalition of business and agricultural interests, all of whom are committed to helping the Council fulfill its charge to further the co-equal goals as established in the 2009 legislative package on water.
For more information, ACWA has just released a News Release, which includes a copy of the Coalition letter, signed by 28 organizations, including Mountain Counties Water Resources Association and the Alternate Delta Plan.
http://www.acwa.com/news/delta/coalition-submits-alternate-delta-plan-stewardship-council
