In response to
the Brown Administration’s latest draft of the California
WaterFix Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement, county supervisors from the Delta
Counties Coalition (DCC), composed of the five Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
counties, issued the following comments today:
“We all agree
California needs a comprehensive plan to address the state’s ever-growing water
needs; however, the ‘California
Water Fix’ really doesn’t fix anything as it relates to many other
pressing California water issues, such as the need to capture, conserve and
preserve our limited water supplies now and into the future,” said
Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli.
“The latest
tunnel plan not only moves away from the mandated co-equal goals of a stable
water supply and enhanced environmental protection, but it still fails to
provide one additional drop of water to our parched system,” said San Joaquin
County Supervisor Kathy Miller.
“We remain
concerned about the potential impacts of the tunnels on local communities in
the Delta, including Clarksburg," said Yolo County Supervisor Oscar
Villegas. “A six-week comment period for a project of this magnitude, with
significant local traffic, noise, water quality, and other impacts, does not
allow affected agencies or residents enough time to review and provide
meaningful comments.”
“We agree there is an urgent need to address the problems
with California’s water supply and to restore the Bay-Delta ecosystem and are
supportive of the comprehensive approach developed by the State in the January
2014 California Water Action Plan. However, this flawed California WaterFix
proposal that solely looks at a Delta plumbing fix does nothing to improve the
Delta ecosystem or provide a more reliable water supply” said Contra Costa
County Supervisor Mary Nejedly Piepho. “The DCC calls on the State to refocus
on setting flow requirements and export restrictions necessary to restore and
sustain the Bay-Delta ecosystem and to support actions to produce additional
local water supplies for the state (wastewater reuse projects, desalination,
additional storage), rather than further sacrificing the already fragile
Delta.”
“The
changes to the revised-BDCP do not make for a stronger, healthier Delta or
reflect critical Delta stakeholder input,” said Solano County Supervisor John
Vasquez. “A six-week comment period for a project of this magnitude, with
divestment of a major habitat conservation component and other modifications,
does not allow enough time for affected agencies such as the Delta Counties, to
review and provide meaningful comment.”
The DCC has
collaborated over the past seven years to advocate for protecting the interests
of the Delta and California’s water supply and continue to seek opportunities
to work with the State to address these critical issues. To achieve a Delta
that has economic and environmental balance, the DCC has repeatedly pursued a
Delta plan that genuinely meets the criteria of the 2009 Delta Reform Act. Such
actions include:
1) Improving
the ability to move water around as needed with water system improvements.
2) Increasing
storage capacity.
3) Reinforcing
our levee system.
4) Protecting and improving water quality and
quantity.
5) Local
storage, increased conservation plans, water reuse and recycling and
desalination.
6) Restoring
the Delta’s health.
The DCC was formed to better
represent the nearly 4 million people throughout the Delta region and works
collaboratively to give one voice to the Delta and engage in efforts to achieve
three goals: improve the Delta ecosystem, provide a more reliable water supply
for the State, and protect and enhance Delta communities.