Laura Harnish is the California Regional Director.
The west side of the San Joaquin Valley suffers from two problems: soils that contain high levels of naturally occurring selenium and agricultural land that lacks proper drainage. This deadly combination led to a disaster in the 1980’s in which thousands of birds were poisoned by exposure to toxic levels of selenium in drainage water that had pooled at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge.

EDF has long participated in efforts to find an environmentally sound and cost-effective solution to this drainage problem but it’s clear that the latest proposal by water contractors to assume the federal government's legal responsibilities comes with far too many strings attached.

The deal would jeopardize water now available for the Delta's fisheries, including endangered species and make a long-term commitment of 1,000,000 acre-feet of California's limited water supply. The deals proponents have provided no cohesive argument that it would be a cost-effective use of taxpayer funds. Much more thinking needs to be done in order to have a solution that will work to address the drainage problem and get the support of the broad range of parties involved.