We are from the Federal government and we are here to help.
July 7, 2009 | Posted by Laura Harnish in Bay Delta, Fisheries
Laura Harnish is the California Regional Director.
That was essentially the message brought by Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar to a standing room only crowd in Fresno.
He addressed a crowd of about 800 people, primarily farmworkers, farmers and residents of the Central Valley (and a smattering of fishermen and environmentalists) who have been clamoring for federal action in the face of rising unemployment and third year of drought.
Salazar carefully walked a tightrope throughout the town hall meeting. On the one side, he appealed to farmworkers, farmers, as well as local and federal politicians representing the area by enumerating a number of short-term measures expected to bring relief both in terms of disaster dollars and water supply projects. On the other side, he expressed commitment to fishermen and environmentalists by embracing the Governor’s Delta Vision which puts the ecosystem health of the Delta on equal footing with water supply reliability. He also put to rest notions that the so-called “God Squad” could be called to nullify Biological Opinions that are constraining water supplies under Endangered Species Act provisions.
Salazar told the locals that dollars would be coming for drought supply relief and that come July 1, the pumps would be turned back on. This statement was received with yelps of joy. However, it’s important to clarify a couple of things.
- The pumps have not been “off", but they have been operating at below normal levels for this time of year in accordance with the Biological Opinions, roughly 5 – 7 percent below normal according to calculations of the National Marine Fisheries Service
- Turning the pumps on is consistent with the Biological Opinions which allow increased pumping during the summer months when the salmon and Delta Smelt are not impacted by their operation.
Salazar also announced that the federal government would be forming a partnership with the State to solve this longstanding problem and identified Deputy Secretary David Hayes as the federal lead in the partnership. Hayes has a long history in California water, having cut his teeth during the days of CALFED a decade ago.
Next Steps
The Fresno town hall meeting was followed up the next day with a meeting with Hayes who renewed Interior’s commitment to the Biological Opinions and promised to work closely with the environmental community.
Both Hayes and Salazar put significant emphasis on the importance of the success of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as a cornerstone to a comprehensive Delta Plan and overall solution to this water crisis. As a member of the steering committee, we at EDF would stress that the success of the BDCP is largely dependent on active federal engagement to force the hard questions and hard decisions. So this news that the feds are back and that they plan to get deeply engaged is like manna from heaven. Stay tuned.
2 Responses
Comment from susans
July 8th, 2009 at 9:05 am
The BDCP perhaps holds promise for a Delta fix, but for those of us in the Sacramento Valley, it raises more fear than hope. If conveyance capacity and options increase, where will the water come from to supply that conveyance? Water transfers do not come without impacts. If farmers up here give up their surface water, they will pump groundwater to substitute and after three years of below average rainfall, groundwater levels are falling around the valley. These aquifers sustain the streams that are the only remaining habitat for the threatened spring run Chinook salmon, along with myriad other species. Improving the Delta is important, but we must not redirect those impacts to healthier, viable habitat.
Comment from gocalifornia
July 12th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Dear Director Harnish: I was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley and worked the crops. I now live in the East Bay and work in San Francisco. I post my observations on several water blogs under this username; especially the Fresno Bee. The blogs Ive read show that Valley peoples feel the Bay Area needs to share and sacrifice their water rights with peoples of the San Joaquin Valley. The postings also show the same for Southern California. If I recall, the Bay Area has first water rights to Hetch Hetchy (for SF) and EBMUD also has water rights to the Delta. To that end, is it possible that Bay Area conservation practices can re-divert the water you save and send to the San Joaquin Valley? Are their regulations that enable this. Similar to a cap and trade for water? Also, doesn't the Valley have natural water rights that supercede the Bay Area water rights because the Central/San Joaquin Valley is closer to the source? Thank you for your time.
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