Dear Restore the Delta friends,
A heartfelt thank you to all the good Delta people who sat through 9 hours of the State Water Board workshop on the TUCP and Delta drought measure to advocate for the Delta. Your testimony is part of the public record and weighs into their decision making. We are grateful for your thoughtful, caring analysis. Well Done!
Please check out these important news of interest below on Delta water and the Governor's tunnels plan.
- First, Delta farmers volunteered to cut their water use by 25% yesterday at the State Water Board workshop, read at San Francisco Chronicle, "Delta farmers offer to take 25 percent less water."
"The delta, which marks the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, boasts more than 100 crops, with alfalfa, grapes, tomatoes and almonds among the staples.
“We’re also trying to help,” Herrick added, noting that some growers realize they haven’t been hit by the drought as hard as others and want to make a concession. “It’s nice to have delta farmers cast in a good light.”
- Our press release with statements to the State Water Resources Control Board Water Board, "Gov. Brown Trampling Laws, Water Quality & Habitat Under Cover of Drought Emergency."
"The California drought is a fifty-eight county drought,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director for Restore the Delta.
“Previous workshops in front of the SWRCB have focused primarily on efforts to get water to a handful of the 58 counties in California, and less than equal time has been spent on the impacts of drought management on the five Delta counties, Delta fisheries, threatened species, and water quality standards. The five Delta Counties are donor counties to the water export system, and have already suffered the negative impacts from the export of hundreds of millions of acre-feet of water over decades.."
- In case you missed it: Our op-ed in the East Bay Express, "The Bipartisan Opposition to the Tunnels."
"Fighting with a well-liked governor with whom we agree on many issues has not been easy. While our board of directors and membership base is politically left, right, and center, my team members and I are unabashed environmental progressives. Our staffers are registered Democrats and Greens, challenging a much-loved Democrat. Many of our members, meanwhile, are conservative Republicans and libertarians. United by our common opposition to the twin tunnels, both staffers and members muffle our personal views daily to keep our coalition united."
- And lastly, watch and share our new video release "Water is Life: Will it be San Joaquin Valley almonds or the Bay-Delta estuary?"
Yours in Service,
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director