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October 23, 2009

Contact:

Sarah Hersh, 202-225-1947

sarah.hersh@mail.house.gov

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) sent a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today regarding potential changes to the state’s water policy that may be considered by the California legislature.

The letter urges the Governor to take into account input from the families, farmers and businesses that live in the communities surrounding the San Joaquin Delta as these changes as considered.  It also reiterates the Congressman’s plan to closely monitor initiatives that require federal participation and his concern about any proposals that lay groundwork for a peripheral canal.

This letter to the Governor also comes on the heels of Congressman McNerney calling on Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to actively solicit input from the residents who live in the San Joaquin Delta area and ensure their seat at the table as any federal proposals on the Delta are considered.  

The text of the letter to Governor Schwarzenegger is below:

Governor

State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

As California legislators and agencies evaluate significant changes to water policy in our state, I am writing to bring your attention to matters of federal concern.  Initiatives to improve water quality and availability in California are dependent upon coordination by federal, state, and local agencies.  I will closely monitor any actions, particularly those that require federal participation, and will continue to insist that water proposals provide benefit to families, farmers, and businesses in the counties encompassing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Drought conditions are a serious concern in California, and federal, state, and local partners should work together to provide relief.  Efforts to improve water supplies in drought-affected areas, however, must also protect clean water availability for the four million people living in the counties that are most directly dependent on the San Joaquin Delta.  I am honored to represent hardworking families in Contra Costa County and San Joaquin County – two of the five “Delta Counties” – and we are committed to working with you to advance effective water solutions.  However, the voices of families, farmers, and businesses in San Joaquin Delta communities must be heard as federal and state collaborative processes advance.

I am deeply concerned by initiatives that may be intended to lay the groundwork for a canal that diverts additional fresh water from the San Joaquin Delta.  Such a canal would further erode water quality for several million people.  A canal and related proposals are expected to threaten jobs by turning family farms into uninhabitable salty marshlands and could raise water rates by decreasing the supply of clean water for families and businesses in the San Joaquin Delta area.  Public health and economic opportunity in Contra Costa County, San Joaquin County, and other San Joaquin Delta communities should not be sacrificed in pursuit of expensive and counterproductive water projects.  I will oppose federal support for water proposals that threaten the millions of people that call the San Joaquin Delta home.

As you know, a Memorandum of Understanding for San Joaquin Delta projects was recently signed by the Department of the Interior and several other federal agencies.  The memorandum pledges to develop a coordinated work plan for the San Joaquin Delta in consultation with state and local partners.  I have requested that the Department of the Interior take into account feedback from residents of the San Joaquin Delta Counties, and I urge you to do the same.  Together, I believe we can advance helpful solutions that benefit every region of California.

Thank you for your attention to this letter, and I look forward to your reply.  

Sincerely,
 

Jerry McNerney

Member of Congress        

Delta project could cost $50B

$23 billion low estimate for water transfer around estuary

By Kevin Parrish

Record Staff Writer

September 03, 2009 12:01 AM

SACRAMENTO - The high-end cost of trying to ship Northern California's water around the Delta could be a staggering $53.8 billion, according a consultant's report delivered last week to state lawmakers. At minimum, the report estimates, the price tag would be $23 billion.

And San Joaquin County's voice on Delta issues was further diminished this week when state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, was left off a key legislative conference committee reviewing an ambitious package of five water bills that could shape California policy for years to come.

The draft Delta finance report was released by Sacramento's Steve Kasower of Strategic Economic Applications Co. His estimates for constructing a conveyance system - including associated mitigation and habitat restoration costs - are two to three times higher than amounts previously reported.

"This is the only cost estimate we have," said Wolk, whose district includes much of Manteca, Stockton and Tracy; much of the eastern end of the Delta; and Yolo County. "This is the only report that tries to make sense of the overall costs. And this is significant in the next nine days as we try to figure out the funding mechanism for this legislation."

Wolk said she was disappointed and more than a little frustrated that she had been left off the panel that will work out the legislative details on the complex package of bills.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, named seven members of the California Senate to the 14-member conference committee on water. Wolk, chairwoman until last year of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, was not among them. Of the seven appointees from the state Senate, three are from the Los Angeles area and two others are also from districts beyond the Delta.

Wolk said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "is pushing hard" to get what he wants: agreement on conveyance around the Delta and additional water-storage facilities. "But there is no money, no clarity," said Wolk, who is worried about the rush to complete the water-reform package by Sept. 14, when the Legislature goes into recess.

Steinberg, speaking at a Sacramento news conference Tuesday, called the opportunity historic for dramatic changes in the Delta. "We'll be working 24/7 to achieve something that's absolutely essential to California," he said.

The conference committee is expected to meet today and Friday and bring a final recommendation to the floor of both houses Tuesday.

Kasower's 11-page report breaks down the costs associated with two basic conveyance proposals: an above-ground peripheral canal or some variation on it, and a tunnel that would go under the estuary. The wide variance in overall costs is based on methodology.

Both plans include costs associated with off-stream storage, restoration, mitigation and conveyance.

A canal has been described as a "monumental project approximating the Panama Canal." It would be 500 to 700 feet wide and up to 49 miles long, according to an August 2006 engineering report from Washington Group International.

A tunnel, according to Kasower, would be "reasonably equivalent to the London-Paris Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel." The 31-mile Chunnel was built in 1994 at a cost of $21 billion.

Wolk believes there is a third proposal that should be considered. The Contra Costa Water District has proposed a smaller tunnel that would be less expensive ($9 billion), quicker to construct (10 years) and less invasive to Delta farmland (100 acres vs. 5,000).

But she won't be in the room as lawmakers consider the legislative package that will go to the governor.

"Things are in play," Wolk said. "It is inconceivable that such an ambitious group of bills would satisfy the various interests involved." She said normally such endeavors "would take years" to complete.

San Joaquin County and the other four other counties adjacent to the Delta have let Steinberg and California Secretary of Natural Resources Mike Chrisman know they are not pleased with the committee's makeup, said San Joaquin County Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller, the board's point man on water issues.

He said the five counties have worked together to advocate for Delta interests. Wolk's 5th Senate District encompasses portions of three of those counties - San Joaquin, Sacramento and Solano.

"What we're trying to say is: The people who live in and around the Delta have got to be represented," Ruhstaller said.

Record staff writer Zachary K. Johnson and Record wire services contributed to this report.

Contact Assistant Managing Editor Kevin Parrish at (209) 546-8264 or kparrish@recordnet.com