From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Letter: Delta community oppose Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) 

Coalition response…Claims that the BDCP’s proposed tunnels will “drain the Delta” are without fact and ignores studies already conducted by scientists and researchers who have worked for year in developing BDCP. The amount of water that will flow through the tunnels will be limited by the actual day-by-day conditions and flows of the Sacramento River. Studies have concluded that water diversions will likely be in the range of average exports over the past 20 years. When flows are high more water can be moved through the tunnels. When flows are lower less water will be moved…or none at all under dry conditions. Learn more at www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf.

Restoration of the Delta’s ecosystem is also one of the goals of BDCP, which includes protection for fish species. For the past 20 years State and federal fish agencies have attempted to protect and restore imperiled fish species through regulating water supplies that has taken water away from 25 million Californians and thousands of farmers. The result has been money spent, water lost and socio-economic upheaval in rural and disadvantaged agricultural communities. Little if any improvement for these species has been accomplished.

If California is going to secure a reliable water future that includes a restored Delta ecosystem, then BDCP must move forward to reality.