A powerful Los Angeles water agency appears to be moving closer to purchasing four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a move that has drawn accusations that the real estate could be used to orchestrate a Southern California “water grab.”
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s board of directors is expected to vote next week on a “conditional purchase and sale agreement” to buy the four agricultural islands from Delta Wetlands Properties, according to an item on the Metropolitan board agenda. The item doesn’t spell out details of the proposed transaction or explain how Metropolitan would use the land.
A Metropolitan spokesman declined to comment Monday, but leaders of the Delta water community said it appears the Los Angeles agency is on the verge of buying the land.
“I can’t say I feel good about powerful Southern California interests controlling Delta islands,” said George Hartmann, a Stockton attorney who represents farmers on nearby McDonald Tract.
Environmental and Delta farm groups have expressed concern that the land purchase could enable Metropolitan to move more water south through the Delta.
These critics also have said Metropolitan could use the land to push forward with the Delta tunnels, a controversial $16 billion project designed to route water from the northern Delta to the existing state and federal pumping stations near Tracy. The pumps are responsible for moving water to millions of Southern Californians and the farms of the San Joaquin Valley, and the tunnels project has been touted by Gov. Jerry Brown as a means of improving the reliability of water deliveries while improving the Delta’s fragile ecosystem. Friday marked the deadline to comment on the project’s environmental impact documents.
The four Delta Wetlands islands – Webb Tract, Bacon Island, Bouldin Island and Holland Tract – sit adjacent to the proposed tunnels route. They are controlled by Zurich American Corp., the U.S. arm of a Swiss insurer. Zurich has been trying for 20 years to turn the islands into reservoirs for storing and shipping water to customers south of the Delta.
Officials with Delta Wetlands weren’t immediately available for comment Monday.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, which opposes the tunnels project, said that if Metropolitian buys the islands it would allow the agency to circumvent the need for eminent domain to acquire those properties along that section of the tunnels route. Plus, she said, it allows the agency, which has water rights inferior to Delta farmers, the opportunity to cut in line in the state’s water-rights system because property owners along a waterway are allowed to take water through what is known as riparian rights.
“Whether there’s a (tunnels) project or not, it’s a way for them to hold onto the water,” she said. “And even though you technically can’t transfer riparian rights, there are ways to work the law so that you can move and transfer water as needed. Either way, it’s a continued push to use the Delta as Metropolitan’s water source so they can resell water.”
Metropolitan’s interest in the four islands first surfaced in late September. Westlands Water District, an influential agricultural water agency in the San Joaquin Valley, also was in negotiations but issued a statement in September saying it didn’t expect to make a purchase offer for the properties.
Meanwhile, a host of farm groups, environmentalists and others submitted detailed comments on the tunnels proposal last Friday, the deadline for public comment on the environmental impact documents. Environmentalists and Delta farm groups were critical of the plan, saying it would lead to further harm and degradation in the Delta.
Water agencies south of the Delta, which stand to benefit from the enhanced water deliveries and whose ratepayers would pay the cost of building the tunnels, offered tepid support for the plan. While they endorsed the concept of the tunnels, they said they were wary of committing funding to the project without stronger guarantees that their water deliveries would improve.
In one typical comment, the Kern County Water Agency said the plan doesn’t appear to be “economically feasible” yet.
“Additional efforts need to be taken to reduce the cost of the project, protect the project’s (water) yield, and improve the likelihood that the project will be constructed and implemented in a manner that improves water supplies at an affordable cost,” the Kern agency wrote.
In a joint letter, the state’s two largest consortium of water agencies, the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority and the State Water Contractors, expressed similar concerns.
“Despite the improvements the additional infrastructure provides, a final plan must include operational criteria that result in meeting the fundamental purpose of the project to protect and restore water supply – which includes doing so in a stable regulatory environment,” the agencies’ executives said in their letter.
State officials have said the tunnels would actually reduce, on average, the amount of water pumped to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. But they’ve said the tunnels would bring improvements to the Delta’s ailing ecosystem, enabling the pumping stations to deliver water on a more stable and reliable schedule.
The comments were submitted to the state Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which run the Delta pumping stations and are in charge of the tunnels project, which Brown’s administration now calls the “California WaterFix.”
“The Delta pipeline is essential to completing the California Water Project and protecting fish and water quality,” Brown said Friday in a statement. “Without this fix, San Joaquin farms, Silicon Valley and other vital centers of the California economy will suffer devastating losses in their water supply. Claims to the contrary are false, shameful and do a profound disservice to California’s future.”
A spokeswoman for Brown’s Natural Resources Agency said state officials plan to have the final environmental documents finalized in mid-2016.
Dale Kasler: 916-321-1066, @dakasler
I feel that California needs water, however, i don't think this is the right way to do it. "the California economy will suffer devastating losses in their water supply."(Last pp). I feel as though this plan needs to be worked out more so it can fit into California's existing water supply system without causing any problems or disputes in power.
ReplyDeleteGREAT! That's all that truly needs to be said. Our past negligence is why this has to happen. I understand there is repercussions but at this point anything to get water and store it is beyond necessary. I understand why people are upset, I really do, but we need this and that out weighs the current cons.
ReplyDeleteYes our drought it extreme, but it will only make things worse by sharing the water. We need to find other water sources if possible: "Environmentalists and Delta farm groups were critical of the plan, saying it would lead to further harm and degradation in the Delta.” I think it is great that this project will be “protecting fish and water quality” (Kasler). According to state officials, "the tunnels would actually reduce, on average, the amount of water pumped to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California” ? (Kasler). I think the big picture of this project is amazing considering that without it, "vital centers of the California economy will suffer devastating losses in their water supply,” however I wish the Delta could be protected. However, water is very important, so the positives outweigh the negatives.
ReplyDeleteperiod 2
California definitely needs water. The plan about the water shortage needs to be worked and planned out more. Not jump to conclusions and take the first idea. Many people are upset over the water shortage. This needs to be discussed more in detail.
ReplyDelete“I can’t say I feel good about powerful Southern California interests controlling Delta islands,” (George Hartmann). I agree with George Hartmann, Southern California should not have control over our water supply. First of all, Southern California is not conserving water like they should be. they should prove that they can conserve water before we even think about giving them the little water we do have. Second of all, I have family living in the Sacramento delta and they are very worried about the tunnels. They have been getting less and less water over the years and the tunnels would take more of that water. I do not think that Southern companies should own land up here.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Koopman, per. 1
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis extremely helpful. Southern California has not put in any effort to conserve water and it is tuning into a big problem. We need to be extremely careful when concerning the drought. With more water stabilizing the source of California's income we can worry less about the economic stress in this state.
ReplyDeleteWith this drought our state can use anything to help. We as a community need to come together and make this tunnel system happen. This system will improve "“The Delta pipeline which is essential to completing the California Water Project and protecting fish and water quality,”" (Kasler). Not only will this project help create more water for our state, it will improve water quality and the environment along with it.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia needs anything to help us. The drought has caused so many problems this year and has limited things people want to do. I think this tunnel system could be very effective for us to gain more water, this will also improve the water quality and making it more efficient for us as well. California needs this for our drought to get better or for this to stop. ¨State officials have said the tunnels would actually reduce, on average, the amount of water pumped to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.¨ (Kaiser). As Kaiser said it is limiting water usage and gaining more ability for California to gain this and then use it to our benefit.
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
DeleteCalifornia is in a drought. These things happen, but i can tell you that California is known to go through drought periods. Here's a tip for California don't drain Folsom Lake! all we do is give water for the five freaking salmon that come back up stream each year, But guess what if there's no water one year then the fish wont go up stream that year, they can still live. And for LA Jesus Christ people you waste more water than everybody, i recently went down to LA and they are watering empty hill sides along the highways. Really? As for the naturalists that want to save the fish once again they will live they have it hardwired into the brain if there isn't a stream, wait a year or find another, it's that simple. OK i know what your going to say next the salinity levels in the bay guess what shiz happens in nature people the fish and sea life know how to adapt that's why they're here today so just let nature take Its course. Also stop building a flood spillway that will only get used if there is a 100 year flood use the money for something else.
ReplyDeleteI think they should find another way to get water then buying the islands. They should not resort to buying the islands and using the Delta when there are farmers and other people that could live and have homes in that area. Also, there could also be animals that call that area their home and if it is taken and controlled by the government, they won't have anywhere to go. The government should think of better ways places to get the water. They could try taking water from lakes and other small bodies of water.
ReplyDeleteAlena Romero Period 5
The fact that this drought has been going on for such an extended period of time is concerning. Before I get into my personal opinion, however, I would like to remind everybody that California accounts for 70 percent of our nation's agricultural industry and 90 percent of the world's almond production. With this is mind what would happen if all these crops could no longer withstand or be farmed due to the drought. Then a billion dollar corporation called Monsanto that specializes in genetically modifying seeds says they have a “solution” that consists of genetically modifying crops in order to withstand the drought (earns billions from selling seeds to number one agriculture state in the world). I am positive that you have all seen white trails in the sky being left by planes. If I told you that that was aluminum being sprayed, you would most likely not believe me. What I can stress is that the coast of California is constantly sprayed with these heavy metals to block the Jetstream from coming into California. This is the reason California and the West Coast has been 10 to 20 degrees above average and the east coast has been 10 to 20 degrees below average. It is also the reason it was 96 degrees this October. With all this said, "The pumps are responsible for moving water to millions of Southern Californians and the farms of the San Joaquin Valley" (Sacramento Bee) who are suffering from a drought that should not even exist. I hope that this project will influence victims of the drought in a positive way. Lastly, the unfortunate money being put forth into this superfluous project should not have to be used because the drought will end this year (ironically after Monsanto released three drought-resistant crops).
ReplyDeleteJonPaul Lambert Period 1
Well, Governor Brown certainly thinks highly of the project, "Claims to the contrary are false, shameful and do a profound disservice to California’s future"(Sacramento Bee). If the state officials have done their research and it is not flawed, then why not do this. If it would help with the Delta situation then what's the big problem? California accounts for a massive portion of the agriculture in the country. The Southern California farms are a big part of this and should be given the water necessary. This sounds reasonable as long as it kept in check and the Delta Farms are still getting enough water as well.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia definitely needs water. We are so short of water and people are complaining because they have barely any water. I think we should not skip to conclusions and talk more about the water shortage in more detail.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the government should do whatever they feel is necessary to get water back into California since we have basically none. They also need to take into consideration the jobs that they will be taking away by buying all of the delta land and the animals that will be hurt because they wont have a place to live.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia needs water. Have you seen Folsom Pond? That is just one lake out of many in California. We are in a drought and in need of water. "Water agencies south of the Delta, which stand to benefit from the enhanced water deliveries and whose ratepayers would pay the cost of building the tunnels, offered tepid support for the plan." Water agencies are doing their best to provide water to the rest of California. We shouldn't share water because meningitis is sneaky. "State officials have said the tunnels would actually reduce, on average, the amount of water pumped to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California." This is limiting water usage and gaining more ability to gain water.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia has been in a drought for a long time and it definetley needs water. "Claims to the contrary are false, shameful and do a profound disservice to California’s future"(Sacramento Bee) I believe that the tunnel system can be very effective and we should give it a try. Anything that helps with this drought is necessary.
ReplyDeleteOur lake is going to dry up and without that lake, Folsom will not have a significant water supply anymore. We need water as soon as possible and if there is a method that may help this issue, I think we should give it a shot. This could also help with the quality of our water all throughout the state of California. If we don't do anything about this water crisis, we will regret it later on.
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
After reading this article think that Los Angeles should not perches the four islands in Sacramento -San Joaquin Delta. We need to keep the water for Northern California. I also think that Metropolitan should not push forward with the Delta tunnels because it is costing $16 billion dollars to transfer water from the Northern Delta to Southern California.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this method will actually help the drought. California has been in a drought for a really long time now and we do need water. This method will either work great or not work at all. I do not think personally that sharing the water is the best idea out there. We need water, so we might as well try this.
ReplyDeleteNathanial Draper, Period. 5