“Dear Director Snow:
“I write today to convey the concerns shared by many of the water supplier agencies throughout my Assembly District and my constituents served by these agencies who depend upon water conveyed through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
“As a Member of the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee, I co-signed a letter to the Governor on May 25, 2007 requesting his intervention to work to stabilize and remedy the precipitous failure of the threatened Delta Smelt population. I signed this letter – in part – due to my belief the Governor and members of his administration hold a better position to remedy this situation than to allow a further deterioration of the population that would most likely invite Federal court intervention under the auspices of the Endangered Species Act. The declining Delta Smelt population is a specific manifestation of the dire need for a long-term, sustainable solution to the challenges plaguing the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, especially given the Delta's role of serving as a conduit for the water that 25 million Californians depend upon for their daily lives.
“This May 25th letter did not specify what action the Governor should initiate, and it certainly did not call for a shut down of the State Water Project's Banks Pumping Plant.
“The Department of Water Resources did, however, initiate such an action. The stated reason for doing so has now passed as it appears the Delta Smelt population has indeed migrated further downstream as Delta and Bay waters have seasonally warmed. In fact, due to this development, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation decided yesterday morning to begin the process to resume its normal Delta operations. I encourage DWR to similarly resume its Banks Pumping Plant operations akin to how DWR followed the USBR's lead in temporarily and voluntarily taking the pumps out of service.
“The magnitude of a continued shut down or severely curtailed operations should not be underestimated. The curtailed delivery of water required by the continued, reduced state operations would have significant impacts upon the Central Valley, the state’s overall economy, and food supply and costs across the nation.
“As Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, I would like to call to your attention that specifically for agriculture, California's number one industry, the problems created by the shut down and reduced activity levels are particularly severe. Farmers and ranchers render decisions months in advance about what crops to plant and grow. They engage in such decision-making by knowing that a water source will be available and when that water will be available. If, for some reason, the anticipated water deliveries are not available, crops already planted will be lost and future crops not planted. To this end, even prior to USBR's decision to increase pumping, the agriculture industry in the San Joaquin Valley faced dire circumstances with barely enough water left in the jointly-managed and operated San Luis Reservoir to continue supplies for more than 25 days.
“The severity of the problem is not limited to the San Joaquin Valley. For example, the Santa Clara Valley Water District just called upon its 1.7 million customers to make a 10% reduction in water use as a direct response to the state pump shutdown. Further, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California simultaneously announced it is launching the largest outreach campaign in its history to reduce water use. Cumulatively, more than half of California's population is being asked to significant cut back its water usage as a result of the reduced activity at the Banks Pumping Plant.
“As you know all too well, there is only so much that can be done to address these shortages given the limitations imposed by geography and the design of our current state and federal water conveyance system. While there are supplemental supplies available through transfer north of the Delta, without capacity at the pumps or other means to move such water, there is little chance acquired water will actually be received. Operationally, we cannot draw down San Luis Reservoir more than two feet per day without risking damage to the earthen dam. If forced to continue drawing down the San Luis Reservoir, we will soon reach the point at which the pipes serving the urban areas of the Santa Clara Valley will run dry, and there will too little time left in the water year to replenish this reservoir.
“With DWR's previously-cited, immediate need for the SWP's Banks Pumping Plant to be taken off-line now mitigated and recognizing the pending economic peril, health and safety, and quality-of-life issues posed by a continued reduction in operations, I strongly encourage you and your department to initiate the process required to bring the Banks Pumping Facility back to full operational capacity. This request, however, in no manner reduces the desperate need for DWR and all Delta stakeholders to initiate immediate actions to resolve the multiple challenges facing the Delta and resolve the increasingly-exacerbated conveyance risks the current Delta management scheme presents.
“I thank you, in advance, for your consideration and immediate action.”
Most Sincerely,
Assemblywoman Nicole M. Parra
30th Assembly District