Tracy Press

More information is needed for a new look at an around-the-Delta canal.

Talk of a peripheral canal that would re-route Sacramento River water around Delta waterways is back, but we need to know more before we can weigh in. Press file photo.

Hold on. Didn’t we already debate the so-called peripheral canal, take it to a vote and soundly reject it — in 1982?

Now, the Public Policy Institute of California and experts from University of California, Davis, say the risks posed by a changing Delta ecosystem — with climate change, rising sea levels, levee failures from future earthquakes, increased runoff and new invasive species — call for an aggressive approach to protecting California’s long-term water supply.

The Public Policy’s 184-page report says that continuing to channel water through the troubled estuary’s maze of levees is risky and costly, and that fortifying the Delta’s 74 islands would be a waste of taxpayer money. The authors conclude that an “isolated conveyance” — blather for peripheral canal — would draw fresh water from the Sacramento River and divert better water to more than 25 million Californians for drinking and irrigation by bypassing the salty mixture found in the Delta.

“Ultimately, there are two choices,” says Jay Lund, an engineering professor who co-authored the Public Policy report. “No exports or a peripheral canal. Keeping the Delta as it is, is not one of them.” 

This report isn’t the first to weigh in on the Delta. An earlier state task force recommended the study of a “dual conveyance,” one that would combine a pipeline with continued pumping through a repaired Delta.

Following that report in May, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors took a formal stand against such a canal — just as it did in 2007, 1998, 1991 and 1982 — and challenged cities and agencies in the county to pass similar resolutions. Manteca did, but Tracy hasn’t considered the issue. 

The county’s resolution declared that a peripheral canal of any kind would harm water quality and the ecosystem and diminish agricultural land and even future urban development.

Supervisor Leroy Ornellas doesn’t mince words when it comes to the Delta and the politics surrounding it.

“The Delta’s not broken,” he says. “Everything around the Delta is broken — the state and various departments. Get more water flowing through the Delta, and we’ll all be in better shape.”

Just as we can’t fathom a solution to our water woes that’s not beneficial to all Californians, we can’t recommend a canal without thoroughly analyzing the impacts on the Delta. How would the quality and quantity of the water in the Delta change if river water isn’t channeled through it? And what would be the consequences for the recreation, agriculture, environment and economy of the Delta and surrounding area?

We’re happy to see Ornellas speak out on behalf of the Delta; we wish more Tracy residents would do the same. Anyone who says this is a state issue and not a local one needs to wake up.

This isn’t just about the future of much of California’s water supply. The future of a critical ecosystem in our midst is also at stake.

For information:

• The Public Policy Institute of California describes itself as a private nonprofit organization dedicated to informing and improving public policy in California through independent, nonpartisan research. The institute was founded in 1994 with an endowment from William R. Hewlett. For a copy of the group's report: www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=810.

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written by Dave Hardesty , July 24, 2008

"We’re happy to see Ornellas speak out on behalf of the Delta; we wish more Tracy residents would do the same. Anyone who says this is a state issue and not a local one needs to wake up."

Ok, I qualify for that statement and I am speaking out. With my eyes wide open I will say that Leroy is absolutely on the mark.

Look at the history of the past 30 years and what has happened to the water quality, fish, crabs and animals in the bay area, that is fed by the water that naturally use to come from the delta. You can't eat the fish because the water has become as polluted as the delta waters have been diverted and no longer flush out the bay with fresh water, as our creator intended it to be when he designed it or as it evolved, take your pick. Also, the Dungeness crab, once abundant in the Bay, is no longer eatable.

If we continue to take water from the Delta and send it to Southern California this ecological disaster is only going to get worse and will have a direct economic impact, if not a health impact, on all of us living here.

Think I am wrong? Take a good hard look at Mono Lake and the Colorado River. The lake is virtually dry and the River no longer reaches the Gulf of California. Why? It’s because we have diverted the water to Southern California and Arizona for more residential growth and agriculture.

Somewhere, sometime, this sort of thing is going to have to stop or we really will have a global ecological disaster of our own making and that is a verifiable and provable fact, unlike the global warming crud spewed by the likes of Al Gore.

But isn't it odd that the rich talking heads in Jollywood and Uncle Al never mention things like this?

Dave Hardesty

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written by missyE , July 24, 2008

Only 1 post on this important issue? Wow! People spew hatred on these forums about a variety of topics but only 1 response to how our own backyard is being ruined by Southern California? We will NEVER win this as the majority of the population of our state is in southern california and has the power of the vote/legislature. They will continue to bring up this issue until a peripheral canal is built. This will cause the salinity of the delta to rise and kill off the wildlife. All so Southern California can grow and grow and grow. People, this is a serious issue and we really need to stop this. Even if you don't care about wildlife, you should care about our local agriculture and recreational uses for the delta water.

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written by Dave Hardesty , July 25, 2008

missyE

I agree with you and it just goes to show you that people seem to really be only interested in how they can profit from such things.

Oh, you will get the comment, "Well, what do you expect, the government controls everything?"

Yeah right! Nope, it's not true, the reason things like this go on is because people are really not serious about doing much of anything except to complain about it. When it comes to contacting their Assemblyperson and getting out to vote, the reality shows on television and sports games on television take precidence in their lives.

And those of us who publically speak out are castigated and ridiculed by nameless bloggers who will not post a logical arguement but resort to political muck raking and mud slinging as they attack the character of the individual instead of arguing their reasons for supporting projects like these.

In short, the reason America is in the the condition it is today is because our citizens have largely opted out of the process of governing themselves and let the tiny but very influential, special interest groups do it for them. Then when they see a disaster they whine and complain but really don't do much more than that.

We deserve the government we have because most of us don't actively participate in the process and have willingly given away our freedom.

Dave Hardesty

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written by amy , July 25, 2008

So right on, Dave Hardesty!!!!!
Voters:
Freedom comes with a price, our own responsibility as American citizens to see that it stays preserved? I think so. Troops cannot do it alone? Be empowered with information, not hearsays, negativity, look for many solutions and find the best answer out of those solutions, arm-chair verbal thrashing is not progress by any means. If there is a flaw, point it out and offer suggestion? Or even address concerns over it? Our job as citizen to do our own homework well on issues, platform, connections, ties, so on to vote wisely on local, state and national level.

Concerns and addressing issues by offering solutions on this blog may reach the leaders' attention and draw from it in their decision making. Hope so. Some leaders may read this or not.

You covered it well!
Thanks.

-amy

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written by Tracy RealNews , July 26, 2008

Leroy,

Can we also do something to improve the levees to protect our towns?

Thanks!

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written by Dave Hardesty , July 28, 2008

Cheri

You ought to go ahead and clear this off. Apparently no one is really interested even though it is equal if not more important an issue than the pie-in-the-sky South County Court project, which was invisioned long before Celeste came up with the idea of placing it in the bow-tie-area, despite the reportings in the press to the contrary.

I will give her credit though, it was her idea to place it in the bow-tie area. But several people and I are on record of stating a much better location for a project like this would be the Chrisman Road site the city already owns and would like to develop.

Hopefully enough people are paying attention to the canal diversion project that would shunt water out of the Delta and down to Southern California. But apparently this article isn't getting out so you might as well save server space and move it to the archives.

Thanks for the article though because I do agree with what you have provided.

Thanks

Dave Hardesty