The PCL Insider: News From The Capitol
MEET THE MAN WHO CREATED CALIFORNIA'S COASTAL
COMMISSION
Attendees at the PCL-PCLF
2007 Symposium (Saturday, April 14th in Sacramento) will
have an opportunity to talk with Peter Douglas, a renowned
environmentalist, coastal policy expert, and Executive Director
of the California Coastal Commission.
Douglas co-authored Proposition 20, a successful citizens'
initiative that established the Coastal Commission almost
thirty-five years ago. He was a principal author of the 1976
Coastal Act, the follow up legislation that made California's
coastal management program permanent. He also drafted
regulations to implement the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act
of 1972.
Douglas' morning policy keynote address will focus on
environmental activism with special attention to the dangers of
complacency. "Activists must guard against parochialism and
politics of opportunism, convenience and accommodation. We must
articulate a clear and compelling vision that resonates on the
culturally diverse public square...finding common cause with
others, including labor, health, faith, environmental justice,
political, business, and education coalitions."
Come see Douglas and all our keynote speakers! Register today
at www.pcl.org or call Melanie
Schlotterbeck at (909) 606-0801.
LIFTING THE FOG: PCL'S GUIDE TO THE
FATE OF THE CALIFORNIA DELTA
Fog of War: "There's a wonderful phrase:
'the fog of war.' What 'the fog of war' means is war is so
complex it's beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend
all the variables. Our judgment, our understanding, are not
adequate." – Robert McNamara.
Tule fog: a thick ground fog that
settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley areas of
California's Great Central Valley. This phenomenon is named
after the tule grass wetlands (tulares) of the Central Valley.
Accidents caused by the tule fog are the leading cause of
weather-related casualties in California.
The California Delta, a 700,000-acre collection of islands
and waterways just east of the San Francisco Bay Area, has long
suffered as California's literal and figurative quagmire, where
solutions creak and groan like ghost ships stranded in the
tenebrous misty sloughs.
Today, the Delta's future is foggier than ever.
An unparalleled fish crash, increasing pressures from real
estate development, political retribution against vocal public
agency scientists, uncertainty about the scale of regional
climate change impacts, and mushrooming risks of flood and
earthquake damage all cloud our ability to manage this intricate
ecosystem effectively.
Yet despite the risks of stalemates and standoffs, state and
federal agencies have shown renewed interest in finding a
"workable" solution to their long-standing Delta dilemma.
Here's a quick guide to help you navigate through the dreaded
Dikes of Doublespeak and the Archipelago of Acronyms:
Delta
Vision: The Governor's office recently
launched the Delta Vision Process to develop recommendations on
long-term management of the Delta. A high level cabinet advisory
panel, an independent blue-ribbon taskforce, and a forty-plus
member stakeholder advisory group have all convened and are
expected to deliver draft recommendations to the Governor and
Legislature by the end of 2007.
That deadline is particularly ambitious given that key
scientific questions remain unanswered – including the
amount of freshwater needed in the Delta to restore and maintain
the health of this freshwater tidal estuary. PCL's Jonas Minton
sits on the stakeholder advisory group.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan (BDCP): Water exporters
initiated this process to develop an agreement that would shield
them from endangered species laws. The exporters, state and
federal regulatory agencies and several environmental
organizations are working to draft the BDCP, and have been
tasked by the Administration to develop the plan on an extremely
accelerated schedule.
If approved, the BDCP would provide several decades of
"regulatory assurances," insulating the exporters in exchange
for funding restoration projects or other undefined actions.
Fisherman Zeke Grader recently described the dangers in this
pay-to-play approach: "Fish don't swim in money."
The BDCP process is as ambitious as the Delta Vision, with
perhaps more potential to do harm; should the final BDCP prevent
regulators from protecting endangered species, the ecological
decline of the region will undoubtedly accelerate and the damage
may be irreversible.
CALFED:
Finalized in 2000, CALFED was a massive governmental plan in
which state (CAL) and federal (FED) agencies attempted to soothe
warring camps by promising multi-billion dollar projects to
invigorate habitat restoration, increase water supply
reliability, repair crumbling levees and improve water quality.
Sadly, before the ink dried on the thousand page agreement,
CAL was abandoned at the altar by FED. The new Bush
administration slashed funding for the Clinton era agreement and
the apparent balancing act that embodied the CALFED compromise
became little more than a water exporter feeding frenzy.
The result? Most of the CALFED programs were never
implemented. Water exports from the Delta shot up dramatically,
reaching their highest levels on record. Levees continued to
crumble and drinking water quality suffered. And then, when
scientists identified water management as a key culprit in the
fish crash, regulatory agencies claimed that CALFED agreements
rendered their staff unable to take action.
Finally, in 2006, just months before the second phase of
implementation was set to begin, the California Legislature
yanked on CALFED's collar, slashing its operating budget and
threatening further measures to get the program back on track.
In December of 2006, the California Department of Water
Resources quietly implemented minor restrictions on water
exports.
Fighting the Fog: Complacency,
cavalier self-assuredness, hysteria, and hopelessness can all
obscure the vision of even the most clear-headed decision
makers. Last week, to help fight the fog, Delta advocates,
including the Planning and
Conservation League and Restore the Delta,
testified before a joint hearing of California Senate and
Assembly legislative committees.
Here are our top three recommendations for state and federal
agencies to put the Delta on the path to recovery:
1) Take actions immediately to
reduce the strain on the Delta's natural systems and reverse the
ecosystem collapse. Scientists have identified key
periods in which water exports should be cut back. These
recommendations should be implemented to avert the approaching
extinction of aquatic Delta species.
2) Implement "no regrets" actions to reduce
risks to Delta resources. These actions include
aggressive implementation of water conservation and water
recycling to reduce dependence on Delta water, reduction of
exports of freshwater from the Delta, reduction of pollutants
entering the Delta, and identification and protection of Delta
lands with high value as flood management or habitat areas.
3) Start now to get the information
necessary for a long-term solution. Identify how much
water the Delta needs to be sustainable. Determine how climate
change will impact the Delta and the changes in rain and snow
likely to occur in the future. Use this information to select
workable solutions.
We're counting on your support. To get involved or to get
more information, contact Mindy McIntyre at mmcintyre@pcl.org or (916)
313-4518.
LOCAL GREEN GROUPS MAKE THE "CAPITOL CONNECTION" –
OUR THANKS TO ASSEMBLY MEMBER HUFFMAN AND SENATOR WIGGINS
As a "League" of local and regional environmental groups from
around the state, PCL knows that effective legislative advocacy
extends beyond our "Insider" work at "The Building." (That's
what non-Sacramento residents call the State Capitol.)
Elected officials are often best reached right in their own
home town, surrounded by the community members who know the
local issues.
That's why this year, PCL has begun sponsoring monthly
bi-partisan "in district" meetings with members of the
California State Legislature from both northern and southern
California.
Most recently, PCL and other environmental groups met with
Assembly Member Jared Huffman in San Rafael, and State Senator
Patricia Wiggins in Sonoma.
PCL and representatives of nearly a dozen other groups talked
with Assembly Member Huffman about various global warming
strategies. In our meeting with Senator Wiggins, we explored
topics from poor land use planning that increases per capita
"vehicle miles traveled" (VMT) to pesticide contamination and
control of invasive plants.
On behalf of all who took part in these productive meetings,
our thanks to Assembly Member Huffman and Senator Wiggins!
If you are a member of a local environmental group and would
like to participate in one of our upcoming meetings, please
contact PCL Executive Director Gary Patton, at gapatton@pcl.org
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