10-2-09

 
10-2-09
Merced Sun-Star
UC Merced earns honor for environmental efforts
Governor's award recognizes green practices...DANIELLE GAINES
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1091070.html
The UC Merced campus, flush with solar energy programs and Earth-friendly buildings, has been recognized once again for its environmental stewardship.
The university announced it received the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, California's highest environmental honor, Thursday morning.
"This honor recognizes UC Merced's commitment to developing socially responsible and environmentally friendly practices that promote environmental protection and economic growth," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said at an event honoring award recipients Wednesday night.
While the campus now already has its share of environmentally-friendly features, UC Merced was recognized for its future plans, specifically its Long-Range Development Plan, the 136-page document that will guide the campus' growth to 2,766 acres.
"We are excited to receive this esteemed recognition," Thomas Lollini, associate vice chancellor for physical planning, design and construction, said in a press release. "This is not only a testament to the value of the work the campus has done here. It is an endorsement of the vision of UC Merced as a leader in sustainability and a model for others to follow."
UC Merced's long-range development plan creates pedestrian and bike-friendly traffic patterns and sets forth a triple zero commitment: a plan to produce energy from renewable sources, eliminate landfill waste, and reduce greenhouse emissions to zero, by 2020.
Once complete, the academic core of the campus will be about a 10-minute walk from each of six planned student neighborhoods.
About 2,000 to 3,000 students will live in each neighborhood.
All buildings will be mixed-use with stores at street level and apartment or dorm housing above.
The Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award program was established in 1993. It is administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency.
Modesto Bee
House passes valley water provisions...Michael Doyle
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/877745.html
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday gave final approval to a $33.5 billion energy and water bill, a snap compared to a future Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta package some lawmakers now envision.
The appropriations bill easily approved Thursday funds projects throughout the Central Valley, including delta levee studies and regional flood control. Its final passage never was in doubt, because it's one of a dozen bills needed to run the federal government in fiscal 2010.
But even as lawmakers were approving the energy and water bill, which includes $40 million for restoration of the delta and San Francisco Bay, they were starting to anticipate a potential new bill focused strictly on the vulnerable bay-delta region. If it flies, the prospective delta legislation could literally reshape California.
"The delta estuary has enormous national significance," Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein reiterated Thursday, and "it is seriously at risk."
Feinstein first revealed her intentions for a comprehensive delta bill in a brief interview Wednesday with the San Francisco Chronicle. The seemingly offhanded revelation made following a heated public hearing caught many by surprise.
Well-connected lobbyists and water district officials contacted Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted being caught off-guard by the prospect of a big delta bill.
Behind the scenes, though, California lawmakers including Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Reps. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, have quietly been discussing what lessons might be gleaned from previous environmental restoration efforts such as those for the Everglades, Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes.
These informal discussions over the past several months will now have to accelerate to meet Feinstein's goal, averred Thursday, of introducing a delta bill by April.
"I think it can be a very helpful effort to provide the resources necessary," Costa said Thursday, stressing that "the precedent has been established" on some of the nation's other major environmental endeavors.
Boxer added Thursday that she supports "efforts to find comprehensive solutions to the water crisis that respect all stakeholders," and Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, said he was "pleased" that Feinstein was "putting her attention to this issue."
Conflicts coming
Still, the coming conflicts could be fast and furious.
Farmers and their allies insist the Endangered Species Act should be waived so that more irrigation water can be pumped. This is a deal killer for environmentalists.
Radanovich, while generally praising Feinstein's efforts, stressed that a delta bill "still doesn't take care of the agricultural season next year," while Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, dismissed Feinstein's past authorship of state environmental laws.
"I've never seen her write one that works yet," Nunes said Thursday, denouncing Feinstein's supporters as "radicals."
Yet Nunes added that "I believe that she wants to fix the problems." He noted that the energy and water bill approved 308-114 by the House on Thursday included a provision he worked on with Feinstein, permitting the Army Corps of Engineers to buy 24 acres in Tulare County for improvements to Success Dam.
An expression of interest, though, is not a guarantee of success.
In June 2007, for instance, Feinstein declared her intention to work with farmers and environmentalists in solving the irrigation drainage problems endangering the San Joaquin Valley's west side.
Meetings were held but no discernible legislative progress was made.
Any California water bill, moreover, will take a long time.
In October 2004, for instance, Congress gave final approval to Feinstein's $395 million "Cal-Fed" bill designed to protect the delta and enhance the state's water supplies. That bill took three years to pass, during which time it changed markedly.
In the years since, the Cal-Fed program has received decidedly mixed reviews despite hundreds of millions of dollars.
Similarly, a modified San Joaquin River restoration bill won its final approval in March, 27 months after the first version was introduced.
Restoration project starts on San Joaquin...Garance Burke, The Associated Press
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/877744.html
FRESNO — Cold water gushed from behind a Central California dam Thursday to meet its old, dry riverbed, marking the first step in a federal plan to reawaken the state's second-largest river so salmon can flourish again.
The San Joaquin River, whose waters course from the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific Ocean, carried the continent's southernmost salmon run until the 1940s, when the government dammed it to nurture croplands below.
That captured snowmelt allowed the state's agricultural economy to thrive, but Friant Dam also dried up portions of the river downstream where salmon once spawned.
The surges of water released Thursday marked the beginning of a major restoration effort, the result of a decades-long legal tussle between environmentalists, farmers and the federal government.
"Having water flow down the San Joaquin is an important first milestone on the way to having a living river again," said Monty Schmitt, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which filed a lawsuit in 1988 stemming from the opening of Friant Dam.
After years of negotiations, all parties agreed to a legal settlement in 2006 to return water to two dry stretches of the river and bring back native Chinook salmon by 2012.
First test flows
President Barack Obama signed a bill implementing the agreement in March, and on Thursday, the Bureau of Reclamation released the first test flows into the dry riverbed, where officials hope it will revive parts of the river that are now choked with weeds.
Over the coming months, scientists plan to monitor the flows' impact on the dry riverbed, surrounding croplands and potential spawning habitat for salmon.
"You will see more flow coming out of a few needle valves at the dam, and for the next several weeks you'll notice the river will slowly move downstream," said Jason Phillips, program manager for the bureau's restoration program.
"But it will take decades before you see a fully realized salmon population."
Sacramento Bee
Hammond: Don't solve Delta woes on Sacramento's back...Lauren Hammond is the Sacramento vice mayor and City Council member representing District 5.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/v-print/story/2224843.html
Once again, the Legislature has tried to fix the crisis facing the ecosystem in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and improve statewide water reliability. These recent efforts have fallen short due to a process that was dictated more by the legislative session adjourning than addressing legitimate concerns from key stakeholders.
The city of Sacramento continues to support a comprehensive solution to problems with the Delta's ecosystem and the state's water supply. However, the city does not support the current Delta package because there are too many unresolved issues that would affect our city and region for decades. Much more public debate is needed before moving forward.
It is apparent that the health of our Delta ecosystem must be balanced with the unyielding need for water in Southern California, but it should not be balanced on the shoulders of Sacramento and other Northern California communities. Calls for more thoughtful consideration of the needs and concerns of Sacramento and the Delta region were silenced as the push for more water flowing south became the focus of the discussion.
Obviously, one of the best ways to meet water demands in our state is to use water more efficiently. Sacramento is making great strides with aggressive water conservation measures and water meter installation. But meeting the goal of a 20 percent reduction in per capita water use by 2020, as proposed in the legislation, will be nearly impossible without water meters on all service connections. Currently, our meter installation program relies primarily on water rates and grant or loan funding.
Under current law, Sacramento's meter implementation project has until 2025 to be completed. Without additional funding from the federal or state government, installation of the remaining 79,000 meters, which also necessitates the replacement of thousands of feet of backyard water mains, cannot be accelerated to meet the 2020 deadline without imposing a significant and unjustified burden on Sacramento ratepayers. Failure to meet the 2020 deadline would render Sacramento ineligible for other state funds that our community relies upon for necessary infrastructure improvements.
The proposed legislation creates another new governance structure in charge of the Delta ecosystem. The proposed Delta Stewardship Council would be made up of seven members, only one of whom would be from this area. This council, as proposed, would be given broad authority over the Delta and Delta watershed, without sufficient assurances that the senior water rights of upstream communities, and the significant local water supply and ecosystem investments that upstream communities have made, would be respected.
Without representation on this council by scientists or oversight of this council by a science board, there is little chance that decisions will be based on sound and comprehensive science, and not on political agendas.
Additionally, the proposed Delta Stewardship Council would be granted the ability to determine how the proposed $40 billion in infrastructure improvements, including the proposed peripheral canal, would be spent. This could include implementation of fees on Northern California water purveyors who will not benefit from the proposed infrastructure.
One member of the council for this region will not be able to provide enough input or representation against the representatives from other water-hungry areas of the state, nor did the proposed legislation provide assurances that programs and facilities implemented in the Delta will not result in the redirection of significant adverse impacts to upstream areas.
Sacramento's city limits include only a small portion of the Delta, but Sacramento has a lot at stake as a solution to the environmental crisis in the Delta is developed. Any solution will directly impact our community. We need to be part of the discussion and part of the solution.
We are fortunate to have three local sources of high-quality drinking water, two major rivers and a dwindling groundwater basin, but we cannot be seen as a full pocketbook or as a water-rich community that can bear the brunt of the solution for the state's water woes. A solution must be found that encompasses protection of Sacramento's water rights and entitlements while maintaining and protecting the local Sacramento and American River ecosystems.
For example, significant local efforts and investments have been undertaken in this region to preserve and protect the lower American River, under the auspices of the Water Forum, and these efforts and investments should be respected. Sacramento and other local water purveyors should maintain local control and the right to provide the highest quality water supply at the most reasonable cost to its customers, and Delta costs should not be passed on to our customers based simply on political considerations.
We in the Sacramento region need to speak up and join the discussion. We cannot allow a Delta bill package to get jammed through at our expense. We must ask our state representatives, particularly those elected from this region, to ensure that this region is not forced to shoulder the burden when the Legislature takes another run at this issue.
Certainly, common ground must be found for a comprehensive Delta solution and to ensure California's water reliability for the future. This can be done only by including all parties equally and having their voices heard.
Stockton Record
Cruises? Perhaps it's time to rebrand the Delta...Michael Fitzgerald
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091002/A_NEWS0803/...
State Assemblyman Bill Berryhill recently sent out a "Berryhill Bulletin" blasting the peripheral canal.
The canal, Berryhill wrote, would be "the size of the Panama Canal through the heart of San Joaquin County, with a nightmarish price tag north of $50 billion."
The grandiose canal would be "wide enough for cruise ships to navigate," Berryhill scoffed.
Continued the assemblyman, "Again, it is just another monstrosity that allows the power brokers of the Bay Area and Southern California to siphon - " Whoa.
Wait a minute.
Cruise ships?
Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the peripheral canal. The canal's regional benefits may not be fully appreciated. After all, Stockton's interests are best served if we put aside narrow interests and find a balanced solution.
Perhaps there is a principled compromise to be had along these lines: Big Ag in the southern San Joaquin Valley gets reliable water deliveries; Southern California gets municipal water; 97 percent of Delta species plunge into extinction; Stockton becomes a cruise ship destination.
A win-win deal, ladies and gentlemen.
OK. Not for the salmon. But if the salmon go extinct for lack of a strong negotiating position, arguably that's evolution in action. Chinook: rhymes with "schnook."
Perhaps you have seen cruise ship ports. They are retail districts of classy shops, art galleries and lively restaurants. Perfect for Stockton's waterfront.
When a ship docks, hordes of rich toffs and moneyed dowagers dodder down the gangway. The sole purpose of these well-heeled seniors is to spend their estates before their imminent appointment with the Grim Reaper.
Other passengers include sorority sisters who substitute thong bikinis for marriageable qualities; Midwestern folks into family values overspending and usurious debt; and timid tourists willing to pay real money to avoid actual contact with foreign cultures.
Again, all perfect for Stockton's waterfront.
These consumers swarm into shops, snapping up everything from haute couture to local crafts, in between visits to Señor Frog's-style binge drinking establishments.
After four hours the ship's horn blows. Glutted, they pile back aboard and sail off, leaving behind them a mountain of sales tax receipts.
Such economic development would not only revive the waterfront, a steady influx of Princess cruises could also permanently remedy Stockton's budget crisis.
Consider, if you will, how a cruise ship port could dovetail with a waterfront casino. One that offers adult entertainment, quality dining and the professional fleecing experience.
The side benefits are almost too numerous to mention. Stockton will shrug off its brand as a gangsta shooting gallery and gain a new identity as an exciting inland waterfront destination.
Downtown will revitalize itself. The entertainment and club scene will heat up. Kids will get ship jobs. Local trades will undoubtedly be called upon to provide various services. The local funeral industry will flourish.
Cruise ships can also satisfy this region's needs for new modes of alternative transportation.
Tired of that numbing Sacramento commute? Get ready for your commute on Carnival Cruise Lines' deluxe cruise ship, the Fantasy.
The Fantasy boasts a "Serenity Adult Retreat Area," a new art gallery, a nine-hole miniature golf course, and a completely revamped spa with 11 private treatment rooms.
Also Cleopatra's Bar. This lounge boasts an Egyptian tomb motif. According to Carnival's Web site, "Its stone floor, hieroglyphics, gilded sarcophagi and statuary will transport you to ancient Egypt." Also to Old Sacramento.
What sounds better? Driving stop-and-go up I-5 with a tepid cup of Starbucks coffee or sipping on a Bloody Mary in Cleopatra's Tomb with a waterborne cougar?
Yes, admittedly, the Delta would collapse. Perhaps there's a way it, too, can be rebranded. The Delta could be renamed the Omega and marketed as a sort of watery Death Valley.
Bottom line: Water is overrated. Let's put the "boon" in "boondoggle" and build the peripheral canal. Stockton's ship will finally come in.
Tracy Press
Water board tightens Delta discharge rules for polluters...TP
http://www.tracypress.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Water+board+tightens+Delta+discharge+rules+for+polluters%20&id=3784281-Water+board+tightens+Delta+discharge+rules+for+polluters&
instance=home_news_bullets
A Delta watchdog group celebrated a recent move by a regional water board to tighten up standards about how much salt water cities are permitted to discharge into the ailing estuary.
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance applauded the decision by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board to bring its policies in line with federal and state law by giving the cities less time to bring salt water discharges into compliance. Before, according to the nonprofit alliance, the water board allowed Tracy and Lodi, for example, several more years than the legally mandated 5-year deadline to comply.
The nonprofit appealed to the California Office of Administrative Law — a government agency that reviews and decides the legality of local regulations and guidelines — about the local water board’s practice of considering its own guidelines over state and federal standards when it issued discharge permits to cities, according to alliance spokesman Bill Jennings.
The main change is that instead of allowing an agency — like the cities of Tracy and Lodi, which are out of compliance — just five years to lessen saltwater discharge, the water board was allowing 15 to 20 years to meet discharge standards.
For information, go to www.calsport.org.
Indybay
San Joaquin River Restoration Delayed...Dan Bacher...10-1-09
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/01/18624134.php
San Joaquin River Restoration Delayed by Dan Bacher
For the first time in more than 60 years, water was supposed to be released today from Friant Dam to revitalize the dry San Joaquin riverbed, but the plan hit a big snag as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation waited to receive a permit from the State of California. As usual, the Schwarzenegger administration, the worst ever for fish and the environment in California history, has apparently done its best to block the restoration of California fisheries.
Ironically, the river's dry bed was scheduled to receive water at a time when Senator Diane Feinstein, Governor Arnold Schwarznegger, corporate agribusiness and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg are campaigning for a water bond that includes a peripheral canal to increase water exports to irrigate drainage impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and southern California. As the San Joaquin is scheduled to flow again, agribusiness and corrupt politicians are planning to destroy Sacramento River salmon and Delta fish populations. They are also conducting a campaign to gut a federal plan designed to prevent Central Valley chinook salmon, Delta smelt, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales from becoming extinct.
While the restoration of the San Joaquin River is a good first step in the restoration of Central Valley fisheries, Schwarzengger and his collaborators are trying to engineer the extinction of Central Valley salmon and other fish populations. If their insane plan is not stopped, the restoration of the San Joaquin that will begin as soon as the state grants the federal government the necessary permit will become an irrevelant joke.
Schwarzenegger's campaign against Central Valley fish populations and fishing communities is accompanied by his fast track Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a racist, elitist and corrupt greenwashing process that removes Indian Tribes, seaweed harvesters, commercial fishermen and recreational anglers, the strongest defenders of marine ecosystems, from California ocean waters while doing nothing to stop threats to fisheries caused by pollution, oil spills, wave energy projects and increased water exports out of the Delta.
Schwarzenegger's MLPA fiasco has nothing to do with "marine protection" - it is in reality a cynical attempt by the Governor and corporate interests to privatize public trust resources. The process has steamrolled over the fishing and harvesting rights of federally recognized Indian Nations such as the Kashia, a Pomo Indian Tribe that has been banned from harvesting abalone, mussels and seaweed off Stewarts Point in Sonoma County by a August vote by Schwarzenegger's handpicked Fish and Game Commission.
The following is the press release about the San Joaquin flow restoration from NRDC.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press contact: Serena Ingre, 415-875-6155, cell: 703-296-0702, singre [at] nrdc.org
San Joaquin River Reborn
For First Time in 60 Years, Water Begins to Flow
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 1, 2009) – Californians will be witness to a historic event today: the revival of the San Joaquin, one of the West’s largest rivers. For the first time in almost 60 years, flows will be released from Friant Dam down the dry San Joaquin riverbed as a critical first step toward bringing a river and vital public resource back to life.
The flows are the first major milestone under a historic settlement agreement reached in 2006 between the Natural Resources Defense Council, Friant Water Users Authority and the federal government over the de-watering of the river that devastated one of California's largest salmon runs. The settlement ended 18 years of legal battles and initiated one of the largest river restoration projects in the nation.
NRDC said that restoring flows and the historic salmon runs on the San Joaquin will help California’s ailing commercial salmon industry, create jobs and help improve water quality in the Bay-Delta, a source of drinking water for 22 million Californians. This historic restoration effort serves as an important example of how farmers, fishermen, environmentalists, state and federal agencies can work together to implement real solutions to California’s conflicts over water resources.
Following is a statement by Monty Schmitt, Senior Water Resources Scientist and San Joaquin River Restoration Project Manager at the NRDC:
“Restoring flows today to the San Joaquin River reflects commitment on the part of farmers, fishermen, state and federal agencies and environmentalists to implement real solutions to California water resource challenges.
“These first flows to the San Joaquin are evidence of the dedication and hard work of many to restore California’s second largest river and once-abundant salmon fisheries while continuing to support the state’s agricultural economy. The restoration effort will create construction-related jobs, help revive the commercial salmon fishing industry, and bring a vital public resource back to life for future generations to enjoy. Restoring the San Joaquin River also will improve water quality for farmers and millions of Californians who rely on the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta for their water supply.
“While the water released today is a fraction of the historic flows, it will enable the collection of information critical to improving our understanding of the river and how best to design a successful long-term program with the limited water available that achieves the program’s restoration and water management goals.”
For more information read Monty Schmitt’s blog at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mschmitt/
More about the NRDC settlement: http://www.nrdc.org/media/2009/090325.asp
The Coast That Sean Hannity Forgot...Dan Bacher...10-1-09
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/01/18624097.php
Sara Randall, the Program Director of Commercial Fishermen of America and the Institute for Fisheries Resources, exposes the lies about "fish versus jobs" in the California, in this piece about "The Coast That Sean Hannity Forgot." She includes a series of video clips and article links responding to Hannity's lies about California water.
Sean Hannity's show "The Valley Hope Forgot" took place as corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Senator Dianne Feinstein, right wing Republican Congressmen and big ag-controlled Valley Democrats have launched an all-out war against fish, fishermen and the Endangered Species Act. The same bi-partisan cabal of corrupt politicians and corporations is also pushing for the construction of a peripheral canal and more dams to drive collapsing populations of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon, threadfin shad, striped bass and southern resident killer whales into the abyss of extinction.
The campaign to destroy Sacramento River and California Delta fish populations, to impoverish coastal and Sacramento Valley communities that depend on healthy fisheries and to crush tribal, recreational and commercial fishing rights is being promoted through a cynical "astroturfing" campaign by Burson-Marsteller, the "public relations firm from Hell." Please send this piece to anybody who cares about hearing the truth regarding California water.
The Coast That Sean Hannity Forgot...Sarah Randall
As many of you are aware, Zeke Grader, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations(http://www.pcffa.org) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (http://www.ifrfish.org), was on the Sean Hannity Show on September 17 when Hannity broadcast live from the Central Valley to bolster the "fish vs farmers" argument being promoted by agribusiness.
The truth is that the Delta ecosystem is collapsing through years of excessive water withdrawals -too much water has been taken out of the Bay Delta estuary for too many years to support its biological self-cleaning and self-renewal systems. To function, estuaries require fresh water inflow to mix with tidal flows. This mixing creates rich brackish water that is full of nutrients and is so important for many marine and anadromous fish species. The multi-billion dollar west coast salmon fishing industry is now suffering 100% unemployment rate today because of ecological problems in the Delta created by years of water overdrafts and drought.
To watch the video of Zeke on the Sean Hannity Show click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IOf-11wmlY On September 29, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart covered Hannity's broadcast from the Central Valley. To see what Jon Stewart has to say (starting at the 2 minute mark and completing at 6 minute mark) click here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/99122/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-tue-sep-29-2009
Please go to http://www.salmonawaternow.org to learn more about the CA water crisis. At http://www.salmonwaternow.org, we have a series of videos illustrating the problem that can be shared and embedded on different websites. Salmon Water Now! was founded to raise public awareness of the plight of wild California salmon, fishermen, and coastal communities dependent on healthy freshwater delta flows. Salmon Water Now! sheds light on the inadequacies of the current water allocation regime and champions the restoration of the Bay-Delta’s legacy of strong salmon runs.
COMPLETE DETAIL OF MISINFORMATION ON HANNITYʼS CENTRAL VALLEY BROADCAST:
(courtesy of Bruce Tokers and Salmon Water Now!)
False: Hundreds of laborers appeared in the background, backed up for miles, holding signs and screaming chants in support of Hannity.
Truth: These are the same workers with the same signs that have been hired by large farm growers for the past couple of rallies. On April 14, 2009, the same organization sponsoring Hannityʼs visit held a march that the United Farm Workers called a “grower- sponsored march, a grower-organized march, for water for growers....not a farmworkers' march." The New York Times reported "many of the protesters were paid by their employers to march in lieu of harvesting crops.”
False: The unemployment rate in the San Joaquin Valley is over 40% because farmers cannot grow crops due to a lack of water.
Truth: The State of Californiaʼs most recent employment data reports that Fresno County, the county in which Hannity filmed, has only 15% unemployment, compared to a 12.1% state average. Furthermore, farm jobs increased by 5.3% in the months immediate following the NMFS environmental ruling. Even before the global recession, the Western region of the county historically had the highest unemployment rate in the state. In 2000, before the drought and environmental restrictions, unemployment in the Western region was 32%.
False: The federal government has shut off the water pumps.
Truth: Most water is flowing through the valley. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that nearly 80% of the water from the ailing delta continues to flow directly into the valley. The local water district has a surplus of hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water that it is not distributing.
False: The water restrictions were issued to protect only a 2” smelt.
Truth: A number of species threatened with extinction in this region are being protected by this regulation, including salmon, sole, crab, herring, steelhead, sturgeon, bass, and killer whales. The collapse of one of these fisheries alone is costing the state $5.7 billion and 94,000 jobs.
False: The federal government is choosing fish over people.
Truth: Protecting regional fisheries creates numerous jobs. Both fish and agriculture can prosper if growers adopted simple, cost-effective irrigation techniques. More responsible farming practices would save 18 times the amount of water being diverted for salmon.
False: The price of processed tomato goods and almonds are going to skyrocket across the nation.
Truth: This year is predicted to be a record-breaking harvest of processing tomatoes due to ideal weather conditions. Tomato production is up 15% from last year, with 11% more acres planted. Mike Montna, president and CEO of the California Tomato Growers Association, said this yearʼs processing-tomato harvest — now at the halfway point — is heading toward a record for the state. Almonds are in record-shattering surpluses as well, and a decrease in production would actually save the industry.
False: The NMFS ruling will require us to import more food from China.
Truth: Seafood is already the most imported food product in the United States. The NMFS estimates that 83% of all seafood consumed in America last year was imported from another country. Driving fisheries out of business will only increase food imports. On the other hand, 75% of Californiaʼs almonds are exported out of the United States.
False: This decision was made by a handful of environmentalists.
Truth: Restoring water to fisheries has been ordered for over 15 years, beginning in 1992 with a Congressional law (Central Valley Improvement Act). A recent independent review was “flabbergasted” that the law has been ignored. A team of government scientists in the Bush administration ordered for water to be rerouted to save fisheries as well, although that order was shelved by the Secretary of the Interior. An additional report was recently released and approved by the new administration.
False: Local residents are flocking to food banks and waiting all day for food.
Truth: The local CBS station reported that only ʻdozens of familiesʼ showed up to the food bank.
False: The area of Fresno County in which Hannity reported is a ʻnatural breadbasketʼ where agriculture flourishes.
Truth: Huron, CA receives an average of only 6.7 inches of rain a year, far less than what is
needed to sustain agriculture.
For stories on the broadcast and more information see:
Hannity stumbles upon cause of west side water issues
Fresno Bee - Fresno,CA,USA: http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/mcewen/story/1644349.html
In a fake attempt at balance, Hannity conned Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, to be on the show. ...
Sean Hannity Spreads Misinformation about California Water
Dan Bacher, Bay Area Indymedia - San Francisco,CA,USA: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/09/18/18622370.php
Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association, who was interviewed by Hannity last night, extended an on-air invitation to Sean ...
Hannity demagogues about San Joaquin farmers' woes, but is happy ...
By David Neiwert: http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/hannity-demagogues-about-san-joaquin
But the Intended Victim, a fellow named Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, actually bit back, pointing out how callous and indifferent Hannity was toward the plight of the people on the coast who ...
Commentary: Environmental groups, water advocates, and fisheries ...
By Aqua Blog Maven: http://aquafornia.com/archives/11964
Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association extended an on-air invitation to Sean Hannity to visit the Pacific Northwest and interview the fishermen who have been without a livelihood for 2 years. ...
On the Water Front » And now for the rest of the (Fox News) story ...
By Spreck Rosekrans
(He did allow Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations a chance to speak, but did not acknowledge that unemployed fishermen are also part of the story and he repeatedly ignored Zeke's invitation to visit ...
On the Water Front - http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront
Hannity to Obama: 'Mr. President Turn the Water on Now'
KMPH Fox 26 - Fresno,CA,USA: http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=11153950
... we are also talking about Salmon, these salmon are food and provide jobs for people," Federation of Fisherman's Association Zeke Grader said. ...
Sean Hannity Farm Show Attracts Anti-Obama Crowd
ABC30.com - Fresno,CA,USA: http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=7020050
But the only environmentalist to speak, Zeke Grader, a Salmon Fisherman who addressed the crowd by satellite from Northern California was shouted down as he ...
I hope this sheds more light on the subject for you!
Sara
><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>¸...
Sara Randall
Commercial Fishermen of America
Institute for Fisheries Resources
Program Director
CSPA Forces Regional Board to Withdraw Illegal Underground Regulation...Bill Jennings...10-1-09
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/01/18624119.php
On September 28, the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board's Executive Officer issued a “Certification” to OAL that the “Management Guidance for Salinity in Waste Discharge Requirements” has been withdrawn.
CSPA Forces Regional Board to Withdraw Illegal Underground Regulation: Decision affects numerous permits for discharges to surface and ground water...Bill Jennings, Executive Director, CSPA
September 29, 2009 -- In response to a petition by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) to California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL), the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board's (Regional Board) has withdrawn its illegal “underground regulation” that allowed dischargers to discharge salt to waterways at levels far exceeding water quality standards.
On 28 September 2009, the Regional Board's Executive Officer issued a “Certification” to OAL that the “Management Guidance for Salinity in Waste Discharge Requirements” has been withdrawn. The action means that cities and industrial facilities will no longer be able to continue discharging concentrations of salt exceeding water quality standards far into the future but will have to begin efforts to achieve compliance within defined compliance schedules.
It's a huge victory for clean water and the law but unfortunately only an initial step in holding accountable a Regional Board that seems more intent on protecting polluters than the environment. CSPA still has more than 50 wastewater permits on appeal and is preparing another petition to OAL regarding yet another underground regulation.
Salt (or salinity) is a pervasive pollutant prevalent in wastewater effluent. Numerous waterways, including the San Joaquin River and San Joaquin Delta, are identified as “impaired” and incapable of supporting identified beneficial uses because of salinity. Groundwater basins throughout the Central Valley are impaired because of salinity. Excessive salinity is damaging to irrigated agriculture, sources of drinking water and freshwater aquatic life.
The State Water Resources Control Board, responding to a number of CSPA appeals, had already remanded several NPDES wastewater permits (Lodi, Tracy) and was proposing to remand the Stockton permit back to the Regional Board to implement proper salinity standards. However, numerous CSPA appeals were still pending.
On 28 May 2009, CSPA petitioned OAL to declare the Regional Board's policy for addressing salinity issues in wastewater discharge permits to be an “underground regulation” in violation of law. OAL accepted CSPA's petition and directed the Regional Board to formally respond by 28 September 2009. Beyond the Certification of Withdrawal, the Regional Board also sent its program managers a 25 September 2009 letter stating, “Effective immediately, staff should not consult, cite or use the Salinity Guidance in making permitting decisions or recommendations.”
State agencies are required to adopt regulations to enforce or implement the laws they administer. These regulations must be adopted through formal rule-making procedures established by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of the California Government Code. The Regional Board's policy for salt control, as outlined in the Management Guidance for Salinity in Waste Discharge Requirements, was never adopted through formal procedures outlined in the APA. The policy ignored legally promulgated state and federal regulations and illegally extended the timeframe for controlling discharges of salts thereby ensuring increased degradation and pollution of state and federal waters by salinity based pollutants.
In an effort to avoid costly upgrades to treatment facilities, municipal and industrial dischargers have heavily lobbied the Regional Board to ignore long-existing regulatory mandates in the federal Clean Water Act and California's Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act that require dischargers to control salt in wastewater discharges. Under the law, where a reasonable potential exists to cause or contribute to a violation of a water quality objective, wastewater discharge permits must contain final enforceable effluent limits to prevent pollution and degradation of the state's surface and ground waters.
The Regional Board acquiesced to discharger demands and established a policy that granted discharges interim “performance-based” limits allowing them to continue to discharge salts at current levels. The policy established compliance schedules of 15-20 years for the discharger to conduct studies and implement vague unenforceable salinity reduction programs. Since the law only allows compliance schedules of 5 years for surface water discharges and 10 years for discharges to land, the Regional Board policy instructed permit writers to avoid placing compliance schedules in “enforceable parts of the permit” to avoid mandatory penalties.
Los Angeles Times
The Klamath River lessons
Forget winner-take-all; everyone compromised on a water plan...Editorial
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-klamath2-2009oct02,0,3326531,print.story
The agreement reached Tuesday to remove four dams on the Klamath River in northwestern California and southern Oregon is welcome news, and not just for the salmon that spawn upstream or the people who depend on a sustainable fishery for their livelihood. The battle for the Klamath isn't over, and it will continue to be the focus of competing interests. But if the deal is seen through and the dams are removed, it will represent a successful effort by those interests to work together for their mutual benefit. And if they can do it on the Klamath, it's not too far-fetched to believe that farmers, fishermen, environmentalists and thirsty cities can find a way forward in the vastly more populous and arguably more complicated Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta system that serves the needs of people across a majority of the state.
Yes, the Klamath is geographically separate, sending lake water and Cascades snowmelt to California's far northern coast. It is only marginally related to the rivers that flow from the Sierra to the San Francisco Bay -- or to pumps that divert it south. And yes, the dams to be removed were never intended to store water for agricultural or urban use. They were constructed to generate electricity and are, in that sense, distinct from the dams that are harming Central Valley and Sierra fish populations, and distinct as well from the new dams that agricultural interests are demanding as a price for their agreement to a comprehensive delta solution.
It's too easy, therefore, to conclude that removal of dams on one river is inconsistent with continued efforts to add new dams to the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. But it does raise the question: Why, exactly, should we build new dams that will further degrade the environment and cause further costly problems that will have to be solved in the future? That question became even more pressing this week as water flow was restored for the first time in more than half a century to a portion of the San Joaquin River that was dried up by a massive dam. There are now plans to reintroduce salmon.
So the Klamath deal also serves as a reminder that California's multimillion-dollar fishing industry has a stake in the health of our rivers. Water policy here does not boil down to "fish versus jobs," and it's not a simple fight between farmers drained of their livelihoods and environmentalists. It's a complex problem with much at stake on many fronts. In the Klamath deal, multiple interests agreed, in a collective leap of faith, to back away from a winner-take-all stance. It's not good simply for the fish or for the environment; it's good for the economy. Competing interests should keep that in mind as they work toward a comprehensive legislative solution for the delta.
CNN Money
2009 Consumer bankruptcies top 1 million
Mounting unemployment and housing crisis push the number of consumer bankruptcies to highest level since 2005...Hibah Yousuf
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/02/news/economy/consumer_
bankruptcy/index.htm?postversion=2009100212
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumer bankruptcies topped the 1 million mark in the first nine months of the year, the highest level since 2005.
Consumer bankruptcies in 2009 are up 35% from the same period in 2008 according to a report from the American Bankruptcy Institute out Friday.
"Bankruptcy filings continue to climb as consumers look to shelter themselves from the effects of rising unemployment rates and housing debt," said ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.
There were 1,046,449, consumer bankruptcies in the first nine months of this year. That figure crossed the one million mark for the first time since 2005, when consumers filed 1,350,360 bankruptcies in the first nine months of the year, according to ABI, which uses data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.
ABI, an industry research firm, expects consumers to file a total 1.4 million bankruptcies in 2009, up 30% from last year's total of 1,074,225.
September, 2009 filings rose to 124,790 which was up 4% from August 2009 and up 41% from September 2008.
Bad news: Jobs market getting worse
More jobs were lost in September than expected and unemployment rate hits 26-year high of 9.8%...Chris Isidore
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/02/news/economy/jobs_
september/index.htm?postversion=2009100210
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Employers cut more jobs from their payrolls in September and the unemployment rate hit another 26-year high, as the long-battered U.S. labor market took an unexpected turn for the worse, according to a government report Friday.
The Labor Department said there was a net loss of 263,000 jobs in the month, up from a revised loss of 201,000 jobs in August. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast losses would fall to 175,000 jobs.
This is only the second time this year that job losses rose from the previous month, as the labor market had shown slow but relatively steady improvement since a loss of 741,000 jobs in January.
September marked the 21st consecutive month that the number of workers on payrolls has shrunk, a period during which 7.2 million jobs have been lost.
Even though many economists, including those at the Federal Reserve, have said there are signs that the economy is growing once again, Friday's jobs report shows that job losses could continue well into the recovery, limiting the strength of any economic turnaround.
"This report is dismal and disappointing," said Sung Won Sohn, economics professor at Cal State University Channel Islands. "The 'green shoots' in the economy are withering. Technically, the economy may have bottomed, but the job market is lagging behind and struggling."
U.S. stocks fell in early trading following the report.
The unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in September from 9.7% in August. That was in line with economists' forecasts, but the unemployment rate is now the highest since June 1983.
The average work week also fell to a record low of 33 hours, down from 33.1 hours in August. In addition, the number of workers who want full-time jobs who are only able to find part-time work rose to a record 9.2 million.
Counting these involuntary part-time workers and those without work who have stopped looking for jobs and are not counted in the unemployment rate, the so-called underemployment rate rose to 17%, the highest reading in the 16 years it's been calculated.
Dent to recovery hopes?
With the average hourly wage up only a penny, the reduced hours resulted in a $1.54 drop in the average weekly paycheck. John Silvia, chief economist with Wells Fargo Securities, said the shorter hours and the downward pressure on wages are a major concern.
"It's a huge challenge to consumer spending," he said. "It's going to be a tough Christmas for a lot of families, a lot of retailers and any businesses that depends on the consumer."
Silvia said his firm wasn't forecasting any job gains until next spring, but even that turnaround may get pushed back if wages and hours remain under such pressure.
Silvia is also concerned about the continued growth in long-term unemployment, which he said will make it difficult for people to start spending again, even if they get a job.
A record 5.4 million people have now been out of work for six months or more, up 350,000 from the previous record high reading in August. The average time a jobless person has been out of work crossed the six-month mark for the first time on records that go back 61 years.
"The longer people are without a job, the more difficult it is to pay their bills, their credit cards, their mortgages and home equity loans," he said. "That hole keeps getting deeper and broader too, affecting more households. This isn't just a blue collar recession."
Other experts said there were some glimmers of hope in the report, however. Tig Gilliam, CEO of Adecco Group North America, a unit of the world's largest employment staffing firm, said much of the unexpected rise in job losses was due to a decline of 53,000 government jobs.
"State and local governments are stretched," he said. "No one was expecting them to be an engine for job growth. But what we need to focus on is the private sector."
He was also encouraged by the fact that there was a net loss of only 1,700 jobs among temporary employees. He pointed out that once there is a gain in temporary workers, that is typically an early sign that employers are getting ready to add jobs again.
"Let's not panic about this report. It's really not getting worse in most respects," he said. "We should see an end to job losses by the end of the year. I expect in three to four months, we'll be talking about jobs being added. I hope."
Anti Corruption Republican
What Doolittle - Probably - Didn't Do
http://anticorruptionrepublican.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-doolittle-probably-didnt-do.html
The ACR Blog admits that is not a big fan of former Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.). Mr. Doolittle may have gone to Congress with good conservative intentions, but somewhere along the line he seems to have lost his way. But this is not another piece about something unseemly that former Rep. Doolittle did, but rather about something that we believe he did not do.¹ In the interest of fairness to Mr. Doolittle, the ACR Blog wants to point out that we have seen no evidence tying him personally to some² of the earmarks that were received by municipalities located in his northern California congressional district.
On this subject: most conservatives don't like earmarks (pork barrel spending) for obvious reasons. On the other hand, Team Abramoff seems to have recognized early on that delivering earmarks for their clients by corrupting the appropriations process was a sure-fire way to retain those clients, and also an excellent excuse to charge them higher fees. Not only that, but when the "get-nots" saw what the "gets" were getting, the "get-nots" were certainly more open to being lured in as new clients. This is why Mr. Abramoff once famously referred to the Appropriations Committee as a "favor factory."
Fortunately for Team Abramoff, Kevin Ring had solid connections with a key House Appropriations subcommittee. First, a little background. From paragraph 15 of the Kevin Ring indictment:
From in or about January 2003 through in or about January 2005, Representative 4 [Ernest Istook] served as the chairman of a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee before which defendant RING's clients had pending and anticipated matters. As Chief of Staff, [John] Albaugh's primary responsibilities included oversight of issues relating to the subcommittee, including appropriations requests.
Now let's read paragraph 38 of the indictment:
38. On or about March 19, 2003, shortly after Abramoff spoke to Representative 4 [Mr. Istook], Abramoff sent an email to RING and other members of the lobbying team in which Abramoff told them that Representative 4 had "basically asked us what we want in the transportation bill" and instructed them to "make sure we load up our entire Christmas list."
Note that there is only mention of Representative 4 (Mr. Istook) and no mention whatsoever of Representative 5 (Mr. Doolittle). Referring to Mr. Albaugh's subsequent 2008 decision to plead guilty to charges he arranged earmarks for "lobbyist C", Mr. Ring. Again there is no mention of Rep. Doolittle. Roll Call reported:
In the wake of an admission by the top aide to then-House Appropriations cardinal Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) of exchanging earmarks for concert tickets and free meals, an analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense found that clients of a Jack Abramoff associate received more than $16 million in earmarks in the fiscal 2004 transportation spending bill.
Oink oink - that's a lot of pork. But rather than look at the whole pig, let's just focus in on two cutlets.
When Team Abramoff relocated to Greenberg Traurig in January 2001, the City of Lincoln signed on as a new client and Kevin Ring became their lobbyist. On July 9, 2002, the City of Elk Grove, Calif (also in Northeast California) filed a Registration form indicating they too were retaining Greenberg Traurig and hiring Mr. Ring as their lobbyist. Prior to this date, the City of Elk Grove had not seen fit to retain the services of a lobbyist. Did these investments "pay off"?
From Roll Call:
In its analysis [of the FY2004 transportation spending bill], Taxpayers for Common Sense found that the Choctaw Mississippi Band received $1.4 million for a Choctaw Roads project; the city of Elk Grove received two earmarks, $300,000 for the Sheldon Road-State Route 99 interchange and another $960,000 for a “traffic operations center”; the city of Lincoln received four earmarks, $500,000 for expansion of regional buses, $1 million for the Lincoln Boulevard Improvement Project, $2 million for the Lincoln bypass-State Route 65 Ferrari Interchange construction and $250,000 for the Auburn Ravine Bridge.
Not a bad return on investment³. But just as we cautioned our gentle readers to be wary of assuming that a rogue staffer means a rogue boss, just because Mr. Ring once worked for Mr. Doolittle does not necessarily mean Mr. Doolittle bears responsibility for Mr. Ring's delivery of earmarks - even if the results did benefit entities in his Congressional district⁴.
Indeed, Todd Boulanger testified last week in court that Rep. Doolittle was "cheap"; when pressed by defense attorney Andrew Wise, Mr. Boulanger further explained that Rep. Doolittle "didn't believe in spending money." While these statements were not necessarily intended to be delivered as compliments, the ACR Blog wants to acknowledge and applaud Mr. Doolittle for whatever actions he did take while he was in Congress to hold the line on federal spending.
So where did Mr. Ring's apparent influence with Mr. Albaugh come from? Again, from Roll Call:
Albaugh, in fact, had worked for Istook since he was first elected in 1993, serving as his chief of staff from 1998 until Istook left office in January 2007.
From paragraph 7 of Kevin Ring's indictment:
From in or about November 1993 to in or about 1998, defendant KEVIN A. RING worked as a staff member in the office of a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (Representative 5).
In other words, Mr. Ring and Mr. Albaugh both began their careers as House staffers in the same year (when the GOP was still a minority). Interestingly, in or around 1995, Reps. Doolittle and Istook would become two of the four co-founders of the Conservative Action Team, which would ultimately morph into the powerful Republican Study Committee:
However, it [the RSC] was almost immediately [in or around 1995] refounded [after Newt Gingrich had shut it down] as the Conservative Action Team by Dan Burton of Indiana (the last chairman of the original RSC), Sam Johnson of Texas, John Doolittle of California and Ernest Istook of Oklahoma. The four founders alternated as chairmen throughout the next two Congresses until David McIntosh of Indiana became chairman in 1998.
According to Mr. Ring's indictment, "(d)uring 1999, defendant RING served as executive director of a Republican caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives." That would be the group cited above. While we cannot be certain, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that Mr. Ring and Mr. Albaugh developed a close professional relationship during these early years when they were both young staffers, with both of their bosses being co-founders of what would become a powerful GOP group. Their relationship seems to have endured long after the time Mr. Ring left Rep. Doolittle's employ in 1998, and thus the lack of any evidence to suggest Rep. Doolittle's direct involvement in these FY2004 earmarks coupled with him being "cheap" (in the words of Mr. Boulanger) makes it plausible that at least on this score, Rep. Doolittle comes out clean.
==
¹ There is always the possibility that additional emails and/or other evidence may come to light that will cause the ACR Blog to re-evaluate our assessment that Mr. Doolittle was not involved in the matters discussed in this post.
² Emphasis here is on the word some.
³ Not coincidentally, after Mr. Ring left Greenburg Traurig and moved to Barnes and Thornberg, both the Cities of Elk Grove and Lincoln terminated their relationship with Greenburg Traurig and hired Barnes and Thornberg.
⁴ Earmarks per se are not illegal of course, but the jury will decide whether the process of obtaining them via the "purchase of influence", as the prosecution alleges, is illegal.