April 26, 2011

Delta Stewardship Council Releases Third Draft of Delta Plan

The Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) released the third draft of its Delta Plan late last week. The DSC also made available a cover memo and an FAQ on Covered Actions for the plan.

This latest draft comes on the heels of a second draft that sparked significant concern among California water leaders, including SCWC, because that draft reflected a scope for the Delta Plan that reached beyond what the Legislature’s 2009 mandate had intended.

By law, the DSC’s Delta Plan must be finalized by the end of 2011. This issue is a top priority for SCWC, and we continue to participate frequently and actively in the Delta Plan dialogue on behalf of our members and stakeholders.

In other Delta news, Sunne Wright McPeak, president of the Delta Vision Foundation had an Op-Ed in Saturday’s Sacramento Bee on the importance of implementing the Delta Vision Strategic Plan, despite the unusually high precipitation this winter.

For more information on SCWC’s participation in Delta issues, visit our Bay Delta page online.

SCWC Reaffirms Support for New Sac Regional Permit

SCWC has submitted a comment letter to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) urging that agency to support the decision made by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) in December 2010 to require the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Sac Regional) to upgrade its outdated wastewater treatment plant.

Last December, the CVRWQCB issued a unanimous decision to approve a new permit that requires Sac Regional to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility in the interest of minimizing the negative impact of Sac Regional’s discharges into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. SCWC supported that decision.

Sac Regional has appealed its case against the upgrades to the SWRCB, a process that is still formally underway. SCWC is closely monitoring this issue, and will continue to issue updates as they become available.

For more information on SCWC’s participation in Water Quality issues, visit our Water Quality page online.

State and Feds Come Together for Meeting on BDCP

State and federal water leaders gathered Monday in Sacramento to update the public on the status of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), and discuss that plan’s crucial next steps.

More than 150 stakeholders and members of the public attended the meeting, during which the group of water leaders strongly encouraged public involvement in the BDCP process, emphasized continued commitment to the best science throughout the BDCP process, and outlined the road ahead for the comprehensive Delta fix.

Participants in the meeting included John Laird, California Secretary for Natural Resources, David Hayes, U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior and Jerry Meral, Deputy Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency.

SCWC Executive Director Rich Atwater was in Sacramento to represent the organization at Monday's meeting.

“The BDCP is the greatest chance we have to finally come together and achieve the co-equal goals of environmental preservation and water supply reliability in the Delta. SCWC has been an active participant in this process from the beginning, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss the future of this crucial plan with the state and federal leaders who are so critical to its success. We are very grateful for the leadership of John Laird, Jerry Meral, David Hayes and the many others who have worked so hard to facilitate this important dialogue.”

Richard Atwater
Executive Director

For more information on SCWC’s participation in the BDCP, visit our Bay-Delta page online.

Legislative Update

SCWC has removed its opposition to AB 134 (Dickinson), a bill introduced in response to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board’s decision to require the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility. The bill would authorize Sac Regional to file an application to appropriate its discharges to offset some of the upgrade costs, and prevent local sewer rates from rising excessively.

SCWC has removed its opposition based on the fact that the amended version of the bill removes all the intent language and maintains the State Water Resources Control Board’s authority to consider impacts to downstream legal users of water and fish and wildlife.  

For more information on SCWC’s involvement in state and federal legislative issues, visit our Legislative page online.

SCWC Upcoming Events

This Wednesday, April 27, SCWC Executive Director Richard Atwater will serve as a panellist at the 3rd Annual WRPI Conference at California State University Long Beach.

The event, which begins at 8am Wednesday, will feature a series of panels on a broad array of water issues from water quality to urban water planning. Atwater will speak on the Delta issues panel, beginning at 10:15am.

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Established in 1984, the Southern California Water Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public education partnership dedicated to informing Southern Californians about our water needs and our state's water resources. Spanning Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside, Ventura and Kern Counties, the SCWC's members include representatives from business, government, labor, agriculture, water agencies and the general public.