Billionaires' influence felt in state's water policy

[desrt]

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Billionaires-influence-felt-in-state-s-water-5430496.php

"To track the outsized influence of Stewart and Lynda Resnick is tough because they have so many subsidiaries and so much money. There are Paramount Farms, Westside Mutual Water Company, a subsidiary of Roll International called Roll Global, which exports almonds - the list goes on and on.

The influence of the Resnicks and their cohorts in the Westlands and Kern water districts has been brought to bear so heavily on the governor's office during the past three administrations that the fix is basically in on building the peripheral tunnels.

The Resnicks made $270,000 in contributions to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, $350,000 to support Gov. Gray Davis, and $102,000 to Gov. Jerry Brown. As a result of the political influence of billionaires who receive taxpayer-subsidized water, the state Department of Water Resources functions almost as a subsidiary of the water exporters.

The outsize influence of delta water exporters can be seen in the recent "drought relief" action by state and federal regulators, which undid with the stroke of a pen Endangered Species Act protections for fisheries that were the result of a decade-long legal challenge. In addition to the requirements set in the biological opinions for delta fisheries, there are three sets of water quality standards arrived at through legal processes that already take into account critical dry-year situations. Two sets of water quality standards are being waived as part of drought emergency measures - one set to protect fisheries, another set to protect water quality for delta family farms.

Beyond that, requirements in the court-issued biological opinions to protect fisheries are being waived. Now, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is working with San Joaquin Valley congressional representatives, who have received numerous campaign contributions from Stewart Resnick, on legislation to further weaken already inadequate protections in order to facilitate increased pumping of delta water to southern water users.

In just this year, Westlands Water District's budget includes a $1 million "community outreach" campaign by a New York political ad firm specializing in "brand identity" and "brand loyalty," more than $250,000 spent on D.C. lobbyists and $135,000 on Sacramento lobbyists. They're getting good returns on their influence-buying investments.

Many would say the process begins back in the Davis administration with the delivery of a state asset, the Kern Water Bank, to the private interests of the Resnick companies. Under Gov. Schwarzenegger, and in the closing days of the Bush administration, fundamental changes were made to the purpose of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan that turned it into a water-export plan, with a shadow group directing the project under the auspices of the Department of Water Resources.

There is a revolving door for Westlands employees in government. Westlands Chief Deputy General Manager Jason Peltier served in the Interior Department in the Bush administration.

Employees of Westlands and the State Water Contractors have been "on loan" to the Department of Water Resources, overseeing water projects that impact their employers directly, before becoming department employees.

In July 2012, Gov. Brown and U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced their support for the 9,000 cubic-foot-per-second delta water tunnels before any environmental impact report was completed, or a record of decision issued.

Current State Water Project contract negotiators include representatives with ties to Paramount Farms, who have a privileged seat at the table along with other water contractors. Yet the public and Legislature won only observation status of these negotiations through a legal challenge. So the people have no voice, just the right to watch, while the Department of Water Resources and the water contractors negotiate a 50-year contract extension, reducing bond reserve safeguards by 50 percent, and leaving taxpayers on the hook for "fish and wildlife" mitigations required under federal permits, in addition to operation and maintenance costs for those facilities. These negotiators have yet to work out financing for the peripheral tunnels.

The outsize influence of subsidized mega-growers yields significant indirect control of our state and federal agencies that regulate them. That's a problem, as their private interests trump the public interest."



Hope you like almonds. And don't care for fish or food grown on family owned farms.

[orphanedhawk]

Here the complaint is about all that water going to vineyards. Not only do they use a lot of water from deep wells but the water usage is also for washing wine bottles and spraying water on vines during frost periods.
I guess we can flush our toilets with cabernet ?

[desrt]

http://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Feinstein-Enviros-no-help-on-California-drought-5481560.php

"(05-15) 13:58 PDT WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein will try to fast-track farm-friendly drought legislation through the Senate over the objections of environmentalists, who the senator complains have done nothing to help her adapt California's aging water system to deal with climate change and the addition of millions of thirsty residents.

Environmentalists "have never been helpful to me in producing good water policy," the California Democrat said in an interview with The Chronicle. "You can't have a water infrastructure for 16 million people and say, 'Oh, it's fine for 38 million people,' when we're losing the Sierra Nevada snowpack.' "

Asked about opposition from environmental groups, Feinstein said, "Well, that's really too bad, isn't it? I would be very happy to know what they propose. ... I have not had a single constructive view from environmentalists of how to provide water when there is no snowpack."

Feinstein's bill, SB2198, co-sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would ease restrictions on water exports from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to farms and cities.


GOP House version

Feinstein said her aim is to take legislation into conference with the House, where Republicans passed a bill in February to waive environmental laws protecting endangered fish to get more water to farms.

Feinstein's bill - and her effort to fast-track it through the Senate - alarms both environmentalists and Bay Area House Democrats, who fear she would tilt California water policy away from the state's devastated salmon runs.

They said Feinstein has already achieved her aims through political pressure on state water agencies, which have maximized pumping within the limits of the law to free up water for people and crops during the drought.

'She's won'

"The truth is, she's won," said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena. "There isn't any need to go forward with the legislation, which could be hijacked by some of our House colleagues and create bigger problems."

Most of what Feinstein's bill adds in flexibility to move water from rivers to other uses has "been done administratively, because of her involvement and her legislation," Thompson said. "So one could argue, as many of us did, that she ought to declare victory and not worry about the bill, but she's interested in seeing it through."

Seven California House Democrats met privately with Feinstein last week, including Thompson. Most said they were heartened by her effort to address their concerns, but remain opposed to her bill.

"The real danger I and others see moving forward is that this opens the door to a conference committee with a truly terrible piece of legislation in the House and that can only lead to a worse situation," said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.


Caving to growers?

Bob Wright, a lawyer with Friends of the River, an environmental group, accused Feinstein of exploiting the drought to "cater to the wishes of powerful growers in Westlands and Kern County water districts."

Feinstein conceded that parts of her bill have already been executed by administrative action, but said others haven't. She insisted that her bill would not usurp any environmental laws.

She said her bill is intended to "maximize pumping" within the confines of endangered species protections "for the length of the emergency. And I suspect the emergency is going to go on some time."

Her bill would remain in effect until Gov. Jerry Brown lifts the emergency drought declaration he imposed in January. The declaration permits water agencies to relax certain environmental rules temporarily to ensure water supplies for human use.


Diverting San Joaquin

One of the Feinstein provisions that most concerns critics would lock in complete diversion of the San Joaquin River for as long as the drought lasts. Such diversions are already allowed during "critical dry years."

The diversion is already damaging endangered steelhead trout and commercial Chinook salmon, said Jon Rosenfield, a conservation biologist at the Bay Institute, a San Francisco environmental group.

Under current law, if more rains arrive next year, river flows must be increased. But under Feinstein's bill, the total diversion would be locked in place.

"It's either naïveté and lack of understanding" of what is already in the law, Rosenfield said, "or opportunism to lock in low levels of protection even if water supplies increase next year."


Working on upgrade

He disputed Feinstein's charge the environmentalists have not worked to provide more water for all parties in the state. "We've all spent vast amounts of time and resources to design a plan to upgrade California's water infrastructure and increase water supply and reliability," Rosenfield said.

Feinstein's bill has been stuck in the Senate since February, and she needs the assent of all 100 senators to get to a quick vote. She plans to use a "hotline" procedure next week to determine exactly who is blocking the bill.

"We will find out who the holdouts are," she said."