State Water Contractors Join More Than 25 Organizations Urging Delta Stewardship Council to Consider Alternate Delta Plan in Environmental Review Process

Monday, 13 June 2011

The Delta Stewardship Council, the state panel established by the 2009 Delta Reform Act and charged with developing a sustainable management plan for the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, will soon release the 4th staff draft of its Delta Plan.

 The State Water Contractors and its members, along with a number of other organizations, have developed an alternate plan for the Council to consider including in the environmental review process. This alternate plan was developed as a result of growing concerns with the direction of the current drafts.

Sacramento, CA—“Our organization shares the Delta Stewardship Council’s commitment to finding solutions for the Delta—but we don’t believe the current path of the Delta Plan will effectively meet the objectives of a healthy Delta and healthy water supply.

“The Delta Plan needs to consider an alternate option in the environmental review process. The existing drafts extend beyond the Council's regulatory authority in terms of micro-managing hundreds of water providers and other state agencies. The State Water Contractors and more than 25 other organizations are supporting an alternate Delta Plan that, in contrast, incentivizes collaboration and cooperation toward water use efficiency, encourages the success of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and takes substantive steps toward making our water supply more reliable.

“We hope that the Delta Stewardship Council seriously considers welcoming this alternate Delta Plan into the environmental review process and we look forward to continuing our collaborative work to ensure the preservation of the Delta and a reliable water supply for California.”

CONTACT:
Fiona Hutton
Ann Newton
(818) 760-2121