Area mounts massive protest against state water proposal

Worth Your Fight, a campaign of the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts to rally opposition to a state water proposal, is an effort rich in numbers:

▪ 5,700 people so far have signed online petitions protesting the state proposal, which would benefit fish with more river flows at the expense of farms and cities.

▪ 16,500 people have viewed the Worth Your Fight website, which is stacked with information on the state proposal, released in September and known as the Substitute Environmental Document.

The State Water Resources Control Board is considering roughly doubling local river volumes from February through June each year to help salmon and other fish and reduce salinity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But that water normally is captured in reservoirs for thirsty summer crops, and Modesto also relies on river water, treating it and mixing it with groundwater before sending it to thousands of taps.

Fishing and environmental groups seek even higher flows to repair damage from a century-plus of river diversion, while water agencies, local officeholders, farmers and people from all walks of life have protested the change.

“We’re real proud of how the community and our customers have embraced this campaign,” spokeswoman Melissa Williams told the MID board Tuesday.

A few more relevant numbers:

▪ The Worth Your Fight website has generated more than 50,500 page views.

▪ The campaign’s Facebook page has more than 4,400 followers, and more content has appeared on Twitter and Instagram, too.

▪ Worth Your Fight has sponsored traffic reports for seven radio stations.

▪ People have taken 750 campaign signs in MID’s area.

▪ Advocates have distributed 10,000 window decals and 2,000 campaign stickers.

▪ MID employees have given nearly 30 presentations to community groups, and they’ve staffed booths at various events.

“Some of our best ambassadors” are MID workers, Williams said, because they’ve been briefed at staff meetings and are happy to discuss the issue. When people pose questions, “armed with information, they’re comfortable speaking about this,” she said.

In addition, Worth Your Fight talking points have appeared numerous times in Modesto Bee news articles, editorials, columns and letters to the editor, and other items have appeared in the Central Valley Business Journal and the Modesto Chamber of Commerce’s Progress magazine. A Worth Your Fight billboard went up in Ceres. MID and Modesto City Hall put informational inserts in utility bills.

“We ran the gamut,” said Gary Soiseth, an MID regulatory adviser. He also is mayor of Turlock.

All of that led to:

▪ Five public hearings in various cities, including Modesto and Merced.

▪ Somewhere from 900 to 1,200 people attended one on Dec. 20 in Modesto.

▪ 10 hours of public testimony from people who oppose losing control over so much water.

“Our economies simply cannot afford to endure such a risk,” MID board member Paul Campbell said. He alluded to a scientific debate over whether swelling rivers would do much to produce more salmon.

Mayor Richard O’Brien, in last week’s Riverbank state of the city address, mentioned another possible political motive:

“The true intent is not to save the fish – it is to keep Southern California green,” O’Brien said, noting that the amount of water eyed from the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers is about equal to the amount the state wants to ship south through tunnels under the Delta.

Campbell urged an ongoing “firm and consistent message” opposing the state proposal. A deadline for comments has been extended to March 17; they can be emailed to commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov or faxed to 916-341-5620.

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Area mounts massive protest against state water proposal."