Stanislaus, Merced county leaders spend $100K to expand ‘fish vs. farmers’ water fight
Stanislaus County leaders hope that broader outreach will help win a battle against a powerful state board’s plan to take water rights from local irrigation districts.
“We are moving the message from fish-against-farmers to broader issues,” Assistant Chief Executive Officer Keith Boggs said Thursday.
County officials say the state proposal to reduce storage in reservoirs will have far-reaching impacts on groundwater, the economy, employment, business owners, public safety and disadvantaged communities.
The State Water Resources Control Board will hold hearings on its final proposal for the Bay Delta plan Aug. 21-22. County officials hope at least 1,000 people attend a rally outside the Capitol building in Sacramento on Aug. 20. The rally is set for noon on the north steps.
In July, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors approved $50,000 to cover the costs of preparing written comments and giving testimony at hearings and for educational outreach. The county received help Tuesday from supervisors in Merced County, who approved $50,000 for the education and outreach effort, led by Stanislaus.
Other cities and irrigation districts may contribute to the effort.
Mike North, a management analyst for Merced County, said the county is using social media and working with the Farm Bureau and other partners to spread the word about the Aug. 20 rally in Sacramento.
Two years ago, Merced chipped in $20,000 to help Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties pay for an economic impact study called the Stratecon Report, which outlined the economic consequences of losing water allocations for agriculture and cities.
Boggs said Stanislaus County is developing information on how the water board plan would create hardships for different sectors and other groups of people, such as the poor and disadvantaged communities that struggle to provide clean water for residents.
At a meeting last month, County Supervisor Kristin Olsen, who previously served in the Legislature, sharply criticized the state water board for disregarding local comments about the Bay Delta plan. “I have never seen such a sinister, arrogant attitude from a state agency,” Olsen said. “In the 14 years I have been in public service, I have never seen such a threat to our community. It’s time to go to war.”
County Supervisor Vito Chiesa favors reaching out to districts and public officials in other areas of the state, such as the Sacramento Valley, that may also be expected to contribute increased flows to the Delta. “This may affect our three counties first but anyone who has a water right in Northern California is getting nervous,” Chiesa said.
The state water board, whose members are appointed by the governor, says it’s amending the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan to reasonably protect fish and wildlife habitat while balancing the needs of agriculture and cities. The board asserts that the salmon fishery has been devastated by a lack of water flow in the tributaries of the San Joaquin River and the Delta. The proposed requirements call for increased unimpaired flows within a range of 30 to 50 percent.
The plan would start with 40 percent unimpaired flows in the three rivers from February through June to help young salmon migrate downstream to the Delta and the ocean. The term “unimpaired flow” refers to the runoff in the watersheds that occurred before dams were constructed.
In promoting the Sacramento rally, a flier distributed by state Assemblyman Heath Flora, R-Ripon, said the water board proposal will affect a broad group of people including families, farmers and farmworkers, laborers, manufacturers, public safety professionals, teachers and business owners.
Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, and Flora are helping to organize the Aug. 20 event.
“The State Water Board thinks this plan will have a limited impact on Valley residents,” Flora said in a statement released Thursday. “If the Water Board continues this process with a total disregard for the people of the Central Valley, the legislature needs to look at ways to reform the board.”
Riverbank City Manager Sean Scully said he expects a couple of city elected officials will attend the upcoming rally. The city is concerned about the effects of cutting irrigation water for farmers near Riverbank.
“What happens to the city water supply if you have 50 or 60 more (agricultural) wells drawing from the same groundwater basin?” Scully asked.
Irrigation districts say the increased releases from dams such as Don Pedro would require a tremendous amount of water and greatly reduce storage behind dams for agriculture and cities.
According to one estimate, more than 200,000 acres of farmland would be fallowed in the three counties, resulting in job losses and ripple effects for businesses supported by agriculture. Cuts to irrigation deliveries would trigger large-scale groundwater pumping, serving to deplete aquifers.
According to the analysis, local government revenues that pay for public services would suffer from a decline in land values.
Thanks for your strong interest in local journalism. We rely on readers like you more than ever before, and we currently offer free access to five stories a month. We hope you see value in supporting us further with a digital subscription to help ensure we can provide strong local journalism for many years to come.
This story was originally published August 2, 2018 at 5:44 PM.