Don Swatman: Be there to tell the state we won’t stand for its water grab
The State Water Quality Resource Control Board is determined to confiscate half our river from Feb. 1 to June 30 so water can be shipped south through two 40-foot diameter tubes. These months are the most important for reservoirs receiving melting snow. This water grab could turn our communities into a Dust Bowl.
Miles of canals and tubes supply Tuolumne River water to farms and cities here and to Silicon Valley, San Francisco and 26 other Bay Area communities. This isn’t about fish, it’s a water grab – and to heck with our quality of life, economy, farms and the water we have come to depend on.
To insure a sustainable, dependable water supply Don Pedro was built (and is managed) Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts and San Francisco. In a futile effort to help salmon and steelhead, federally managed New Melones Reservoir has released much of its storage and now is only 22 percent full; locally managed Don Pedro is at 67 percent. We must save our water so we can help save our environment during days of drought!
Write letters, talk to your friends and neighbors and show up Dec. 20 at Center Plaza at 9 a.m. then stay to protest. Be part of a huge crowd showing solidarity against this water grab; this attempt at destroying our region.
Don Swatman, Modesto
This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Don Swatman: Be there to tell the state we won’t stand for its water grab."