Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3817 August 2- 16 2019 | Page 24

22 Aug 2 - 16, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 17 Newsom Administration Begins Public Process for Delta Tunnel T he Gavin Newsom Administration, after deciding to no longer support Governor Jerry Brown’s Twin Tunnels project, is forging ahead with a one Delta Tunnel proposal as part of Newsom’s “new” Water Portfolio program. The Department of Water Resources has announced the beginning of the public process for a “new Delta Conveyance Facility.” “The Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Project (SWP) Contractors plan to begin a public process to negotiate proposed amendments to the SWP water supply contracts for a new Delta Conveyance facility,” according to DWR. “The announcement for the first negotiation session, which is scheduled for July 24, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 2001 Point W Way, Sacra- mento, CA 95818 can be accessed here.” As is often the case with the Department of Water Resources and California Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife, the agencies gave little advance notice to the angling public for this meeting – and sent out the meeting notice too late to be timely for this publication. Then on July 17, I received an announce- ment from the Portfolio Recommendations Group, an “ad hoc gathering of leaders from over 80 urban water districts, ag water districts, tribes, environmental justice groups, business groups, environmental groups, flood agencies, fire agencies and watershed groups,” for a public meeting on July 30, 1 to 5 p.m. at the Library Galleria, 828 I Street, Sacramento, CA. “All interested parties are invited to join this focused 3-month effort to develop recommendations for Governor Newsom’s Water Resilience Portfolio,” according to the group. “The initial unvetted, unscrubbed list of possible recommendations is on the web site: portfoliorecgroup.org. These will be discussed at the July 30th meeting along with any additional recommenda- tions submitted before then. The web page describes the process and has a Submit button where you can send in your ideas for additional recommendations.” For more information, you can also contact: Jonas Minton at jminton@pcl.org, or Jason Peltier at jepelt@me.com The water portfolio that the tunnel is an integral part of nothing new. For example, Nancy Vogel, the director of the Governor’s Water Portfolio Program at the California Natural Resources Agency, promoted the Delta Tunnels as part of “California’s overall water portfolio” back in 2014 when she was the assistant director of public affairs at the Department of Water Resources. In an April 4, 2014 letter to the Chico Enterprise Record responding to an editorial regarding Sites Reservoir, Vogel stated, “As the assistant director of public affairs at the Department of Water Resources, I think it’s important to reiterate that a Bay-Delta Conservation Plan is just one part of California’s overall water portfolio, aimed at complementing existing and planned efforts to manage the state’s water needs in the face of climate change and growth.” (https://www.chicoer. com/2014/04/05/ letter-delta-tunnels- are-just-one-part-of- water-solution/) *Trolling Newsom’s support Motors of one tunnel to *Fishfinders divert water from the *GPS Delta to corporate *VHF agribusiness and Radios Southern California *Radar water agencies is no surprise. Newsom *Batteries received a total and of $637,398 from Chargers agribusiness in his 2018 campaign for Largest Service Governor, including Center $116,800 from in the West! Beverly Hills agri- business billionaires Marine Electronics Sales • Service • Installation Sunny’s Electric Marine ONE DAY SERVICE on Installations with appointment (916) 487-3868 The KFBK OUTDOOR SHOW 3507 1 Rated with your Outdoor Radio Show host for 26 years! # Bob Simms Fishing • Hunting • Destinations Conservation • History Dedicated to the Northern California Outdoorsman Listen Every Saturday Morning from 5 am to 8am on By Dan Bacher Linda and Stewart Resnick, the owners of the Wonderful Company two of the strongest supporters of the Delta Tunnel and promoters of numerous attacks on environ- mental protections for salmon and other fish species. Could those contributions have influ- enced Newsom’s decision to not reappoint Felicia Marcus as Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, his decision to reappoint CDFW Director Chuck Bonham and DWR Director Karla Nemeth, his decision to appoint Mike Lyons as a special new “Agricultural Liaison” to the Gover- nor’s Office, his decision to support Big Ag’s voluntary agreements or his decision to go ahead with a one tunnel plan? The Revolving Door: From the Resources Legacy Fund to Newsom’s Water Portfolio Program all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering. In 2014, I called Zeke Grader, the long time executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations who passed away in September 2015, about a bill sponsored by Senator Hannah Beth Jackson to protect a “marine protected area”, the Vandenberg State Marine Reserve, from oil drilling, due to loopholes in both the Cali- fornia Coastal Sanctuary Act and the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. Grader, who supported the bill, pointed out how the very need for the bill “high- lights what a failure the MLPA Initiative was.” “If these are true marine protected areas, they why are we allowing drilling and other insults to the ocean in them?” asked Grader. “The whole MLPA Initiative was a phony process that provided an opportunity for Big Green and government bureau- crats to write press releases claiming these were ‘protected areas’ when in reality the fishermen and Tribes got screwed. We should have bans on oil drilling in all of the marine protected areas.” The Resources Legacy Fund that Vogel served as communications director for continues to be a sponsor of the controver- sial “marine protected area” program. In addition, Vogel was deputy secretary for communications at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2015 to 2017 and assistant director for communica- tions at the Department of Water Resources from 2012 to 2015. She frequently served as a spokesperson to promote Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels project to export Northern California water to corporate agribusi- ness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California water agencies. Fishermen, tribal leaders, conservationists and environmental justice advocates considered the twin tunnels to be potentially the most environmentally destructive public works project in the state’s history. Vogel was a principal consultant for the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes from 2008 to 2012. She was a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times from 2000 to 2008 and for the Sacramento Bee from 1991 to 2000. The Governor’s Office announced Nancy Vogel’s appointment to director of the Governor’s Water Portfolio Program on May 2, two days after Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing state agencies to “prepare a water resilience portfolio” for California. The order seeks to “broaden Califor- nia’s approach on water as the state faces a range of existing challenges, including unsafe drinking water, major flood risks that threaten public safety, severely depleted groundwater aquifers, agricultural commu- nities coping with uncertain water supplies and native fish populations threatened with extinction.” Vogel’s recent career is very typical of the revolving door between government agencies and private corporations and NGOs — and the links between environmental processes — that characterize California politics. Prior to Vogel’s appointment by Newsom, she served as director of commu- nications at the controversial Resources Legacy Fund since 2017. The Resources Legacy Fund Foundation was the funder of the Marine Life Protec- tion Act (MLPA) Initiative to create faux “marine protected areas” in California. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force to craft “marine protected areas” in Southern Cali- fornia at the very same time that she was promoting the expansion of offshore drilling in the same region that We carry Lead Free Pistol ammo for she was entrusted to the hunter who wants to carry his “protect.” The fund’s website handgun in Lead Free Hunting Zones. proclaims, “The Available in a variety of calibers... Resources Legacy Fund Partnered with CALL FOR DETAILS! California to protect THE LARGEST SELECTION OF AIR GUN PELLETS nearly 17 percent of ON THE WEST COAST – GUARANTEED!! the state’s offshore 10% waters.” OFF! 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