Water Supply Reliability Key Topic of Delta Stewardship Council Workshop
Sarah Langford
Association of California Water Agencies
04/13/2011
ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn will speak on a water supply reliability panel at a Delta Stewardship Council workshop slated for tomorrow and Friday in Sacramento.
On April 8, ACWA submitted a joint letter to the council expressing “grave concern” over its latest draft of the Delta Plan, saying the plan far exceeds the council’s authority and would steer the process away from success. Nearly 60 agencies and organizations signed the letter, including water agencies within, above and below the Delta, as well as regional and statewide agricultural and business organizations.
“We all realize the tremendous stake we have in the Delta Stewardship Council process. Our commitment to this effort has not diminished,” Quinn said. “Because we want this process to succeed, we felt it necessary to express strong objections to the direction the council seems to be heading with this latest draft. We are committed to working with the council to restore stakeholder confidence and return the focus of the plan to the Delta.”
The water supply reliability panel, continued from the council’s first workshop in March, is slated for Friday morning.
Other topics to be discussed during the two-day workshop include land use, flood protection, ecosystem restoration, and the interaction between agriculture and the ecosystem on the coequal goals.
The meeting is the second of three public workshops designed to allow stakeholders and experts to recommend regulations and policies to be included in the Delta Plan. Comments received at this week’s workshop will contribute to the development of the third staff draft of the Delta Plan. That document is set to be released on April 22.
