Has anybody heard about the gates they want to put on the de

[johnnyp]

Check out this link, try to search about (delta gates) on google it's B.S. There will be a public hearing soon. They want to block holland cut and over by Mildred Is.

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2002299.html

[bonsaibp]

why does this cost $30,000,000.00, thats insane. The power that be have their heads so far up each other butt it unbeliveable.

[896J]

I saw that. Crazy isn't it... A couple of nuclear power plants and some desalination plants that discharge brine, then blend the brine with the treated wastewater from wastewater treatment plants, and water woes would be gone. But instead we need to blow tons of money pumping water out of the delta and destroy one of the greatest fisheries in the country.

[Andy Giannini]

I am thinking, they could be closed during outgoing tide, and increase pumping efficiency. Thus, pumping more water than you ever could at a minus tide.

I am not a hydrologist, and haven't done any fact checking. I may be entirely full of beans on this one.

Just my first impression after seeing the plans.

.02 A.G.

[Vince Borges]

Here is a copy of the letter taht I recived in regards to the two gates.

Thank you for contacting me regarding the serious water concerns in the San Joaquin Valley and the Two Gates proposal to temporarily alleviate some of the burden of this issue.



For years, those of us living and working in the San Joaquin Valley have known that the answer to California's chronic water shortages is a peripheral canal, around the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, and additional storage south of the Delta such as a Temperance Flat dam.



While we have heard every plan, promise, proposal and pledge to fix our state's water woes, we are left with little action and even less water. It appears that the political will to make these changes won't happen until water delivery to all Californians, including urban water users, grinds to a halt.



California's drought is largely man made, as the water supply is being held hostage by the Endangered Species Act. These water restrictions are the reason California will lose 40,000 jobs this year and more than $2 billion of income. Today, many Valley fields are bone dry and empty as 0% to 15% water allocation from the Delta threatens the $90 billion industry that is California agriculture.



Recognizing the impending doom of our region's main economic engine, earlier this year I introduced HR 856, the California Drought Alleviation Act. The bill temporarily suspends the ESA on the Delta pumps to allow them to operate at maximum capacity -- immediately delivering much needed water to our farmers and farmworkers.



While I am making every effort to pass HR 856, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Obama administration are beholden to the environmental community and are fighting this every step of the way. Because of their indifference, the west-side water districts could face a 0% farm water allocation for the next 10 years, putting all Valley agriculture in jeopardy.



There is a temporary solution, though, that will allow the Delta pumps to deliver water to California agriculture very quickly. A proposal called the Two Gates project would require the simple construction and installation of two gates near the Delta pumps that would keep the hallowed Delta smelt safe while simultaneously pushing the lifeblood of the Valley to our farmers. The project is permit-ready and, once approved, could be installed as quickly as 90 days.



The Two Gates project was submitted to the Department of Interior as part of a list of shovel-ready California water infrastructure projects to be considered by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Shockingly, Two Gates was not included in the final list of water projects.



President Obama sold this massive spending plan under the pretense of stimulating the economy by creating or saving American jobs. While I did not support this legislation, the stimulus funds can and should be used to solve our water crisis. Instead, most of the "job creating" stimulus funds are going to projects that "improve the environment."



The Two Gates project would cost a modest amount of money ($25 million), a minuscule portion of the $800 billion stimulus bill. It could save up to 40,000 jobs in the San Joaquin Valley -- one of the region's most severely impacted by the economic downturn.



To most, this makes obvious sense, but apparently the Obama administration has other priorities than the well-being of one of America's most productive industries.



We cannot let the agriculture industry become collateral damage in California's water wars. A temporary solution such as the Two Gates project will provide farmers the lifeline they need until a permanent solution is finally approved and installed.



At this point, the only thing keeping Two Gates from becoming a reality is a mountain of red tape at the California Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Department of Interior.



Citizens of California should rally around the Two Gates project and demand that the permitting process be expedited, the red tape swiftly cut through and that our government installs this project immediately.



In the FY2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bill which passed in the House of Representative, ten million dollars was requested for the Two Gates and the Intertie. However, the funding is not guaranteed to be used on these two important water projects nor is it the full funding needed for the projects.



Rest assured, this issue is at the forefront of my mind and my legislative agenda. I will vote as necessary to provide water to the Valley.



Finally, I encourage you to visit my website at www.radanovich.house.gov to get the most current information on my work in Congress. Once again, thank you for contacting me. Please keep in touch.

[J.Rios]

What a piece of work this guy is. continues to make it sound like they aren't getting water down south. B.S. I have been over those canals 2-3 times a week this summer. I look for flow each time and there it is.They are still moving water like it's going out of style.

Question is who is actually watching these idiots and controlling the amount that they pump at any one time?

You can bet he's probably right.They can have this stuff in place 90 days or less.That means all the parts are sitting in a yard somewhere,and this plan has been in the works for a while now.

Temporary my A$$. This equipment isn't going anywhere once it's installed!!

[Turkeyman]

One of the interesting things is he keeps saying it is for agriculture. Most of the growing season is now done for the year, so if they were to put the gates in in 90 days what would they need to send the water for? So. Cal lawns and golf courses?

[fish_food]

One of the interesting things is he keeps saying it is for agriculture. Most of the growing season is now done for the year, so if they were to put the gates in in 90 days what would they need to send the water for? So. Cal lawns and golf courses?

80% of our exported water goes to corporate ag (mainly Westlands), the remainder to misc southern CA water interests.

If the "new" peripheral canal somehow doesn't go through, the big water interests will consider tunneling. The DWR-BDCP body is currently holding tunneling option meetings...

[riverguy225]

this is a tactic they (the gov) will be using to draw water from the north delta, plain and simple.

[bonsaibp]

One of the interesting things is he keeps saying it is for agriculture. Most of the growing season is now done for the year, so if they were to put the gates in in 90 days what would they need to send the water for? So. Cal lawns and golf courses?

I can tell you its not going to So. CA lawns and golf courses. Mine and all my neighbors are getting browner by the week. This is just another attempt to cover up the truth( which is all about $) and get the blame off the ones making the $. Anyone that believes the smelt are responsible for our water woes is very gullible and I have a bridge I'd like to sell.
How can it possibly cost 25-30 to sink some barges and install the gates?
The way the state waste's money like this gets me crazy. If they would only spend it half way wisely we(CA) wouldn't be in the shape we're in. I love fishing in the Delta and Northern CA lakes and it pisses me off that the one making all the $ from the water spend so much time trying to get people to believe its everyone else's fault and not their greed. All this north-south crap about water is bs and is prepetuated by the ones raking in the $.
In the country of Chile they get about 33% of their wwater from desalination. If that small not so rich country can do it why can't we?

[896J]

Desal is the way to go. There are some environmental arguments about the brine from the desal plants raising salinity near shore, but we pump tons of fresh water from wastewater treatment plants, over a billion gallons a day in California, and surely the brine could be blended with all of that treated wastewater that's going into the ocean. Build a ton of desal plants up and down the coast in California and we could create a bunch of jobs that revolve around something we all want... water. Building the desal plants all along the coast might even mean we would not need to drain all of our reservoirs every summer too. The problem is most of the politicians were elected thanks to their rich buddies and can't do what needs to be done to get the job done right. Todays membrane technology for desal is not that expensive. You'd be surprised how many not so rich parts of the world are now on desal. With all of the bass tournaments on the delta, it seems like there's a pretty good economic incentive to keep it up. $120 for 40 gallons of gas (truck and boat), $20 for 2-cycle motor oil, plus 195 dollars for team tournament entry fee (with options), $10 or so for the launch, $5 for lunch to take in the boat, $5 at the donut shop, $10-$50 at the tackle shop, that's $365-$405 in economic impact to the delta region of our state. I wonder how much $$$ bass fishing in the delta really generates every year? How many people visit our state just to fish the delta? Maybe some of that stimulus money should go to putting on a few huge Pro-Am events on the delta...

[mark poulson]

There was an article a couple of days ago in the LA Times by the head of Heal the Bay, in which he called out the peripheral canal people for setting the Delta up for ruin.
Dams make sense, we do need as much storage as possible, but desal is the long term solution for coastal cities.
And pumping Mississippi River water up to Lake Powell, to restore the Colorado River to it's full potential, would solve the entire West's water problems long term.
Why can we pump oil, but not water?

[Turkeyman]

I agree, if third world countries can do it why can't we? And i bet you could build them for the same of less than the estimated cost of the canal.

[Wolfeman]

We have a bunch of dams already. But they are so poorly managed, with regard to storage amounts that it kills us every year.
We get some early rains, they open the gates and let out the water thinking that later rains will re-fill the lakes. But then the later rains don't come and the lakes are already too low.
You'd think that there was enough technology to figure out a way to maintain the water levels in our lakes.
I'm wondering if the folks who manage the lakes are political appointees and don't have any water management skills?
Seems like we need some smart people to manage these dams.
- Wolfeman