From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

State’s refusal to use sound science continues to delay the Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Coalition response…The BDCP represents the best opportunity to improve both the ecosystem in the Delta, restoring more than 100,000 acres of habitat while improving our ability to respond to the needs of endangered species, and improves water supply reliability for almost 4,000 farms and millions of people from the Bay Area to Southern California.

The reference to a “Portfolio Approach” also raises the question why “several conservation groups, water districts, and businesses” waited so long in the development process to step forward to offer a plan. A plan that has the potential to take water away from about 750,000 acres of highly productive farmland. www.farmwater.org/BDCP-NRDC_alt.pdf

At a time when world food consumption is on the rise and million of people overseas are rising to middle income status and seeking to import prized California-grown agricultural products, is it a good idea to promote a plan that could mean fewer fresh food choices and higher prices in California grocery stores?

In order to explain the claim of “refusal to use sound science,” the author uses a highly questionable tactic of linking to a two-year-old press release by the Bay Institute that has routinely criticized BDCP and his own blog, instead of linking to the National Research Council’s report at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13148 where readers can reach their own conclusions.