I attended a joint Senate/Assembly Committee meeting yesterday on the Delta Vision Task Force.  In my testimony, I asked Lois Wolk, Darrell Steinberg, Mike Machado, Joe Simitian  and the rest of the Natural Resources Committee members to investigate why recreational anglers and Indian Tribes, the folks most hurt by Delta diversions, weren't included in the 41 member Stakeholders Panel when the membership of the panel was announced on February 15. 

Secondly, I asked them to consider expanding the panel to include more fishing group representatives and representatives from Indian Tribes, such as the Winnemem Wintu, that are impacted by the task force's decisions. 

After recreational anglers criticized their exclusion from the process last week, Leo Winterwitz, who is apparently in charge of appointments to the stakeholders panel for the Delta Vision Task Force, finally did appoint one recreational angler, John Beuttler of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. I still haven't heard any word whether or not representatives of Indian Tribes have or will be appointed. 

And having just one recreational fishing rep and one commercial fishing rep (Zeke Grader of the PCFFA) on the panel is pretty sorry, when you consider that the "stakeholders" panel is packed with water contractors, agribusiness and corporate interests who are responsible for the destruction of the most important estuary on the entire West Coast! I believe that the inequitable composition of the stakeholders panel is intentional, since the central reason for the Delta Vision process appears to be to support the construction of a peripheral canal so that more water can be exported from northern California to the Westlands Water District and Southern California. 

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla of Restore the Delta, Gary Adams of the California Striped Bass Association, Mindy McIntire of the Planning and Conservation League and others gave excellent comments during the meeting about the Delta Vision process, but I will cover that in an upcoming article. 

Here's my article (written before John Beuttler was appointed to the panel): 

Delta Vision Process Excludes Recreational Anglers, Indian Tribes

by Dan Bacher 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Delta Vision” apparently doesn’t include recreational anglers or Indian Tribes, based on the appointments by Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman to a 41-member Delta Stakeholders Group to advise the “Blue Ribbon Task Force” in February.

“This panel will represent Delta interests, provide assistance and make recommendations to a Blue Ribbon Task Force appointed by the Governor last week, on ideas and innovations that will lead to a sustainable Delta,” according to a press release from the Governor’s office. 

Former Assemblyman and past Sacramento Mayor Phil Isenberg – who was also chairman of the controversial MPLA Blue Ribbon Task Force - will serve as chairman of the Blue Ribbon Task Force, 

 “The Governor’s Delta Vision process depends upon a wide array of stakeholders and the wealth of knowledge and depth of experience they bring to the table,” said Chrisman. 

However, not one single recreational angler or Indian Tribe representative was included in the so-called stakeholders group. The lone fishing group representative, Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations, is overwhelmed by a panel heavy with people like Tom Birmingham of the Westlands Water District, water contractors, agribusiness folks, political hacks and others who are largely responsible for the crisis the Delta is in now.

In creating “Delta Vision,” the Governor’s office claimed its purpose is “to provide a sustainable management program for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, a unique natural resource of local, state, and national significance. Delta Vision was established by and Executive Order in September 2006.”

The Delta, formed by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, is the largest estuary on the West Coast and plays a key role in sustaining the coast’s salmon, striped bass, sturgeon and other valuable species. State and federal scientists since 2002 have documented an alarming decline in four pelagic (open water) species – Delta smelt, longfin smelt, threadfin shad and juvenile striped bass – and the zooplankton that these fish feed upon.

In addition to being the hub of the state and federal water projects, the 57 islands and waterways of the Delta are traversed by a major portion of Northern California infrastructure, including hundreds of gas lines, six highways, five high voltage lines and three railroads.

 “We recognize the competing demands upon Delta interests as we work toward a sustainable management plan,” Chrisman said. “But we need to develop a common vision that we’ll be able to implement and this group will play an integral role in helping us reach that goal.” 

Chrisman appointed several folks from the Environmental Water Caucus that have worked closely with anglers on the battles to restore the Delta, including Jonas Minton, Senior Project Manager for the Planning and Conservation League; Barry Nelson, Senior Policy Analyst, Natural Resource Defense Council; and Spreck Rosekrans, Senior Analyst for Environmental Defense, specializing in land, water and wildlife and electric utility issues. 

Although these people are knowledgeable about Delta and California water issues, they form a distinct minority on the panel and their input will be overwhelmed by the water contractors and political hacks pushing for more water exports and a peripheral canal. 

After being named to the panel, Zeke Grader quipped, “I just assumed I was appointed to represent commercial fishing and that there would be recreational fishing and tribal representatives as well, not that I'd be the only fishing representative. Mind you I don't mind carrying recreational and tribal concerns or the fact that I’m outnumbered something like 41 to 1 (the ratio has to be 50 to 1 or greater before I start to worry and that's only if the others have any modicum of intelligence) this old Marine can handle himself just fine).”

Grader agreed with me about the need for the panel to have recreational and tribal representatives such as the Winnemem Wintu Tribe on the panel.  

“There does need to be recreational and tribal representation on the committee,” he emphasized. “First, because they can do a better job than me in representing their concerns. Second, because I have to deal with a lot of different issues and fisheries, there may be times when I can't be present. For that reason we need more than one fishing representative and for balance those should be from recreational fishing and tribe.”

So why doesn’t the Governor’s vision include recreational anglers or California Indian Tribes such as the Winnemem Wintu?

I suspect that it may because recreational anglers and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe have been in the forefront of the battle to stop the enlargement of Shasta Dam and to increase state and federal government water exports from the Delta. Anglers and the tribe most recently led the successful battle to temporarily halt the implementation of the South Delta Improvement Program, SDIP, a wacky scheme to redesign the hydrology of the Delta to provide for more water exports.

Recreational anglers and the tribe have also been critical of state and federal plans to resurrect the peripheral canal, a badly flawed scheme to route water around the Delta to the state and federal pumps.

“Our position is that there absolutely has to be some tribal representation on the panel, for a variety of reasons, because of the tribes that live in the Bay Area and up and down the Central Valley,” said Gary Mulcahy, governmental liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “Whatever decisions the stakeholders panel and task force make about how the Delta will be managed will impact salmon and steelhead, which are important to indigenous people, and will affect sacred sites and cultural areas. The simple fact that there is no tribal representation on the stakeholders panel or task force once again shows how the Schwarzenegger administration doesn’t think native peoples’ opinions are important. “

He emphasized,  “It’s interesting that Westlands Water District just purchased land to acquire water rights on the McCloud River and to remove any impediments to the enlargement of Shasta Dam, such as our sacred sites on the McCloud, so they can increased water exports to southern California. It’s very clear that the Governor didn’t want any tribal representatives - especially, the Winnemem Wintu - involved in either the stakeholders group or the task force.”

“It’s remarkable that no recreational anglers were even asked to apply for the panel,” said John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “The Governor apparently doesn’t envision anglers being at the table when it comes to making decisions on Delta water. It is also remarkable there is no water conservation and desalinization plans included as options in the Public Policy Institute (PPIC) of California study, ‘Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,’ released on February 7.”

The people most impacted by the Delta decisions have been completely left out of the process. The Governor's Delta Vision Stakeholder Panel - just like his Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force  - appears to be a sham.

I suggest that everybody concerned about the inequitable composition of this "stakeholder" panel contact the Governor to demand that the stakeholder panel and task force be made more inclusive.

The first meeting of the Delta Vision Stakeholder Coordination Group was held on Monday, March 5, and Tuesday, March 6, 2007, at the Sterling Hotel Ballroom, 1300 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.