Water Alert: attend public hearing 5/12 in Encinitas or send comments by 6/1
Need clean water at reasonable rates without killing the watershed sources? You better ask for it - and we will have to work for it as well.
by Carolyn Chase
	ccording to CalFed documents, "the Bay-delta system is currently not able to reliably supply water for agriculture, urban areas and the environment." This is us, folks, and this process will affect everyone.
	The mission of the CalFed Bay-Delta Program is to develop a long-term comprehensive plan that will restore ecological health and improve water management for beneficial uses. A preferred alternative is in the process of being selected. A decision will follow later this summer, after all public comments have been received and considered. This is where we come in, and the public is as usual, since we are all quite busy under-represented. The price tag could range from $4 billion to $8 billion, and that's likely just a starting point. CalFed officials are supposed to pick an option in July. Who will pay for the winning option? Who will benefit the most? Will the environment really be provided for? What are the details? PLEASE ATTEND this public hearing on the CalFed plan to manage water in the San Francisco/Bay-Delta, the source of San Diego's daily water supply. Ask questions and testify on behalf of conservation as the most economical and environmental alternative for water management (see background below): Tuesday, May 12, 7pm Encinitas City Hall 505 S. Vulcan Ave. This is the only public hearing currently scheduled in San Diego County. If you cannot attend, please send in comments. Comments may be sent in via fax or in writing: Rick Breitenbach, CalFed 1216 Ninth St., Ste. 1155 Sacramento CA 95814 Fax: (916) 654-9780 Comments are due by June 1. We would like to see a good turnout at this local hearing. Please let me know if you can attend yourself, and/or bring anyone. Everyone has an interest in how this goes and also encourage anyone to invite teenagers and bring their families to see the displays about our water systems. Water management is important to everyone. If the public - that's you - does not engage on behalf of conservation, then both we and the environment will continue to have to pay the ever-increasing bill. For more CalFed information, please call: 1-800-700-5752, or go to http://calfed.ca.gov on the web.
Background
	Fed by the rivers and streams of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada range of northern California, the Bay-Delta is a web of natural and man-made waterways created at the junction of the San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. It is the heart of California's natural water system, supporting more than 750 species of fish and wildlife and 200 types of crops and supporting production of 45 percent of the nation's fruits and vegetables. It is also the hub for the complex plumbing system of canals and pumps built to quench the thirst of 22 million California residents, including all tap water users in San Diego county. The CalFed Bay Delta Program, developed by state and federal resource agencies over the past three years, aims to address the overuse of water from the Bay-Delta. According to CalFed documents, "the Bay-delta system is currently not able to reliably supply water for agriculture, urban areas and the environment." The mission of the CalFed Bay-Delta Program is to develop a long-term comprehensive plan that will restore ecological health and improve water management for beneficial uses system. But the recently released Environmental Impact Report for California's water future presents three alternatives that rely more on concrete than conservation and innovation.