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What Others Are Saying

“You’ve got to allow for surface storage. This could help increase our water supplies and help restore the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta."

- US Senator Diane Feinstein, San Jose Mercury News, October 21, 2007

“No solution is truly comprehensive unless we invest in real infrastructure that can store significant amounts of water and reliability move that water to areas where it is needed.”

- Assemblyman John Benoit, North County Times, October 21, 2007

“The governor’s plan is a smart idea. It shifts the debate from where it was 20 years ago. You are not just talking about moving water south, but also about levee fixes and flood control.

- Barbara O’Connor, political science professor at Cal State Sacramento, San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, 2007

“Thanks to the governor's leadership, policy makers in Sacramento are now focused on the need to improve our state's water supply…We have a unique opportunity to pursue balanced water policies that benefit all Californians and we must seize that opportunity."

- Doug Mosebar, President, California Farm Bureau Federation, September 19, 2007

“We need a comprehensive approach that addresses both ecosystem improvements and conveyance of water through the Delta.”

- Mark Corwin, California Department of Water Resources deputy director (Sacramento Bee, September 24, 2007)

“California needs a comprehensive solution to the coming water crisis that includes water storage, conveyance, improved water quality and environmental enhancement.”

- Paul J. Meyer, Executive Director, Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California (Sacramento Bee, September 23, 2007)

“The environmental truth is that global warming over time will reduce the Sierra Nevada snow pack, requiring significantly more storage capacity in reservoirs in order to meet the state’s water needs.”

- Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune, September 23, 2007

“It looks like we’re running out of time. Either we solve the problem of growing demand and shrinking supplies, or we face economic catastrophe in the Golden State.”

- Editorial, Fresno Bee, September 23, 2007

“A faltering delta threatens the state’s future and economy, and thus needs prompt state action.”

- Editorial, Press-Enterprise, September 22, 2007

“A meaningful plan must provide for conveyance, water storage, clean drinking water and environmental renewal, all things necessary to solve an issue that is vital to all Californians.”

- Robert Rivinius, President and CEO, California Building Industry Association (Sacramento Bee. September 21, 2007)

“Our water crisis has gotten worse with the dry conditions and the recent federal court action that is going to have a devastating impact on the state's economy and the 25 million Californians who depend on Delta water. We need a comprehensive fix.”

- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, September 18, 2007

“Now is the time to ensure millions of Californians have access to safe, reliable and ample supplies of water for drinking and irrigation.”

- Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman, September 18, 2007

“Senator Feinstein and I agree that we need a long-term, sustainable Delta fix that improves conveyance, restores the ecosystem and increases water storage and conservation. We cannot wait until we have a Katrina-like disaster to attack this problem. Twenty five million Californians rely on the Delta for clean, safe water. It also irrigates hundreds of thousands of acres of Central Valley farmland and it is the backbone of California’s $32 billion agricultural industry.”

- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, August 21, 2007

“The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is on the brink of disaster. And the decline of the Delta Smelt is the canary in the coal mine. We must take action to prevent catastrophe in the future…The stakes are simply too high to fail.”

- U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, August 21, 2007

“Chances are the Delta smelt would not be an endangered species today if there were a Peripheral Canal because canal gates would have opened during dry seasons to keep water levels high and quality pure enough for the needs of that small fish.”

- Tomas D. Elias, Columnist, Ventura County Star, August 21, 2007

“The situation is very different today that it was 25 years ago. I had then, no idea of the condition of the levees that I do today. The earthquake probabilities have changes in the last 25 years; the ecosystem itself has changed.”

- U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, Associated Press, August 21, 2007

“California’s Water system is in need of overdue improvements. If we are to face the challenges of growth in The Valley while keeping pace with increased demand for our agricultural products then it is critical that we keep an abundant supply of water flowing to our cities and our farms. That will mean more storage, more conveyance and some tough choices on everything from the health of the Delta to the funding of dam and levy construction.”

- Senator Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), Press Release, August 16, 2007

“In the late 1990’s California faced a severe energy crisis because it failed to build power plants to keep up with demand. We cannot afford to make that same mistake with water by continuing to ignore the infrastructure our growing state demands. We must work together to create a sustainable, long-term plan for ensuring Californians have clean, safe and reliable water. California’s businesses, agriculture and residences depend on it.”

- Bill Hauck, President, California Business Roundtable

“It is essential that we find alternatives to our complete reliance on the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which has a host of environmental problems, century-old levees and questionable reliability. An earthquake near the Delta – with its damaged and aging levees – could shut off water for as long as two years to millions of businesses, farms and people throughout the state, and cost California’s economy between $30 - $40 billion. We have to reevaluate our reliance on the Delta to supply water to millions of Californians, and explore new options for water storage and conveyance to ensure we have continued access to clean and reliable water.”

- Rex Hime, President & CEO, California Business Properties Association

“We are at a critical juncture and need to make urgent repairs and essential improvements today to guard against catastrophes while also putting in place the needed long-term solutions to our state's water supply and quality. Investing in our water infrastructure is essential to maintaining California's strong economy, especially given our state's naturally arid climate. Without sustainable, long-term solutions to our looming water crisis, investors' confidence in our state could erode. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we know too well what can happen without serious forethought and planning.”

- Allan Zaremberg, President and CEO, California Chamber of Commerce

“If we do nothing…Southern California is looking toward some really serious economic disruptions, losing a big part of its water supply. And as taxpayers, they ought to worry about the catastrophic failure of the delta because they’d have to foot a large part of the bill.”

- Economist Ellen Hanak, Public Policy Institute of California, Los Angeles Times, 2/8/07

“If the state continues to do nothing, the delta will continue to deteriorate. And an earthquake or other natural disaster could easily cut off much of California’s water supply, including half the water for Silicon Valley, costing the state as much as $40 billion…

“Ensuring the adequacy of the state’s water supply and the environmental health of the Delta are critical. California needs to craft a delta strategy that achieves a balance between both goals. And we need to do it soon. The residents of New Orleans learned the hard way: Nature doesn’t care if we’re ready or not.

- Editorial, San Jose Mercury News, 2/15/07

“There is a growing recognition that the present layer of the levees and delivering fresh water out of the delta is something we can’t maintain long term.”

- Robert Twiss, environmental planning professor at UC Berkley, Tri Valley Herald, 6/23/07

“California has a large –37 million – and growing population. Scientists predict that, in coming decades, a warming climate will cut the Sierra Nevada snowpack while increasing winter rains and floods. Those twin trends add up to a large, long-term problem, demanding a large-long-term solution.

“If engineers say more reservoirs are part of the solution-and most do- we ought to listen to them and get started. When the next drought comes and California’s overstretched water system reaches a crisis point, it will still be costly and take decades to build a dam. Which is to say, at that point will be too late.”

- Editorial, Redding Record Searchlight, 1/28/07

“The peripheral canal…was the most effective solution to the Delta problems when it was first proposed 40-plus years ago and remains so, in some form, today.”

- Editorial, San Jose Mercury News, 2/12/07

“…the canal actually may be the better solution environmentally. A federal wildlife agency studied the issue in the late 1990s and came to the same conclusion about the canals value to wildlife.”

- Tim Hunt, former editor and publisher of the Tri-Valley Herald, Fremont Argus, 2/18/07

“…Those Californians interested in meeting the needs of the population rather than shutting down water to supposedly slow growth, need to support this idea.”

- Editorial, Orange County Register, 2/16/07

“Had the Peripheral Canal been built… the fish being chewed up in the pumps would have been alive and more numerous…we wouldn’t have to worry so much about Delta levees collapsing due to an earthquake or being breached by rising ocean levels from global warming…But the canal wasn’t built.”

- Columnist Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee, 4/1/07

“Controversial though the canal and building more water storage may be, both are legitimate pieces of any rational plan to deal with not only the degradation of the Delta, but the long-term needs of a state that has 12 million more people than it did in 1982,”

- Columnist Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee, 6/19/07

“Building additional reservoirs to store water supplies and building a canal to divert water around the fragile delta to enable it to flow into the State Water Project are improvements that are much needed and long overdue.”

- Editorial, Bakersfield Californian, 6/16/07

“We need more water. We need to build more storage, and we have to build conveyance…”

- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Speech, 6/14/07

“For at least two decades before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, there were warnings about such a disaster and plans on how to prevent it. Unfortunately, adequate action was not taken in a timely manner and a preventable catastrophe devastated the city. California must not ignore the lesson of Katrina.”

- Editorial, Contra Costa Times, 2/4/07

“You may have thought that by voting for $4.9 billion in flood control bonds last November, you were protecting Southern California’s water flow from the north. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would be repaired and shielded against Katrina-like catastrophe. And fresh water would flow south forever down the California Aqueduct.

"Wrong. For the delta, the bonds will only buy some tape and putty. The plumbing is old and broken and really needs to be completely redesigned, according to a report released…by a San Francisco-based think tank, the Public Policy Institute of California.”

- Columnist George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 2/8/07

“Unfortunately, investments in our statewide water system have not kept pace with…local efforts. Since the 1980s, virtually nothing has been done to expand or improve our ‘backbone’ state and federal facilities – despite the fact that our population climbed from 20 million to 37 million in that time. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reliably deliver water across the state or provide adequate protection from floods or drought.”

- Randy Fiorini, President, Association of California Water Agencies, Capitol Weekly Opinion Editorial, 6/21/07

“Experts believe that the health of the Delta smelt, a minnow like fish with a one-year life span, is a prime indicator of the overall health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the largest estuary on the west coast. If they’re right, then the Delta is in trouble.”

- Editorial, North County Times, 6/23/07

“Given the many issues the Delta faces, relying on it for two-thirds of the state’s water supply is risky.”

- Editorial, Tri-Valley Herald, 6/23/07

“While the Delta’s been a problem forever, the collapse of its fisheries this year and the continued rot of its levees are pushing it to a crisis point.”

- Editorial, Redding Record Searchlight, 6/21/07

“Don’t take the Delta for granted. A recent court ruling should serve as a reminder of the fragility of California’s water supply.”

- Editorial, Los Angeles Times, 4/2/07

“California can no longer afford to ignore the endangered Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The state needs to find a new way to manage the West Coast’s largest estuary, or reconcile itself to water shortages, environmental catastrophe and destructive flooding.”

- Editorial, Riverside Press Enterprise, 4/15/07

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