So we could potentially affect agriculture resources by converting important farmland to other uses… in the Delta there are about 432,000 acres of important farmland, and so we are converting some of that… we are identifying that conversion would be a significant impact which we’ve proposed to mitigate with conservation easements… so we do have a significant and unavoidable impact to farmland in the Delta. So we would be looking at converting some agriculture land to use as facilities as part of this project. “There are adverse impacts to the agriculture community within the Delta. The project’s environmental program manager, Carrie Buckman, joins us again. However, this could negatively impact agriculture in the Delta. The proposed infrastructure plan would divert Sierra Nevada water from the Delta, to Southern California for farmland and residential use. Dual conveyance would enhance operational flexibility. to separate long-term operation from the tunnel project, which it is actively promoting as part of that long-term operation,” Kathryn Phillips, state Sierra Club director, said in a statement.California Department of Water Resources released the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Delta Conveyance Project. The Delta Conveyance Project would operate in coordination with existing south Delta diversions a concept known as dual conveyance operations. “It’s bad enough that the state thinks the State Water Project has no environmental consequences, but it's completely absurd. Delta conveyance refers to State Water Project (SWP) infrastructure in the vast network of waterways comprising the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) that collects and moves high-quality, clean, safe and affordable water to homes, farms and businesses throughout major regions of the state from the Bay Area to Southern California. The suit also challenges the state's conclusion that the massive water program has no environmental consequences. We know that the status quo is really bad for fish and wildlife, but their own (environmental impact) document shows that the Delta tunnel will make things even worse, said Doug Obegi, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in San Francisco, was brought by the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Restore the Delta and the Planning and Conservation League. Recently, the Department of Water Resources posted a short video providing an overview of the California Environmental Quality Act and the preparation of environmental documents for the Delta Conveyance Project. The Delta Conveyance Project is a proposal by the Department of Water Resources to create an additional point of diversion in the northern Delta along the Sacramento River and a tunnel to convey water under the Delta to the export facilities in the South Delta. Environmentalists said the project would endanger salmon and other fish that already are in poor shape. The department did not respond to a request for comment. The single tunnel would be sized to convey up to 6,000 cu ft/sec of water from the Sacramento River to state water project facilities in the south, the document says.Ĭonstruction and commissioning of the overall conveyance project, which includes intakes, four tunnel reaches, pumping plants, shafts and more to be built 190 ft below ground, would take about 13 years to complete.Įngineering, field studies and design for the environmental planning process will be done by state agencies, with no project cost yet estimated. Gavin Newsom said in his state of the state address last year that he would only support a single tunnel. The water resources department had previously approved a conveyance project called California WaterFix that involved construction of two 35-mile, 40-ft wide tunnels, but Gov. In their conversation, Buckman covers the potential negative and positive impacts of the Delta Conveyance Project. 15, said the tunnel was proposed to develop new diversion and conveyance facilities necessary to restore and protect the state water delivery system's reliability. In part two of this series, Corryn La Rue speaks with California Department of Water Resources environmental project manager Carrie Buckman. The water resources agency issued a notice that it was preparing an environmental assessment of the tunnel nine days after the comment period for State Water Project environmental report closed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |