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Will Schwarzenegger Push Interior Secretary to Support Peripheral Canal

by Dan Bacher, editor of the Fish Sniffer
April 14, 2009 -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will be coming to the California Delta, now in its greatest-ever ecological crisis, on Wednesday, April 15. 
 
Salazar and Schwarzenegger will announce "economic stimulus projects to help water infrastructure in California and elsewhere" as part of the Department of the Interior’s investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) after a tour of the "drought stricken" Delta," according to a statement from the Bureau of Reclamation. Accompanying them will be Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-5th CA) and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-38th CA).
 
However, it doesn't appear like they will be stopping to talk to the locals. This staged press event looks like it may be a pitch by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to push the Secretary to support the building of a peripheral canal and more dams. 
 
The "tour" of the Delta by Schwarzenegger and Salazar will take place as the estuary's pelagic (open water) species - delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad - have declined to record low population levels, due to increases in water exports from the Delta, toxics and invasive species. Central Valley Chinook salmon, American shad, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and other fish populations have also declined to unprecedented low numbers as the Governor, Senator Diane Feinstein and the Nature Conservancy continue to push for the construction of peripheral canal and more dams. 
 
"The estuary has been exploited to the point of ecological collapse," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta in Stockton. "The problem in the Delta is not a plumbing problem, and a new straw in the Sacramento River will not restore the Delta." 
 
Why are the people most impacted by proposed water projects on the Delta - Delta farmers, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, California Indian Tribes, grassroots environmentalists, and Delta residents - not being invited to meet with Secretary Salazar, the Governor and federal officials? 
 
And why is the Bureau referring to the Delta as "drought-stricken" when it is not a natural "drought," but gross mismanagement of California's water resources, that has led to ecological collapse? 
 
“California has regulated its waters like the feds have regulated Wall Street and the result has been a collapse of fisheries and aquatic ecosystems,” said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
 
 
Here's the press release: 
 
Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, 916-978-5100 PO Box 25007, Sacramento, CA 95825 United States 
 
For Immediate Release: April 14, 2009 
Contact: Joan Moody 
Phone: (202) 208-6416 
 
Secretary Salazar, Joined by Gov. Schwarzenegger, to Announce Economic Recovery Investments in Nation’s Water Infrastructure Following Tour of Sacramento Delta 
 
Following a tour of the drought-stricken Sacramento Delta with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on April 15, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will announce economic stimulus projects to help water infrastructure in California and elsewhere as part of the Department of the Interior’s investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The projects include ARRA funds going to the Bureau of Reclamation. 
 
Who: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar 
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 
Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-5th CA) 
Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-38th CA) 
 
What: Announcement of Investments in Water Infrastructure/Bureau of Reclamation Programs to help California and other areas under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 
 
When: Press arrival at 11:15 a.m. for 12:00 – 12:30 pm PDT press conference, Wednesday, April 15, 2009 
 
Where: Sacramento Mather Airport, Sacramento County, 12 miles southeast of Sacramento next to Rancho Cordova, California. Proceed to the intersection of Macready and Femoyer Streets, near the site of the helicopters on the base. Show press credentials at the guard post there and you will be guided to site of the press conference. 
 
Media: CREDENTIALED MEDIA ONLY will be admitted.