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CSPA's Bill Jennings speaks out regarding Control Board's draft ruling regarding consolidation of CVP and SWP place of use permits, calls governor's claims bogus lies!
May 19, 2009 -- Mr. Jennings's oral comments before the State Water Resources Control Board:
"Good Morning, Chairman Hoppin, Board Members. Bill Jennings, CSPA, C-WIN.
Why. Why are you proposing this order?
We live in an arid state that experiences frequent droughts.
According to DWR, the last three years have been the 10th worst three-year drought cycle in the period of record.
In fact, since 1959, both the Sacramento and San Joaquin basins have both been dry or critically dry 37% of the years - and one of the basins has been dry or critically dry over half of the years.
Drought in California is as inevitable as death & taxes.
Our seniority-based water allocation scheme is designed to adjust to the inevitability of droughts. And, the system is working exactly as anticipated.
In this third year of drought, Sacramento Valley contractors, Friant contractors, exchange contractors and eastside San Joaquin users are getting their water.
Only contracts pursuant to the most junior water rights are receiving less water. Westland's reduced deliveries are based upon contracts that are predicated on shortages in times of drought. LA is receiving less water only because it voluntarily relinquished its urban preference in the Monterey Agreement.
This order is a backdoor attack upon 150 years of water law and precedent. It is an attack upon the public trust. It threatens to undermine faith in public institutions and, indeed, in government itself.
Never before have we had to waive CEQA and Water Quality Control Plans or turn California's permit system upside down through a truncated hearing that violates the most basic due process rights.
DWR deliberately and despicably withheld introducing the Governor's drought proclamation into evidence until no one had a chance to refute it. Had the proclamation been in evidence, we would have rebutted its bogus claims lie by lie.
There is no evidence in the record that this is order is necessary. There is no evidence that establishes harm if the petition is not granted, other than the unsubstantiated conclusory claims by DWR and the Bureau.
Westlands withdrew their evidentiary testimony. Because, I suspect, they realized we were prepared to refute their claims with hard evidence from the state's Employment Development Department on the increase in farm-labor employment throughout the last three years: just as we were prepared to document their expansion of perennial crop acreage during the drought.
There is, however, a bright spot in this wretched spectacle. You and the Governor have yanked the rug out from under the NGOs attempting to work within the BDCP and Delta Vision processes.
You and the Governor have clearly established that any promises, standards, guarantees or assurances you offer are not worth a tinker's damn. And I suspect that revelation will change the dynamics of the looming debate over conveyance and Delta protection."
CSPA C-WIN Comment Letter – 05/19/09 Board Meeting