January 1, 2017 - The State Water Resources Control Board will conduct its final hearing on the Bay Delta Water Plan SED on Tuesday in Sacramento. The Plan intends to divert significant amounts of local water
from Merced, sending it north to the Bay Delta. Meanwhile, the State Water Board has extended the public comment period on the Plan from January to noon on March 2017.
The final public hearing will be on Jan 3 at 9:00 a.m., on the second floor of the CalEPA Headquarters Building, located at 1001 I Street in Sacramento.
The Bay Delta Water Plan SED intends to divert water from storage in local Lake McClure and send it north to the Bay Delta for the benefit of others. The water diversion would impact local drinking water quality and quantity, cost the Merced area up to nearly 1,000 jobs and decrease local agriculture production among other problems.
On Dec. 19, more than 600 residents, farmers, and local elected officials turned out for a State Water Board hearing at the Merced Theater to share their concerns and discuss flaws with the Bay Delta plan and its impacts to the local community. (To read more in the Merced Sun-Star, please click here.) Merced Irrigation District provided a 45-minute presentation to the State Water Board at that time, including a summary of its technical analysis of the SED noting multiple flaws and discrepancies within the plan. On Nov. 29, MID managers – who were joined by representatives of local businesses, youth advocates and economic development representatives – attended an all-day hearing in Sacramento to provide input and comments on the plan. MID will be attending the upcoming final hearing in Sacramento as well.
It remains to be seen when the State Water Board will make a final decision on the Bay Delta Plan, although it is expected within in the coming months.
Merced Irrigation District continues to promote the Merced River S.A.F.E. Plan as a better and more logical means of improving the survivability of salmon, the purported goal of the State’s Bay Delta Plan. Rather than simply release more water, the S.A.F.E. Plan would restore more than five miles of river habitat in the Snelling area, address local predation by non-native bass, modernize the Merced River salmon hatchery, and provide increased Merced River flows at times based on science and known migration times for salmon. While MID is promoting the Merced River S.A.F.E. Plan, MID’s Board members and managers have made it clear to the State Water Board that MID will take all possible actions to protect the District’s water rights if a compromise cannot be reached.
Those wishing to comment to the State Water Board, and unable to attend the hearing, may continue sending emailed objections to commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov
To email individual board members or for additional support, please click here.
Written comments can be sent to:
Jeanine Townsend, Clerk to the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
1001 I Street, 24th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814-0100
Source: MID
