Stranger and stranger plays the tale of Water Crisis and political betrayal.
As the "Delta environmental review begins amid skepticism", Sen. Feinstein has gone and done it; She's actually decided to serve the best interests of ALL of her HUMAN constituents.
As detailed in the Fresno Bee ( "Senator pushes water delivery" ) the embattled Senator from California has announced that she is crafting a "solution" to the Water Crisis affecting the farmers of NObama County:
"I believe we need a fair compromise that will respect the Endangered Species Act while recognizing the fact that people in California's breadbasket face complete economic ruin without help," Feinstein said Thursday.
Once made public, the conversation raised alarms among skeptics who fear unintended consequences and weakened environmental protections.
Environmental Defense Fund analyst A. Spreck Rosekrans, echoing several other environmental advocates, cautioned that "we're very concerned" about a maneuver that appears to exempt certain irrigation decisions from a key environmental law.
"A political judgment on the science seems unwarranted," Rosekrans said.
But Andrew Fahlund, senior vice president of the environmental group American Rivers, warned that increasing water pumping to Valley farms "could be the end of the West Coast salmon fishery," and angry environmental negotiators Thursday threatened to walk away from broader California water talks convened around the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
The group effort includes public agencies, farm groups and environmentalists who seek consensus on a new water conveyance system around the Delta.
Ann Hayden, a senior water resource analyst with the Environmental Defense Fund, said Feinstein's proposal would weaken short-term species protections and make long-term planning difficult.
"We're thinking about possibly suspending our participation in the process until and unless adequate protections are in place," Hayden said."
A front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle today said;
Bay Area Democrats were livid, accusing Feinstein of concocting the plan in secret, upending fragile water negotiations that Feinstein has supported and pitting California's Central Valley against its coast. Telephone calls flew as lawmakers learned of Feinstein's plan.
"I was pretty shocked," said Rep. Mike Thompson, a St. Helena Democrat and ally of North Coast salmon fishermen who support efforts to save fish species that are declining.
"It seems to be a complete reversal of her position," Thompson said. "The entire Bay Area delegation had agreed we would do this National Academy of Sciences report to find out scientifically what should and shouldn't be done, and for her to turn that on its head and go out unilaterally with this proposal does not take into consideration the needs of all of California."
Thompson accused Feinstein of "trying to spin this as a job saver, but that ignores the jobs up north that depend on water." He compared Feinstein's plan to the Bush administration's water diversions in the Klamath River Basin in 2002 that severely damaged fisheries and were later reversed.
Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, said, "Best I can see, she's making a decision that jobs in the Bay Area and Northern California and the Peninsula south of San Francisco aren't as important as jobs in the Central Valley."
So, it seems that the "entire Bay Area delegation" schemed to purposefully ruin the economy of the Central Valley, and that they've now been betrayed by Senator Feinstein. Imagine their surprise when they read about her decision to attempt to engineer a solution along the lines of the New Mexico silvery minnow legislation.
Strange, isn't it, that George Miller feel betrayed when Sen. Feinstein steps up to represent Valley farmers, in the same way she stepped up to support over $100 million dollars relief for North Coast fishermen.In a statement Thursday, Feinstein said that recent weeks of heavy rain and Sierra snowfall have brought (the California) snow pack to 130 percent of their normal level. At the same time, "water has been gushing past the canals and into the oceans while farms on the west side of the (Central) Valley are likely to receive a very low percentage of their water allocations for a second year because that water cannot be pumped and stored."
Bizarrely, it would seem that Mr. Miller and the "Bay Area delegation" seem devoted to pitting their constituents interests against the interests of their fellow Californians. Perhaps Mr. Miller felt that Sen. Feinstein's true constituents were only those Californians that they wanted her to represent.
In fairness, it needs to be noted that Sen. Feinstein is, apparently, responding to the supplications of a major supporter. As the Chron also noted;
Feinstein has long supported California agriculture but began to weigh in on the side of farmers in the water wars after requests from Stewart Resnick, the well-connected owner of Paramount Farms, which grows citrus and nuts on 118,000 acres in Kern County.
Resnick's business has given $29,000 to Feinstein's campaigns and $246,000 more to Democratic political committees during years when she sought re-election, according to a report by California Watch, an investigative journalism nonprofit organization, that was published in The Chronicle in December.
Well, imagine that.
Sen. Feinstein chose, apparently, to heed the words of warning of an influential supporter.
I have no idea what was said by Mr. Resnick, but if it's anything like what I've written to her, it was a heartfelt warning that she could find herself in the same boat as Barbara Boxer, facing very able opposition, a disgusted and alienated former "support base," and possibly the loss of her Senatorial seat.
Perhaps she began to hear "the roar" of the Tea Parties, water marches, and broadcasts from the parched fields of the west side. Perhaps her "legal eagles' made a startling discovery, as noted by Margaret Carrero on KMJ radio;
Whatever the reason, it looks like this action will end up attached to what is pretty much shaping up as a "pork-fest." The "Jobs Bill" will be panned by the Repubs, who're tasting the blood in the water, and apologized for by numerous Dems who just won't be able to pass up the opportunity to have a nice, juicy ham sandwich.Senator Dianne Feinstein is looking to increase the valley's Delta water allocations from 10-to-40% -- her plan isn't sitting too well with her fellow Democrats.In a conference call Thursday -- Senator Feinstein said she would propose legislation to urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to raise the valley's water deliveries up to the 40% threshold.
Something Sarah Woolf with Westlands Water District says -- as she understands it -- could have been done earlier due to the wiggle room -- if you will -- written into the existing biological opinions related to salmon and delta smelt.
Woolf says the legislation being proposed by Di-Fi would essentially direct the U.S. Forest Service to utilize the flexibility within the biological opinions.
The "San Francisco Chronicle" reported Thursday that members of Di-Fi's party are furious over her plan -- some saying Feinstein is siding with farmers while ignoring the water needs of individuals and businesses to the north.
Meanwhile, there's a new idea on the horizon. Today's Modesto Bee article, "Tunnel picked for study of delta water delivery" notes how this is a political football. Personally, I think it's a risky idea at best, because of the fact that the Delta lies, quite literally, "on shifting sands." It makes the same sense that building a new tunnel under the Bay for Hetch Hetchy water makes.
Bad idea. One word: Earthquake.
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So, to make it simple for the Progressives out there;
George Miller and the "Bay Area delegation" thought that Sen. Feinstein would always, since they'd kissed her ring and bought indulgences, side with their constituents over her "other" constituents.
Time to grow up, dweebs. Sen. Feinstein has decided what's in it for her.
She may yet save her seat.
