Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/20561
6B – Daily News – Tuesday, November 30, 2010 State looks for a way to save the delta, quench thirst SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA (MCT) — A drilling rig bit into the bed of California's biggest river, haul- ing up sage-green tubes of clay and sand the consistency of uncooked fudge. The rig workers rolled the muck into strips, dried it in sugar-sized cubes and crushed them under their palms. They packed slices into carefully labeled canning jars for testing at an engineering lab. They were taking the river bottom samples for a $13 bil- lion project that would shunt water around — or under — the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the big aqueducts that ferry supplies south. Nearly three decades after a proposed delta bypass was killed by voters in a divisive ini- tiative battle, the idea is back in vogue. Pumping water from the delta's southern edge has helped shove the West Coast's largest estuary into ecological free fall, devastating its native fish popu- lations and triggering endan- gered species protections that have tightened the spigot to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities. The mounting delta prob- lems, along with the potential threats of a rise in sea level and a major earthquake, have turned the attention of state and feder- al agencies to an "alternative conveyance": either a canal or, more likely, a 40-mile water tunnel system that would be the nation's longest, some 150 feet beneath the delta. But the plans, still in draft stage, follow years of failed attempts to stem the delta's col- lapse while quenching Califor- nia's thirst — leaving open the question of whether it is possi- ble to do both. The urban and agricultural water districts that would pick up the tab for the bypass hope to restore or increase their water deliveries. But already, the giant Westlands Water District, a volatile player in California water politics, has lost confi- dence that will happen. It angri- ly announced last week that it was pulling out of the planning process. Environmentalists and delta advocates warn that if the new project ramps up water exports, it will accelerate the delta's decline, further imperiling the delta smelt, hurting water qual- ity and threatening migrating salmon. "I am uncertain about how this will work out," said Univer- sity of California-Davis geolo- gy professor Jeffrey Mount, who has repeatedly warned of the delta's vulnerability to a destructive earthquake. "The only certainty I have is that if it doesn't work out, we will all get worse together." Matt Nobriga, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife biologist, peers over the edge of a boat in the central delta. The water is clear. A bright green forest of aquatic plants waves slowly in the cur- rent. "If you want to go bass fishing," he said, "this is the spot." It is a scene befitting a fresh- water lake. And it is all wrong for the tidal estuary, a snapshot of how profoundly 150 years of human intervention has upend- ed nearly everything about the place. The delta's look, season- al rhythms, fish and wildlife all bear little resemblance to the "swampland" roamed by elk and grizzlies that Gold Rush settlers were eager to drain and turn into farms to feed booming San Francisco. A tranquil maze of farm islands, duck hunting clubs and winding channels, the delta retains a seductive 19th century pastoralism. Narrow levee roads connect 100-year-old towns with a few hundred resi- dents. Great blue herons flap in slow motion toward the hori- zon. Orchestras of blackbirds play in the breeze-rustled reeds. Fishermen drift down sloughs, oblivious to all but a tug on their lines. The idyllic image is deceiv- ing. From an ecological stand- point, the delta is more artificial than natural. Armies of invasive plants and aquatic life, such as largemouth bass and the Brazil- ian waterweed that Nobriga pointed out, have taken over. Natives like the once-abundant Chinook salmon and delta smelt are on the endangered species list or headed there. The delta's fragile peat soils have vanished in the wind dur- ing more than a century of farming, leaving behind a net- work of sunken islands that have turned much of the delta into California's Holland. More than 1,000 miles of weak earth- en levees, some built in the mid-1800s by laborers with wheelbarrows, imprison the web of water channels that used to wander and flood freely, pro- viding a rich fish nursery and pantry. The list of players in the delta's ecological slide is long and varied. But the two giant pumping plants northwest of Tracy, one operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the other by the state Department of Water Resources, are the most conspicuous villains. Their combined energy of 468,000 horsepower surpasses that of 100 diesel locomotives — enough to reverse the flow of southern delta channels, pull fish to their deaths and sabotage the natural ebb and flow of brackish and fresh water that shaped the delta's tidal ecology. The current system "does not allow the delta to be itself or rebuild itself," said William Stelle, regional administrator for the National Marine Fish- eries Service, which oversees salmon protections. To Stelle, taking water from the Sacra- mento River as it enters the delta farther north and trans- porting it to the south-bound aqueducts "is a no-brainer." But how to do that? And how much water? Discussion initially focused on a canal routed along the delta's western or eastern edge, as was planned in the '80s. But the proposed aqueduct's enor- mous footprint — as wide as 11 Santa Monica freeways — has shifted the focus to a tunnel that would require less land and avoid protracted legal fights with delta property owners who won't even let state survey crews on their farms to take soil samples. State engineers also say a deep tunnel would be less sus- ceptible to earthquake damage than a canal, which would be subject to amplified surface movement. Planners are considering five intakes and six pumping sta- tions that would suck water from the Sacramento River near Hood and send it into concrete tunnels. For most of its length, the system would consist of two side-by-side tunnels with 33- foot diameters — taller than a two-story building and big enough to carry 15,000 cubic feet of water per second. Sup- plies would still be pumped from the south delta, but to a lesser degree. Proponents argue that large- capacity tunnels would give the state's plumbing system greater flexibility, allowing water man- agers to take a "big gulp" dur- ing high river flows and send supplies into storage for dry times. If an earthquake com- pletely shut down south delta pumping, it would also sustain exports. The agricultural and urban water contractors that would finance the facility hope that rearranging the diversion points, along with an ambitious program of habitat improve- ment, will allow them to recoup water they have lost to increas- ingly severe fish protections. "If it makes conditions bet- ter, then there should be more water presumably available than we have today," said Jef- frey Kightlinger, general man- ager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. While frustrated with the pace of the planning effort, he said his agency is not ready to fol- low in Westlands' footsteps and jump ship. But environmentalists and delta agencies are blanching at a tunnel capacity that exceeds the river's average summer flows. And they worry that the project's potential operating rules could rob the delta of even more water and leave districts that draw from the south delta with saltier supplies. "You turn the south and cen- tral delta effectively into a cesspool at times," said Greg Gartrell, assistant general man- ager of the Contra Costa Water District, which serves 550,000 Bay Area residents. Federal biologists have also warned that if the project increases exports and diminish- es the delta's fresh-water flow into San Francisco Bay, the low salinity zones favored by smelt will shift, drawing the fish into poor habitat and increasing their risk of extinction. Taking water from the Sacra- mento River could also hurt migrating salmon, especially juveniles swimming to the sea. If the new intakes are not prop- erly designed, they could create pools of slow water where predators could lurk or flows that would smash confused young salmon against the fish screens. "There are hundreds of design parameters that will go into this thing to work right. If you think this is just an off-the- shelf technology, you're dream- ing," Stelle said. Mark Wilson is one of the farmers who refused to let sur- vey state crews on the 1,600 acres of wine grapes, alfalfa and wheat his family grows near Clarksburg. "It's kind of a protest to the way the process is going," said Wilson, who, like many delta residents, complains that the project is being rammed down his throat. "If we can slow the process down, maybe they'll be more reasonable." The Wilsons have farmed the delta since his grandparents arrived on a horse-drawn wagon in 1922. Some of his neighbors trace their families' local roots to the Gold Rush. They live on relatively high ground in the north delta, which hasn't lost as much natural habi- tat as the south delta. So they don't buy into the "delta is a dis- aster" narrative. "If the canal came though, it would wipe out from here to the deep-water ship channel," Wil- son says, gesturing across more than a quarter mile of his petite syrah vines as he drives a pick- up truck down a rutted dirt track. The lover of Mexican food has stuck a bottle of hot sauce in the cup holder for his meals on the go. If the tunnel is built, he wor- ries that he could lose land to Legal Notices Legal Notices LEGAL NOTICE Notice Re: Seizure of Property and Initia- tion of Forfeiture Proceedings, Health and Safety Code Sections 11470 et. seq. and 11488.4. To: All persons claiming any right, title, or legal interest in the following seized property (appraised values appear in pa- rentheses): Twenty-one Thou- sand Five Hundred dollars ($21,500) valued in terms of Unit- ed States Currency, seized from or about the person or property of Leovigilido Villa-Albor. Notice is hereby given that the above described property was seized on September 1, 2010 at 2168 Donnovan Avenue, Corning, CA by NSMIT for alleged viola- tions of California Health and Safety Code section(s) 11358, 11359, and 11366. On September 1, 2010 non- judicial forfeiture proceedings were commenced by the Tehama County District Attor- ney in Action #AS10-455. Please use this case number on all documents and correspond- ence. You have thirty (30) days from the date of the first publication of this notice to file a verified claim, unless you have received actual notice. The claim must state the nature and extent of any interest you hold in the property, must be verified, and must be filed with the Superior Court Clerk, 633 Washington St., Red Bluff, CA 96080, or the prop- erty will be forfeited to the State. An endorsed copy of the claim must be served on the Dis- trict Attorney, 444 Oak St., #L, Red Bluff, CA 96080 within thirty (30) days of the filing of your claim. Claim forms can be ob- tained from the Asset Forfeiture Clerk, District Attorney¹s Office. Dated: November 9, 2010 Gregg Cohen, District Attorney By: MATTHEW D. ROGERS, Deputy District Attorney Publish: Nov 16, 23 & 30, 2010 the extensive habitat restoration that would be part of the project. "They're not going to put habitat in the cities," he says. "It's going to be in the ag lands." For all his qualms, Wilson says he understands the water contractors' desire for a system that would give them some relief from the constraints on south-delta pumping. But big tunnels would be too much of a temptation. "I don't trust 'em." Wilson says. "I'm concerned they're going to buy and adjudicate more water rights" and have a "big gulp year 'round." Legal Notices Legal Notices LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE TS No. 09-0049807 Title Order No. 4100109 Investor/Insurer No. 1703136146 APN No. 063-190-50-1 YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST, DATED 02/17/2007. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER." Notice is hereby given that RECONTRUST COMPANY, N.A., as duly appointed trustee pursuant to the Deed of Trust executed by FREDERICK GONSALVES, AN UNMARRIED MAN, dated 02/17/2007 and re- corded 02/27/07, as Instrument No. 2007003707, in Book , Page ), of Official Records in the office of the County Recorder of Tehama County, State of Califor- nia, will sell on 12/21/2010 at 2:00PM, At the main entrance to the Tehama County Courthouse, 633 Washington Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080 at public auction, to the highest bidder for cash or check as described below, paya- ble in full at time of sale, all right, title, and interest con- veyed to and now held by it un- der said Deed of Trust, in the property situated in said County and State and as more fully de- scribed in the above referenced Deed of Trust. The street ad- dress and other common desig- nation, if any, of the real proper- ty described above is purported to be: 7820 CENTRAL AVENUE, GERBER, CA, 960359658. The un- dersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. The total amount of the unpaid balance with inter- est thereon of the obligation se- cured by the property to be sold plus reasonable estimated costs, expenses and advances at the time of the initial publica- tion of the Notice of Sale is $172,666.39. It is possible that at the time of sale the opening bid may be less than the total in- debtedness due. In addition to cash, the Trustee will accept cashier’s checks drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings asso- ciation, or savings bank speci- fied in Section 5102 of the Finan- cial Code and authorized to do business in this state. Said sale will be made, in an ’’AS IS’’ con- dition, but without covenant or warranty, express or implied, re- garding title, possession or en- cumbrances, to satisfy the in- debtedness secured by said Deed of Trust, advances thereunder, with interest as pro- vided, and the unpaid principal of the Note secured by said Deed of Trust with interest thereon as provided in said Note, plus fees, charges and ex- penses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. DATED: 07/24/2009 RECONTRUST COMPANY, N.A. 1800 Tapo Canyon Rd., CA6-914- 01-94 SIMI VALLEY, CA 93063 Phone: (800) 281 8219, Sale Infor- mation (626) 927-4399 By:-- Trustee’s RECONTRUST COMPANY, N.A. is a debt collector attempting to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose.ASAP# FNMA3817343 11/23/2010, 12/07/2010 Sale Officer 11/30/2010, Tehama County’s Personal/Professional Service Directory AT YOUR SERVICE! $ 9900 3 month Attorney Local Bankruptcy Attorney Jocelyn C. 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