Disagreeing With NRDC’s Water Options

As a San Joaquin River mayor whose (primarily Latino) citizens rely on Friant Dam for our water supply, I must respond to Jared Huffman of the Natural Resources Defense Council (Letters, Aug. 24) concerning Michael Hiltzik’s column on water (“Resource Crisis of the Century Lacks a Water-Based Solution,” Golden State, Aug. 11).

The NRDC again distorts reality to pursue its special-interest agenda. First, neither “clean Sierra water” nor “stagnant runoff” from the Friant service area reaches your readers’ water supply. There is no hydrologic connection between Friant water supplies and water used outside of the southern San Joaquin Valley.

Second, building a dam at Temperance Flat would provide storage needed to help Californians meet their water needs, including real San Joaquin River environmental enhancement -- a goal not shared by the NRDC. Without a new dam, the study mischaracterized by Huffman shows that the NRDC’s goals would dry up much of the Central Valley’s urban and agricultural areas.

It is time for hardworking Californians to ignore the paid lawyers from elitist Bay Area organizations like the NRDC that seek to impose devastating, unrealistic solutions on parts of California in which they and their families do not live.

Mayor Victor P. Lopez

Orange Cove, Calif.

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Jared Huffman demonstrates how disingenuous the Natural Resources Defense Council can be. Among other questionable assertions, Huffman claims that the NRDC has a “smarter, cheaper solution” to restoring “flows and salmon populations to the San Joaquin River.” Despite many requests from a variety of sources, the NRDC has declined to reveal even the sketchiest details of its plan or its cost. “Trust us,” they seem to say. That’s a tough one to swallow.

Fortunately for all Californians, there are those who can be trusted. The San Joaquin River Task Force and the Resource Management Coalition recently completed Phase One of a San Joaquin River Restoration Plan. This plan openly describes its approach to restoring the river in a manner supportive of the valley’s $35-billion agriculture industry; population growth in one of the fastest growing regions of California; the need for clean water in the delta; and preservation of the environment -- including fisheries on the river.

More than 100 experts, including a member of the National Academy of Sciences, have reviewed this plan. The only negative comments were made by the NRDC, which declined to offer a comparison of its approach with that taken by the task force and Resource Management Coalition.

More important, however (and recognized by the reviewers), is that the process creating the task force/RMC plan has been completely transparent. It has invited the participation of virtually every stakeholder with an interest in the future of the San Joaquin River, including the NRDC, which declined to participate.

David Hopelain

Co-Chairman, Eastern Madera County Water Oversight Advisory Committee, North Fork, Calif.