3. Listings of salmon, smelt,
and other species under
ESA have led to restrictions
on water exports
Loss of 586,000 acre-feet
of SWP and CVP supply in
an average water year
3
Delta smelt
Longfin smelt
Green sturgeon
Chinook salmon
Central Valley
steelhead
Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant
4. Water Authority and San Diego business
community support a Bay-Delta fix
◦ Water Authority and San Diego business leaders
worked together to pass 2009 legislation that
established coequal goals:
Water Supply Reliability
Ecosystem Restoration
2014 water bond would provide public share of cost of
ecosystem restoration
Water Authority has not endorsed a specific
conveyance project
◦ Information still needed to do cost-benefit analysis
◦ Unanswered question: what do we get for the
investment?
4
5. Commented on various drafts of the Delta
Stewardship Council’s Delta Plan and the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
◦ Staff testified at the DSC’s EIR public hearing (January 2012
in San Diego)
Participated in BDCP Governance and Financing
Workgroups
Participated in ACWA Ag-Urban Caucus, which
submitted an Alternate Plan to DSC’s 4th draft (June
2011)
5
6. 6
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Agricultural water district
stakeholder - Westlands
Jason Peltier, Chief Deputy
General Manager
Environmental stakeholder –
Environmental Defense Fund
Cynthia Koehler, California Water
Legislative Director
In-Delta region - Contra Costa
County
Mary N. Piepho, County
Supervisor
North Delta Water Agency Melinda Terry, Manager
7. 7
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Metropolitan Water District Roger Patterson, Assistant
General Manager
State and Federal Water
Contractors Authority
Byron Buck, Executive Director
Delta Stewardship Council Phil Isenberg, Chair
State Water Resources Control
Board
Tom Howard, Executive Director
Delta Protection Commission Mike Machado, Executive
Director
8. The Board unanimously adopted Bay Delta
policy principles in February 2012 and
reiterated the principles in adopting the
Legislative Policy Guidelines in November 2012
8
9. Encourage a Bay Delta solution that promotes
local water supply development
Encourage a Bay Delta solution that is cost-
effective when compared to other sources of
water reliability
Require independent technical analysis of key
elements of the Bay Delta solution, including real
urban and agricultural demands for water
Support “right-sized” facilities to match firm
commitments to pay
Continue to support the co-equal goals of water
supply reliability and ecosystem restoration
9
10. Support a deliberative process that is designed to
ensure a meaningful dialog among the various
stakeholders
Improve the ability of water users to divert more
water in wet years, when impacts on the
ecosystem are less
Encourage the development of a statewide water
transfer market
Work with all stakeholders to ensure a
meaningful dialog and that water supply and
ecosystem restoration processes are conducted
in an open and transparent manner
10
11. Natural Resources Defense Council contacted
a variety of water agencies to seek support
for an alternative solution for the Bay Delta
◦ A conceptual alternative to the current proposed
project for the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan called
the “Portfolio Approach”
Water Authority was a signatory, along with a
group of water agencies, on a Jan. 16, 2013
letter asking that the NRDC alternative be
evaluated in the BDCP
◦ Presentation on Portfolio Alternative at the Board’s
Jan. 24, 2013 meeting
11
12. 12
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Department of Water Resources Paul Helliker, Deputy Director
Natural Resources Defense
Council
Barry Nelson, Senior Policy
Analyst
California Farm Water Coalition Mike Wade, Executive Director
Alameda County Water District Walt Wadlow, General Manager
Thursday, May 23, 2013
California Natural Resources
Agency
Jerry Meral, Deputy Secretary
13. Review of Administrative Draft of BDCP and
Environmental Documents
◦ Operations, flow criteria, supply benefits, demand
assumptions
◦ Cost impact analysis
Public Draft expected in October 2013
Additional board workshop/discussions on BDCP and
alternatives later this year
13
15. Encourage a Bay Delta solution that promotes local water
supply development
◦ Portfolio Approach calls for local supply development as
part of a comprehensive Bay Delta solution
Encourage a Bay Delta solution that is cost-effective when
compared to other sources of water reliability
◦ Portfolio Approach recognizes that financial resources are
not unlimited and outlines a solution that may be more
cost-effective
Require independent technical analysis of key elements of
the Bay Delta solution, including urban and agricultural real
demands
◦ BDCP has not addressed real demands to date, as the
Water Authority has consistently urged
15
16. Support “right-sized” facilities to match firm commitments to
pay
◦ Analysis of the Portfolio Approach could lead to a better
understanding of the right size for the Bay Delta solution
Continue to support the co-equal goals of water supply
reliability and ecosystem restoration
◦ Portfolio Approach is intended to be balanced approach to
achieving both the co-equal goals
Support a deliberative process that is designed to ensure a
meaningful dialog among the various stakeholders
◦ Signers of the January 16 letter, representing 22 percent of
the state’s population, are encouraging a wider dialog
16
17. Improve the ability of water users to divert more water in wet
years, when impacts on the ecosystem are less
◦ Emphasis on south of Delta storage allows the diversion and
storage of more water in wet years
Encourage the development of a statewide water transfer
market
◦ Portfolio Approach calls for greater coordination among
water agencies to make more effective use of existing
facilities, including MWD’s, for moving water to where it is
needed
Work with all stakeholders to ensure a meaningful dialog and
that water supply and ecosystem restoration processes are
conducted in an open and transparent manner
◦ The Water Authority has maintained an open dialog with a
diverse array of stakeholders in the Bay Delta solution
17
