Restore the Delta Challenges Public Policy Institute's Report Supporting Peripheral Canal

OK, so more on the fight on the canal. The PPIC released a study which supported building a peripheral canal. But for every action there is an equal reaction. In the spirit of fairness I want to post the opponents answer to the report. The opponents of the Peripheral Canal came out swinging. This issue from their perspective is that the canal will damage the environment and will only send water south. The full report can be found here.

Dan Bancher penned the following reply:

Restore the Delta, a Delta-based coalition including Delta farmers, environmentalists, fishermen, business leaders, the faith community, recreation enthusiasts, and everyday folks today issued a statement calling into question many of the findings in the Public Policy Institute’s "Comparing Futures for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta", a report calling for a peripheral canal.

Building a peripheral canal like the one that Senator Dianne Feinstein and Governor Arnold "Fish Terminator," the worst ever Governor for fish and the environment in California history, are pushing for, will only make the dramatic declines of Central Valley chinook salmon, steelhead, delta smelt, longfin smelt, striped bass and other fish species even worse. There are no examples in U.S. history that I know of where the construction of a canal resulted in increased flows for fish and wildlife.

Make no mistake about it: the Delta's problem is not that it lacks a canal. The problem is that its water is over allocated, much of it to toxic land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley that should have never been put into agricultural production. To restore Central Valley chinook salmon and California Delta fish species, more water must be allowed to flow NATURALLY through the Delta, not less.

This November is going to be a lively one.