ConnectingCalifornia.org

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Public Hearings on Habitat Conservation /Water Supply "Reliability" (aka Export) Plan for Sacramento River Delta Will be Around State in March 2009

from: http://resources.ca.gov/bdcp/

What is the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP)?

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is a planning and environmental permitting process to restore habitat for Delta fisheries in a way that reliably delivers water supplies to 25 million Californians. Federal and state agencies, environmental organizations, fishery agencies, water agencies, and other organizations are all working together to develop the Plan.

The BDCP is:

• Identifying conservation strategies to improve the overall ecological health of the Delta
• Identifying ecologically friendly ways to move fresh water through and/or around the Delta
• Addressing toxic pollutants, invasive species, and impairments to water quality
• Providing a framework and funding to implement the plan over time

The BDCP is being developed under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the California Natural Community Conservation Planning Act (NCCPA) and will undergo extensive environmental analysis that will include opportunities for public review and comment. As the BDCP evaluates alternatives necessary to restore the Delta ecosystem while providing water supply reliability, state and federal agencies are developing a joint Environmental Impact Report/Statement (EIR/S) to determine the environmental impacts of the BDCP. The draft EIR/EIS is expected to be ready for public review and comment by early 2010.

(Here is the latest version (2008) of the Peripheral Canal which voters rejected in 1982 over fears it was a water grab to send more supplies to Southern California developers. This map uses the phrase "conveyance" meaning potential routes to take fresh water out of the Delta and bring it down to the So-Cal aqueduct pumping intake site at Clifton Court.)