Anti-tunnels Comment Party Set for May 13

By Dan Bacher | May 4, 2014 |

Restore the Delta (RTD) will host a party for a great cause on Tuesday, May 13 - a "Public Comment Party" to complete more than one hundred citizens comments against the environmentally destructive peripheral tunnels.

The event will run from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Reserve at Spanos Park, Mt. Diablo Room 6301 W. Eight Mile Rd. in Stockton.

RTD, opponents of Gov. Brown's plan to build Peripheral Tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom Central Valley Chinook salmon and other Pacific fisheries, noted that people have just a few weeks left to respond to the Brown Administration's 40,000 page proposed BDCP Plan. 

"It's nearly impossible for a concerned citizen to review and digest this avalanche of information, and misinformation, alone," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. "We call all concerned citizens to write comment letters, and be counted. RTD will provide examples and instructions on how to identify impacts on your property, business and communities. Walk out with your comment letter!"

She said RTD will provide a list of areas of concern affecting all area residents, and will have experts in attendance to explain potential negative impacts. Here is a sample BDCP response letter that residents can personalize and submit. 

Refreshments will be provided. RSVP and letter writing information, language translators or childcare can be arranged: contace stina@restorethedelta.org or call (209) 475-9550. (RSVP is encouraged, but not required.) 

This event is NOT open to state or federal officials and land management organizations, water agency representatives from outside the Delta, or participants in the BDCP. 

The tunnels would divert Sacramento River water for use by corporate agribusiness interests, oil companies conducting fracking and steam injection operations in Kern County, and Southern California water agencies. The implementation of the tunnels plan would hasten the extinction of Central Valley salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as well as imperil the salmon and steelhead populations of the Trinity and Klamath river. 

Restore the Delta is a 15,000-member grassroots organization committed to making the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable to benefit all of California. Restore the Delta works to improve water quality so that fisheries and farming can thrive together again in the Sacramento-San Joaquin.

Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com; Twitter: @shopcraft; @MrSandHillCrane; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 barbara@restorethedelta.org; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta