S.J. joins 11 other counties in support of Delta/Valley water projects

STOCKTON – Not all water issues in California cause all-out war.

In one effort at water diplomacy, representatives from counties from the top of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the bottom of the San Joaquin Valley put together a list over the past year of 18 flood-control, groundwater-recharge, environmental-restoration and other water related projects that they all could support.

Besides defining common ground on what can be contentious issues, consensus on projects from multiple counties gives added clout when trying to secure state or federal funding to get those projects built.

On Tuesday, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a joint project list. It was put together by representatives from five counties in the Delta County Coalition and eight counties in the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.

“San Joaquin County is the linchpin in this, I think, because we’re part of the Delta counties and we’re part of the Valley counties,” said Vice Chairman Ken Vogel.

It was believed San Joaquin County’s board was the first to take up the joint project list.

A year ago the 12 counties lined up behind a carefully-worded resolution on agreed-upon positions on water. Key to making such a consensus possible was the absence of any mention of the so-called peripheral canal or tunnel that would create a bypass for water bound for the Delta, diverting it directly for export. Much of water used in the state comes from the Delta.

Even with the most-controversial issue off the table, agreement still took time.

“It took us five (or) six years to get here, but here we are,” Supervisor Leroy Ornellas said. And that consensus is important to the state government taking notice of the Valley, he said. “That gave us a tremendous voice in the state Legislature.”

The list approved Tuesday includes 18 projects that, in concept, would not harm San Joaquin County, according to the county. In also includes four projects that require more study.

Six of the approved projects are in San Joaquin County.

They are:

» Fish screen at export pumps at Clifton Court Forebay;

» Improve Paradise Cut, a flood-control bypass;

» Improve levees in western Delta islands;

» Mokelumne River storage and groundwater-recharge project;

» Water-quality barriers;

» Increase funding for water-efficiency programs in the San Joaquin Valley.

In addition to the 18 projects the 12 counties agree on, there are four that do not have consensus and require further study.

The 12 counties are San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Yolo.

Contact reporter Zachary K. Johnson at (209) 546-8258 or zjohnson@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/johnsonblog.