Water talks have city on edge

By Alex Breitler

Record Staff Writer

September 01, 2012 12:00 AM

STOCKTON – Upstream water users may privately negotiate how much water flows down the San Joaquin River in the future – to the concern of downstream Delta interests, who would be excluded from that process.

The state will have the final say on flows. But any agreement reached by the water users as well as other government agencies and some environmental groups could influence that decision.

Some groups have already signed confidentiality agreements to participate in the talks, but officials clarified this week that for now, at least, the informal proceedings are open to the public.

Later they may go behind closed doors.

Stockton is affected by anything that happens upstream on the San Joaquin, which flows right past the city.

“Just think about it – the whole impact on the city and the Delta from the deprivation of the flows from one of its native tributaries, and the systematic destruction of water quality,” said Tom Zuckerman, an attorney for central Delta farmers. “To me it’s outrageous that people think they can get together … without anyone there representing the viewpoint of the city, the industries and the agriculture that bear the burden of all this.”

The settlement talks involve stakeholders on the San Joaquin tributaries of the Merced, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers, with the goal of striking a deal and avoiding years of litigation. Similar deals have been reached on the Klamath and Yuba rivers, said facilitator Art Baggett, a former member of the State Water Resources Control Board.

The talks would be limited to the upstream water users because that is the section of stream currently being studied by the state, he said.

“We’re grappling with a very complex watershed with competing needs,” Baggett said. “I commend everyone for wanting to sit down and spend the time and effort to understand what each other’s needs and goals are.”

The meetings, he said, were initiated in early 2012 by Jerry Meral, undersecretary for the California Natural Resources Agency. For now they’re being called informal fact-finding workshops. If formal negotiations open, however, the doors will close.

Bill Jennings, a Stockton environmentalist and head of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, said that’s not the best way to answer the question of how much water should be sent down the San Joaquin. A better solution, he said, would be sticking to the public process already under way by the state water board.

While Gov. Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels proposal for the Delta has gotten all the attention of late, the water board has been working on a series of reports that will decide how much water must remain in the estuary, and what all the beneficial uses of that water might be.

The state board’s studies, therefore, could impact the governor’s plan, said Jennings, who doesn’t want any secret settlement to “subvert” the water board’s public role.

“This is the ball of bananas for the future of the Delta,” said Jennings, who was also critical of water board members attending the informal meetings, since they may eventually rule on the matter.

“How would you feel if you were going into court and you discovered that the judge had been partying with your opponent the night before?” Jennings said.

Less cynical was Jeff Shields, general manager of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, which taps the Stanislaus River and therefore could be a participant in settlement negotiations.

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” Shields said. “I don’t believe every time someone turns around they have ulterior motives. I’m optimistic that this is an honest process and everyone is trying to avoid years worth of litigation. We have to try.”

At Monday’s Delta Coalition meeting, Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston suggested that local officials inject themselves into the process.

“Go to those meetings whether they want you there or not – whether you’re an official player or not,” she said. “Be there and do everything you can to make some comment.”

Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/breitlerblog.