HomeMy WebLinkAbout6-10-13 Letter from Tony St. Amant - Voluntary moratorium on ouTony St. Amant
p~sl~ER 2?' Garden Park Drive
SUN i ~ 2013 Chico, CA 95973
~~~, June 3, 2013
To: Board of Directors, Northern Sacramento Valley
Integrated Regional Water Management Plan
Subject: Voluntary moratorium an out-of region water transfers
Board members,
[ am disappointed that you declined to agendize a voluntary moratorium on out-of-region
water transfers pending development of the regonalwater transfer guidelines you have
committed to in your draft plan. l respect your concern for preserving the autonomy of
local governments and water districts, beat nothing in the: proposal would have undercut
that autonomy----and certainly not simply: placing it on your agenda for public discussion
and a publicly accountable vats. I think yob have dodged one of the greatest
contributions you could have made to North-State water sustainability.
For those who take a strident position on local autonomy ar the Constitution, I would
remind you that our Constitution was one of the greatest compromises in the political
history of the world. Thirteen states voluntarily relinquished a portion of their sovereignty
in order to be strong enough to survive-and thrive---in a world dominated by European
kingdoms. Had they not done so, it would have been only a matter of time before they
were individually carved off by the European powers.
The water world of California is not so different today. It is a world massively dominated
by south..-of~the-Delta water interests, and with the water transfers proposed for 2013,
they hake begun the process..af carving off tine water resources of the Northern
Sacramento Valley. The opportunity to mount a collaborative defense against the south
is before `us now, but it will pass. If there is no expression of regional concern over the
current, relatively trivial, transfer proposals, there will be precedents set that may defeat
later opposition to hugely increased transfers.
In any event, the call for a discussion of a voluntary moratorium was precisely in
deference to county and district autonomy. Failure to act early and collaboratively
against water transfers will inexorably lead to lawyers, courts, and water regulation by
judicial fiat. When that happens, you will owe yourselves a great deal of the blame far
not having had the courage to step up to the plate when the umpire hollered "batter up" in
the spring of 2013.
~ ~ r_ ~~~~ ~ ~"~ ~ ~/~
In eve years you will l:~nd it difficult to look back and justify yaur hesitation to assert
yourselves now. The most likely excuse will be that, "the organization was just too fragile
to take on such a daunting task." But you are the organization. If your alliance is too
fragile to even discuss a voluntary moratorium as an agenda item, it's because you have
chosen to make it sa.
Those founding fathers who drafted our Constitution had no assurance of acceptance
within the sta#es they represented, but each of them risked all he had in responding to the
profound wisdom of Ben Franklin's warning, that "We must indeed all hang together, or
most assuredly we shall ail hang separately."
1 submit to you that's where we are in the California water world today. If yaur only
reason for supporting the NSV IRWMP is eligibility for state grants; you are betraying
your children and grandchildren. It will be they and their children who will pay the price
for your failure to protect your plan's overarching objective which-rnay I remind you-is,
"ensuring an affordable, sustainable water supply that supports agricultural, business,
environmental, recreational, and domestic needs of the Northern Sacramento Valley."
Exceptional circumstances require exceptional people. ' I°m deeply sadder~ed'that you
could not find the courage to rise to the occasion.
Sincerely,
llsll
Tony St. Amant
---1 Cc: Board of Supervisors, Butte County, 25 County Center Dr., Oroville, CA 95965
Board of Supervisors, Calusa County, 547 Market St., Colusa, CA 95932
Board of Supervisors, Glenn County, 525 West Sycamore St., Willows, CA 95988
Board of Supervisors, Shasta County, 1450 Court St., Redding, CA 96001
Board of Supervisors, Sutter County, 1160 Civic Center Blvd., Yuba City, CA 95993
Board of Supervisors, Tehama County, 727 Oak St., Red Bluff, CA 96080