Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3709 April 13-27, 2018 | Page 31

VOL . 37 • ISS . 09

State Senate Appoints Infrastructure Development Corporation Executive to Delta Stewardship Council

The Delta Stewardship Council , a strong supporter of Jerry Brown ’ s controversial Delta Tunnels project , announced the appointment of Maria Mehranian to the Council by the Senate Rules Committee on March 16 , 2018 .

“ I am thrilled to join the Delta Stewardship Council and am looking forward to working with the Council as it pursues the coequal goals of ensuring for a reliable water supply for the state while protecting , restoring and enhancing the precious and unique ecosystem of the Delta ,” Mehranian said “ I am honored that the Senator de León and the Senate Rules Committee have invested their trust in me to be a steward of the Delta Plan .”

Mehranian is currently the Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer at Cordoba Corporation , an infrastructure development firm , a possible conflict of interest in light of the fact that the Council promotes one of the biggest and most widely opposed infrastructure development projects in California history , the California WaterFix .

The Cordoba Corporation website ( www . cordobacorp . com /) describes itself as “ a California based full-service engineering , construction management and program management firm specializing in transportation , water , energy , education and facilities with offices in Sacramento , San Francisco , Chatsworth , Los Angeles , Santa Ana , and San Diego . Cordoba Corporation is ranked by Engineering News-Record ( ENR ) as a Top 50 Program Management Firm and a Top 100 Construction Management-for-Fee Firm .”

“ Maria is directly responsible for the firm ’ s strategic financial planning and operations overseeing the company ’ s statewide financial operations . For 35 years Maria has dedicated her career to building Cordoba Corporation into one of the nation ’ s top specialty services firms with its staff of engineers , designers , managers , environmental specialists , and construction professionals from all over the world . For her efforts , Maria caught the attention of academic institutions and was featured in a case study by Harvard Business School and Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University ,” the website reported .

Mehranian previously served as a gubernatorial appointee on the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board from 2008 to 2016 . Her term end date is February 3 , 2022 .

Compensation will be $ 46,913 per year ( 2018 ) as provided in Section 11564 of the Government Code . Members serve onethird time , according to a press release from Senator Kevin de León ’ s Office .

“ The Delta Stewardship Council was created to advance the state ’ s coequal goals for the Delta – a more reliable statewide water supply and a healthy and protected ecosystem , both achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique characteristics of the Delta as an evolving place ,” de León said .

To access Senator de León ’ s press release , click here . More information about the Council members is available here .

On June 22 , 2017 , the Delta Stewardship Council voted to endorse the Delta Tunnels plan as part of their amendments to the Delta Plan at their meeting in Sacramento . They made the decision , with only one dissenting vote , in spite of a massive turnout and hours of testimony by tunnels opponents , including fishermen , conservationists , environmental justice advocates , family farmers , Delta residents and elected officials . To read my testimony before the Council , go to : https :// www . dailykos . com / stories / 2017 / 6 / 25 / 1675124 / -Why-Delta- Stewardship-Council-s-Endorsement-of- Delta-Tunnels-Is-So-Wrong

Delta Group calls for Abolition of Delta Stewardship Council

On January 22 of this year , Restore the Delta called for the abolition of the Delta Stewardship Council ( DSC ) in a comment letter directed at the Council ’ s Draft Program Environmental Impact Report ( DPEIR ) on the Delta Plan Amendments that would greenlight the Delta Tunnels and other new storage projects around California .

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In the letter , Restore the Delta ( RTD ) disclosed that 65 of 75 impacts listed in the report were “ significant and unavoidable ,” according to the DSC , which justified such harmful impacts as reflective of the DSC ’ s inability to control what other state and federal water agencies do .

Tim Stroshane , Policy Analyst for RTD , wrote , “ The DSC is a bureaucratic redundancy lacking meaningful authority to benefit either the people of the Delta or of the state of California . The DSC should be abolished and its useful functions , such as the Delta Independent Science Board , relocated to another more appropriate state agency .

“ Furthermore , we find that in the Draft Plan EIR for the amendments that :

“ The Council ’ s proposed Delta Plan amendments are planning activities , yet they take no account of State of California environmental justice , human right to water , and anti-discrimination policy requirements .

“ The proposed Delta Plan amendments fail to set measurable standards for reducing reliance on the Delta and for making conservation a way of life in California .

“ The proposed Delta Plan amendments fail to address in a meaningful way the significant and unavoidable impacts resulting from construction and operation of new conveyance . Instead , the DSC so to speak passes the administrative buck back to other state agencies .”

For years , fishing groups , environmental groups , Tribal leaders and Delta residents have requested the Delta Stewardship Council to follow Delta Reform Act mandates to reduce reliance on the Delta , invest in existing levees , protect fish , and stop the damage from operation of the fish-killing state and federal water pumping facilities in the South Delta near Tracy .

“ Instead , the DSC chose to promote ‘ dual conveyance ’ systems in order to aid the Brown

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Administration and special interest water districts attempting to push through the Delta Tunnels proposal in the last year of Governor Brown ’ s term ,” according to RTD .

State Water Board Evidentiary Hearings Continue

The State Water Resources Control Board is currently conducting evidentiary hearings on the petition by the California Department of Water Resources and U . S . Bureau of Reclamation to change the point of diversions for the Delta Tunnels project , in spite of a change in the project by the state and federal governments from the twin tunnels to a two phase project . The board has rejected the pile of recent motions by cities , counties , water agencies , conservation groups , fishing groups and farming organizations to stay the hearing .

The Delta Tunnels opponents not only argued for a stay in the hearings because of a recent change in the project , but as a result of emails disclosed under California Public Records Act ( CPRA ) requests filed by Patrick Porgans of Porgans and Associates .

On March 5 , Sacramento County Judge James P . Arguelles rejected a request by Sacramento County and other Delta Tunnels opponents for a temporary restraining order to block the Water Board hearings after the opponents sued , alleging the permit process had been tainted by illegal exparte communications and secret meetings .

In denying their request , Judge Arguelles said during a court hearing that tunnels opponents “ didn ’ t provide enough evidence to show that he needed to halt the water-rights hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board ,” according to the Sacramento Bee . Read more here : http :// www . sacbee . com / latest-news / article203539184 . html # storylink = cpy

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