C-WIN Presents Documentary "Over Troubled Waters" - Weaverville Fire Hall April 2
MEDIA RELEASE
“OVER TROUBLED WATERS”
DOCUMENTARY AND SLIDE SHOW ON
GOVERNOR BROWN’S PERPHERAL TUNNELS PROJECT
WHERE: WEAVERVILLE FIRE HALL, TUESDAY APRIL 2nd at 6:30 PM
Contacts: Tom Stokely (530) 926-9727 or 524-0315
Bob Morris (530) 623-5410
Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment (SAFE, online at http://www.safealt.org/) is sponsoring “Over Troubled Waters”, a documentary about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that will premiere at the Weaverville Fire Hall, 125 Bremer Street on Tuesday April 2 at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. Tom Stokely of Mt. Shasta, a former Trinity County natural resources planner now with the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN, online at http://www.c-win.org) will give a slide show with a question and answer period to discuss the implications of Governor Brown’s “Peripheral Tunnels” project on Trinity County and all of California.
The documentary, “Over Troubled Waters”, by Restore the Delta (http://www.restorethedelta.org/) and the C-WIN slideshow are part of a statewide public education effort to stop the building of Peripheral Tunnels. Larry Glass, President of Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment (S.A.F.E.), emphasizes that Trinity County is a major and uncompensated source of much of this water and so Trinity should have significant say about how much water should be taken and and how that water should be used. These considerations must be important parts of this effort and the overall education of the California public before decisions are made to borrow billions for questionable projects such as the Peripheral Tunnels.
On July 25, Governor Brown and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a plan to drill two 30’-40’ diameter tunnels 150 feet for 35 miles under California’s Delta to siphon northern California water to thirsty San Joaquin Valley agribusiness and Southern California cities, according to Stokely. Previous plans to build a “Peripheral Canal” were defeated by two thirds of California voters in 1982 during Brown’s first tenure as governor of California.
In this visually rich documentary, Ed Begley Jr. narrates the story of how the people of the Delta are fighting to protect the region they love and to encourage saner, sustainable water policies for all the people of California.
Tom Stokely of C-WIN said, “The project will harm Trinity County and Trinity River interests by drawing down Trinity Lake even more. There is absolutely no protection for Trinity River interests from this project. Water export amounts and fishery protection flows are being put off until after the project is constructed, a ‘plumbing before policy’ decision to misinform the public about the true costs and benefits. Cost estimates are significantly underestimated. While Peripheral Tunnel proponents claim that the beneficiaries of the project will pay for it, they are planning on substantial subsidies from state and federal taxpayers amounting to billions more borrowed dollars. There are much more cost effective, job-producing and locally-based ways of providing water supply reliability including recycling, conservation, stormwater capture and groundwater desalination.”
Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment (SAFE) is dedicated to promoting healthy ecosystems through education, community involvement, organizing, demonstrations, activism and legal remedies. http://www.safealt.org/
The California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) promotes the equitable and environmental use of California's water, including instream uses, through research, planning, public education, and litigation.