Stop the Canal - comment on SF Chronicle editorial

August 30 S.F. Chronicle editorial: A $54 billion water bill:
My Letter in Response

By DAN BACHER, Sacramento

It is absurd for the state to authorize a water project that could cost up to $54 billion (editorial, August 30) at a time when our state parks, teachers and childrens’ health care are in great jeopardy because of budget cuts.

I find it appalling that Senator Joe Simitian and Assemblyman Jared Huffman are sponsoring legislation that serves as a road map to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's peripheral canal. This proposed government boondoggle wouldn't create any new water - it would only take water from senior water rights holders to be delivered to junior water rights holders on the San Joaquin Valley's west side.

In spite of the Governor’s claim that the canal will result in “ecosystem restoration," this dangerous bill package will only exacerbate the unprecedented collapse of Central

Valley salmon, delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail, American shad, striped bass and other California Delta fish populations by removing more water from the imperiled estuary. Does it make any sense for the state to build a giant canal that will destroy Delta fisheries and Delta farmland while indebting Californians for decades to come? For action alerts, go to www.calsport.org.