Delta Conservancy plans Solano County workshop

SUISUN CITY — A new state agency designed to help restore habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh wants to hear ideas from Solano County residents.

The Delta Conservancy is putting together a strategic plan. It is holding workshops in the five counties that contain part of the Delta.

A Solano County workshop is scheduled from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Rush Ranch preserve, 3521 Grizzly Island Road in Suisun Marsh south of Suisun City.

“It is critically important to us that Delta residents let us know what they want and need as the conservancy forms how it will pursue its mandates over the next five to 10 years,” conservancy Executive Officer Campbell Ingram said in a press release.

The direction the conservancy takes has significance for Solano County because the state has targeted the rural eastern county near Rio Vista for many of these restoration projects, as well as Suisun Marsh. County officials have expressed concern that habitat restoration projects might take farmland out of production and increase flooding risks.

The Delta is about 738,000 acres that contains small communities and farms, as well as wetlands and sloughs that are home to various rare species such as the Delta smelt. Federal and state projects pump Delta water into canals for delivery to some 25 million Californians and to Central Valley farms.

California is trying to find ways to keep water supplies flowing to cities and farms while also restoring the troubled Delta ecosystem and complying with laws protecting endangered species. That led to Delta plans being crafted by the Delta Stewardship Council and a variety of other efforts, including formation of the Delta Conservancy.

The Delta Conservancy in its interim strategic plan describes itself as the “primary state agency to implement ecosystem restoration in the Delta in collaboration and cooperation with local governments and interested parties.” It also lists its mission as preserving Delta agriculture.

“We need to make sure we have a balance between protecting our jobs and our agricultural economy,” said former Rio Vista Mayor Eddie Woodruff, who is on the conservancy’s Board of Directors.

Solano County officials have at times criticized the state’s Delta efforts for giving Delta residents too little a voice. But county Supervisor Mike Reagan said he believes the conservancy will have a more “Delta-centric” view, rather than a Southern California view.

“It’s an organization that, like the Delta Protection Commission, has signficant control by locally elected and appointed people,” Reagan said.

Woodruff as a conservancy board member will have a vote in the habitat restoration efforts and the direction of the conservancy. Suisun Resource Conservation District Executive Director Steve Chappell is a liaison adviser to the board, which means he doesn’t have a vote, but can take part in board discussions.

“I’m very happy with the path forward that the conservancy is taking,” Chappell said.

One challenge for the conservancy is that it lacks a signficant amount of funding, Chappell said. That could change if the state passes a water bond.

The conservancy is looking at different scenarios for its strategic plan, based on funding amounts.

Reach Barry Eberling at 427-6929, or beberling@dailyrepublic.net.

Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=128997

Posted by Barry Eberling on Jan 23 2012.

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