On the recordMay 25, 2016
I always enjoy listening to my friends on the other side of the aisle say that this is theft, that we are stealing water. This graph has been used a few times. This is the amount of water going through the delta in 2015, and this is when it was exported; in 2016, the amount of water going out into the ocean. This is not stealing from one person's well in their community to another community. This is water that is going out into the ocean that they are advocating that we go and spend more taxpayer money and desalinate so that we can bring it right back. When it comes to protecting the delta, which we all want to do, I would actually recommend that the communities around the delta stop dumping their sewage in it. With over 300 million gallons of sewage being dumped in the delta on a daily basis, you would think that would have a bigger impact on the delta species and everything else that is going on there than a little bit of water being pumped. There were periods this past winter alone where there was 150,000 cubic feet of water per second going through that delta. We are asking for 5,000, and at those high periods maybe 7,500. Think about that. 150,000 cubic feet per second, and we are asking for 7,500, as if we are going to pump a delta dry and have a huge impact. I would still argue that dumping your sewage in the delta would have a bigger impact on those species than anything else.…
