Delta groups oppose improvement for Delta’s habitat?

Dan Bacher has an interesting Calitics article on the complicated politics of local Delta constituencies.

The DNP guesses Mr. Bacher had to swallow hard to publish this one, especially with his links to respected journals like The Nation.

SB 565 was co-sponsored by co-equalitionists Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael). According to Bacher, SB 565 would “give the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) new penalty and investigative powers dealing with water rights.”

The last thing the Delta’s landowners (who are small in number, and rely on very senior water rights to wield their stick) want is someone up in their kitchen doing this.

Bacher’s article sheds all kinds of harsh light on the libertarian, property rights are sacrosanct, streak that seems to inspire much of the work of groups like Restore the Delta.

The DNP wonders where the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance comes out on this.

Even without knowing the CSPA’s position, the article makes all too clear the fractured geography of the anti-water-export coalition. Going their separate ways in this situation (at minimum) are certain Delta interests and downstream fresh water users like those concerned with the health of SF Bay and the Pacific fishery.

The DNP wants to ask whether we can finally put to rest the idea that groups like Restore the Delta are willing to see a world (or a state, really) beyond their small, below sea level piece of it.