Jerry Meral, the Deputy Secretary for the California Natural Resources Agency, and other Brown administration officials promoting the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), have tried to portray the growing movement against the tunnels as only "token" opposition.
The attempts to marginalize the opposition were exposed as completely absurd when Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Governor Jerry Brown's rush to build the twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, rallied over 700 tunnels opponents on Thursday evening at a gala fundraiser and awards ceremony in French Camp.
RTD presented Delta Advocate Awards to a host of very deserving folks, including the Delta Congressional Delegation, Dr. Jeff Michael of the University of the Pacific, Delta Geotechnical and Engineering Expert Dr. Bob Pyke, San Joaquin County Supervisor and Chairman-elect of the Delta Protection Commission, Larry Ruhstaller, Delta farmer Rogene Reynolds, activist Jerry Cadagan, Adam Scow of Food and Water Watch, and Conner Everts, executive director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance.
Elected officials recognized for their ongoing leadership efforts included Assemblymember Joan Buchanan, Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman; Assemblymember Jim Frazier; Senator Cathleen Galgiani; Assemblymember Kristin Olsen; Senator Lois Wolk; Assemblymember Mariko Yamada, and County Supervisors Don Notolli, Sacramento and Ken Vogel, San Joaquin.
I applaud all of these folks for their great work fighting the twin tunnels proposed under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP)! I am also very thankful of the group for giving me the "Journalistic Excellence Award" at RTD's fundraiser last September.
The construction of the peripheral tunnels will hasten the extinction of Central Valley chinook salmon, steelhead, Delta and long fin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as well as imperil the steelhead and salmon populations on the Klamath and Trinity rivers.
For more information, go to: www.restorethedelta.org
Note: I will be doing a more in-depth article on this event with photos later.