Healthy Delta Communities

I can only go so long without posting another comment on the Delta and the need for a sustainable water policy for California. So, once again, let me call attention to the work of Restore the Delta, especially their Healthy Delta Communities project.

This is a great example of the grassroots action that I hear talked about in Green circles but not so frequently practiced.

The most recent release from Restore the Delta is not yet posted to the site. It consists of a series of interview conducted with delta residents and business owners. I quote from one cited it that release: interviewee: Jeff Hart – Delta Nursery Owner.

Barbara Bowers: What would you like to see for the future of the Delta?

Jeff Hart: I would like to see the future of the Delta have sustainable practices. There would be no loss of soil in farming. Carbon would be sequestered with native plants on Delta levees. This could be a carbon offset so it could also be run for profit. Currently, grass on the levees is burned and soil erodes. Levees need “green engineering”.

Barbara Bowers: What is your greatest concern for the Delta?

Jeff Hart: Political stupidity is what scares me the most. My greatest concern is that people will remain wedded to an ideology and not be open to new ideas. Whether we retain the pumps or go around the Delta with a canal, there needs to be a quantity and quality of water that will sustain life in the Delta.

I could not have said it better myself. That interview was conducted in late June, 2007 and based on the failure of the Special Session of the legislature to accomplish anything, it appears that his fears were well founded.