Communities crank up opposition to ‘Two Gates’ Delta plan

DISCOVERY BAY
November 19, 2009 12:02am

The Bureau of Reclamation’s “Two Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project,” which would install two semi-submerged “gates” on Old River and Connection Slough on the San Joaquin Delta north of Discovery Bay, will further degrade the Delta, says a group called the Save the San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation.

The “gates” would restrict water flow to the southern portion of the Delta for up to 20 hours a day. The idea is to keep fish from being sucked into the giant pumps of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. Declining fish populations have been cited as reasons to restrict water pumping.

But the community group says the project would create potential health, safety, and rescue issues for residents of Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties.

“This project is ill-conceived and will affect tens of thousands of citizens in the Southern Delta and Discovery Bay who have not been given adequate time to study and comment on this potentially disastrous project,” the group says.

The Bureau of Reclamation’s public comment period closes Nov. 30.

The foundation says it is asking the Bureau of Reclamation to extend the public comment time to 90 days or to reconsider the project entirely as well as issue an environmental impact statement on the Southern Delta.

Save the San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation is sponsoring a next public meeting for 6:30 p.m., Monday Nov. 23 at Discovery Bay Elementary School to talk about the issue and what action might be taken to get their point across.