CALIFORNIA - It has been a couple days since we shared the news about the recent California land grab by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for $175 million worth of real estate in Northern California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. And the conversation around this purchase is continuing to remain a heated dialogue.
As we previously reported, Metropolitan shared Monday that it has inked a 103-page contract to purchase five agricultural Delta islands from Delta Wetlands Properties. Delta landowners and Northern California officials are none too happy.
According to an article by KQED, even within Metropolitan, the $175 million purchase remains controversial. Two of Metropolitan’s own members - Los Angeles and San Diego – have opposed the sale, as well as Santa Monica. Metropolitan’s executive board is slated to revisit the contract later this month, at a special meeting called for April 26th, as a result of a debate at a meeting in March.
The Delta land is being sold to Metropolitan by Zurich American, a subsidiary of a Swiss insurance company, in a deal that ecompasses 20,000 acres, including Bacon Island, Bouldin Island, Webb Tract, most of Holland Tract and a piece of Chipps Island.
“Metropolitan Water District is positioning itself so that it can have as much water as it wants to export in a watershed that is actually in decline because of climate change,” Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta was cited by KQED as saying.
While Jeff Kightlinger, Metropolitan’s General Manager, denies this.
“It’s not a water grab there, in the sense of getting more.” Knightlinger says, “our water supply depends on a healthy functioning delta ecosystem, and we don’t have that.”
Metropolitan is also the major financial backer of the California WaterFix which is Gov. Jerry Brown’s $15.5 billion plan to re-engineer the Delta’s plumbing system by building a pair of underground tunnels.
Purchasing the land could help get those tunnels built, Kightlinger acknowledges, which could “head off” potential eminent domain fights over access to the route. Knightlinger does note that the deal wouldn’t dramatically increase the populous South’s rights to Northern California water.
“It actually just makes it safer and more effective to move that water,” he is quoted in the article as saying.
Zurich American, the current owner, has sought to use some of the land for water storage and marketing. While Metropolitan notes water storage isn’t under consideration.
It is suggested that the land could possibly serve as “staging areas” for the Governor’s WaterFix program, and storage for construction materials and the tunnels could wriggle under Bacon and Bouldin Islands. From where Kightlinger stands, he notes that it’s preferable to an agricultural use.
“Every year there is further farming causing these islands to shrink and subside, and as they subside they become a threat to the entire state of California,” he says.
Delta interests disagree. The article notes that Stockton lawyers George V. Hermann and Dante Nomellini say that restrictions on land use in existing covenants may be able to block Metropolitan’s plans.
Nomellini represents neighbors to the island in the Central Delta Water Agency and says that Zurich American inked agreements in 2013, restricting activity on the land which included conditions that could keep the tunnels out of the area. Nomellini suggests those signed agreements should be honored fully.
“What I want is, I want the new buyer to sign our settlement agreement,” Nomellini says.
At this point in time, according to KQED, Metropolitan has not called Hermann or Nomellini to discuss the issues. For Kightlinger, since Southern California’s land use plans in the Delta don’t include reservoirs, the agreements that arose from a dispute related to reservoirs do not apply.
Those representing Delta interests as well as elected officials from Northern California are continuing to protest passionately.
AndNowUKnow will continue to keep you updated on this situations and others, as things progress.
