An independent panel appointed by the National Academy of Sciences is working this week at UC Davis to review Delta water allocations, according to yesterday's Sacramento Bee. The activity doesn't directly involve ANR scientists, but the implications for agriculture in California are huge.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked for the review in response to requests from San Joaquin Valley farmers, including Stewart Resnick, owner of Paramount Farms, according to the Bee. Resnick's Sept. 4 letter to Feinstein says "sloppy science" contributed to the new water and species protection rules.
Resnick and other farmers have sued and mounted public relations battles to avoid giving up water to help fish, the Bee reported.
Jeffrey Mount, a UC Davis geology professor, believes the academy was asked to get involved simply because "people of great influence" don't like the rules.
"It's not a wise use of the National Academy of Sciences, in my opinion," Mount was quoted in a Bee article published last week. "It will become a sideshow. We are setting a bad precedent that will stretch well beyond the Delta."
Perhaps to emphasize the political nature of the panel's review, Sacramento Bee reporter Matt Weiser pointed out in his story that conservative Democratic Congressman Jim Costa of Fresno was allotted 20 minutes to speak to the panel on Sunday but spoke for an hour. As a result, Mount, a nationally known expert on the Delta, was forced to squeeze his one-hour presentation into 30 minutes.
Costa told the panel the fish protections have harmed his constituents and are based on "flawed science."
Mount said he is concerned the NAS is not the right body to review the federal fish protections. NAS is a science entity, but the rules are somewhat political.
The panel will continue to meet in Davis through Thursday.