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Drain Back-Up

A controversial agreement between BurRec, the State Board and Westlands Water District is pumping new blood into the long-moribund San Luis Drain and giving environmentalists and Delta water users apoplexy.

Under a memorandum of understanding, expected to be signed this month, Westlands would reimburse the State Board and BurRec for the costs of assessing the environmental impact of various drainage alternatives, including reopening the drain and extending it to the Delta. Westlands desperately needs more options for disposing of salt-and-selenium-laden drainwater from farmland irrigation, and wants BurRec to fulfill the original federal vision for irrigating and draining the Central Valley. A series of lawsuits led a federal judge to order BurRec, in 1994, to apply for the wastewater discharge permit necessary to complete the drain - a ruling BurRec has since appealed. The assessments called for by the MOU are the first step towards the permit.

Westlands' David Orth insists the agreement does not necessarily mean the drain's resurrection. "We need to initiate this comprehensive environmental review so that we can find environmentally friendly ways to deal with drainage." Orth says his agency is looking at new technologies for reducing selenium in drainwater.

Environmental groups have urged BurRec not to sign the MOU, at least until an imminent decision in BurRec's appeal of the court's ruling comes down. They also say it is ridiculous to even consider sending more selenium into the estuary when strenuous efforts to reduce such pollution are underway. "There appears to be no reason why 6 million California residents would want to have liquid garbage from another region dumped into the water they just voted to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to restore," the Environmental Defense Fund's Terry Young told a Congressional committee investigating drainage issues. She points out that local oil refineries were recently ordered to cut their selenium discharges by half.

Salt is another concern of drain opponents such as Contra Costa Water District, which takes water from the Delta. "Salinity affects our ability to carry out operations," says the District's Richard Denton, who adds that the drain's proposed discharge site at Chipps Island is near a drinking water uptake. "The District continues its historic opposition to the Drain and any attempt to move forward with it," says Denton.

Contact Terry Young (510)658-8008, David Orth (559)224-1523

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