Under pressure to allow residents additional time to express their views on the 2-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project, the Bureau of Reclamation has extended the public review and comment period an additional two weeks, to Nov. 30.

The public comment period is part of the Draft Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact (EA/FONSI) for the proposed 2-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project; a five-year experimental program designed to save the Delta smelt by rerouting them away from the water pumps on Old and Middle rivers in Byron.

Hundreds of letters were received by the Bureau of Reclamation from residents in Discovery Bay and surrounding areas following the bureau’s public forums held last month in Fresno, Stockton and Discovery Bay.

Pete Lucero, public affairs officer for the Bureau of Reclamation, said the extension of the comment period would allow more residents to weigh in on the project: “We’ve heard some of the requests from folks and they have some pretty compelling reasons for wanting to have their voices heard. This will give them more time to cogitate over the project and to give people a chance to have their say.”

Karen Mann, vice-chair of the newly formed Discovery Bay coalition called the San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation (SFBDF), a group dedicated to putting a halt to the gates project, said she is heartened by the extension but knows the war is far from over: “We’re still persevering and moving forward. We’re getting the word out, and people just can’t believe it when we tell them what is going on. We’ve won this skirmish but we still have a long way to go. But we’re encouraged and we’ll keep going.”

A question-and-answer meeting of the SFBDF will be held Monday, Nov. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the Discovery Bay Elementary School gymnasium. The meeting is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Mann added that the SFBDF continues to look for volunteers to hand out comment applications before the Nov. 30 deadline. For additional information, call Mann at 925-513-6525 or e-mail at karen@mannappraisal.com.

Donations to the SFBDF may be mailed to 2465 Discovery Bay Blvd., Suite 200, Discovery Bay, CA 94595. Additional information may be found on the SFBDF Web site, www.nodeltagates.com.

Public comments should be sent to Mario Manzo, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, MP-730, Sacramento, CA 95825, e-mailed to mmanzo@usbr.gov or faxed to 916-978-5094.

For additional information or a copy of the Draft EA/FONSI, call 916-978-5060. To be added to the Demonstration Project mailing list, call 916-978-5112 or e-mail jsierzputowski@usbr.gov.

A copy of the draft EA/FONSI report may be viewed at www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=4472.