County Supervisor Mary Piepho, speaking before a dozen people at a Brentwood Chamber of Commerce meeting last week, blasted state legislators for ignoring local concerns and passing legislation she believes will hurt the Delta.

Five water bills were approved with strong backing by Southern California legislators in early November. They provide for a new Delta governing board that could approve a peripheral canal, require 20-percent water conservation in urban areas, increase monitoring of groundwater, increase penalties for illegally taking water from the Delta and place an $11 billion bond for water projects on the November ballot.

Piepho helped organize supervisors from the five Delta counties – Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, San Joaquin and Contra Costa – to get their concerns heard before the legislation was approved. “We had some significant success on the legislation that was proposed,” she said. “But, unfortunately, what ultimately got passed is still devastating to us. We continue to be engaged in the fight. And it is a fight. Frankly, it’s a war. It’s a very unfortunate set of circumstances. While we were listened to, we weren’t taken seriously. And it’s very unfortunate. So we have a lot more work to do.”

While combining the five Delta counties has provided more clout than acting alone, it’s still no match for heavyweights such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who have partnered “for all intents and purposes to get more water south,” said Piepho. “That’s great if we have water to send. If the Delta is healthy, take it.

“But the Delta isn’t healthy, and we don’t all have the water that we need. And to suck more water out of a failing structure doesn’t do any of us any good, no matter where you live in this state. We do need a better water management plan in this state. And we do need to have local government involved.”

But local Delta government is also no match for the power of state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, who spearheaded passage of the water bills. “We need to be working with good science, true science, peer-reviewed science – not political science,” said Piepho. “And what’s driving it right now is political science. It’s been a political battle. Lines get drawn and the pressure (placed on legislators) being held hostage. For heaven’s sake, they are meeting at three in the morning talking about water in the state. Who can even concentrate?

“It’s ridiculous what’s happening in Sacramento. We are all watching this train wreck happen, not just on water but on policy, period. It’s ridiculous, it’s juvenile, it’s ineffective and it’s ego driven. And we, frankly, as a society shouldn’t stand for it, and should require the crystal clear light of bright public interests be at the table – and it’s not.”

Piepho is particularly concerned about the plan to build a peripheral canal that would draw fresh water out of the Sacramento River in the north Delta and send it south, bypassing much of the rest of the Delta. “The Peripheral Canal, as they are proposing it, is the size of the Panama Canal – 40 miles long, two football fields wide,” she said. “It’s devastating. It sucks the air right out of the room.

“But the people in Sacramento aren’t thinking about that. They are thinking what committee assignment, what political payback they are going to get if they vote yes. They are not thinking about the impacts on the Delta. They continue to look at it as a plumbing fixture, which it’s not. And they are continuing to look at their own self interests.”

In her hour-long discussion, Piepho also provided a heads-up that far East County residents will likely be asked to pay more in taxes to improve fire protection. Currently only two of the eight fire stations in the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District have three firefighters on duty. Property taxes would need to be raised to get three firefighters and paramedic service at all stations, she said.

Control of the district was recently transferred from the county to a far East County governing board that includes the cities of Oakley and Brentwood. “(Brentwood) City Council member Brandon Richey said, ‘It’s the county handing off a problem,’” said Piepho. “While that’s true, it isn’t in a negative way.

“It’s a stark reality that for the county to come out here and say, ‘Raise revenue for the fire district’ – is that going to pass? Who trusts the county? You’re going to get more trust and accountability by having local people operating the books and sending that message that we need to raise revenue to this district and how are we going to do that. It’s the only way to solve this problem.”

She said the new governing board is scheduled to hold its first meeting in February.