STOCKTON - Celebrate the Delta, Restore the Delta’s community forum, will be held Friday, July 29, 2011 at the San Joaquin County Administration Building, 44 North San Joaquin St.

The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 7:15 a.m. The program will run from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Featured speakers include event facilitator, Stockton City Council member Susan Talamantes Eggman, retired State Senator Mike Machado, water attorney Dante Nomellini, Delta Chambers Executive Director Bill Wells, The Record’s outdoor writer Pete Ottesen, and Delta land owners Mike Robinson and Rogene Reynolds.

“This forum is part of our education and outreach effort at Restore the Delta,” said restore the Delta’s Executive Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla. “Our goal is for area residents to grow in appreciation of the historical, cultural, environmental, and economic importance of the Delta. We also want the public to understand what is happening presently with Delta planning processes, and to think about what is at stake for the future of our region.”

Stockton City Council member Susan Talamantes Eggman added, “Area residents need to know how proposed changes to the Delta will play out for our local economy, and our way of life here in San Joaquin County.”

Topics being covered at the forum will include a history of Delta agriculture and reclamation, a look at the history of water exports, the impacts of new conveyance on Delta communities, the value of the Delta recreation and fishing communities, and a dialogue on the future.

Restore the Delta is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the Delta for California’s future.

For more information, visit www.restorethedelta.org.