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Urgent Action Alert: Stop Salmon-Killing Drought Bills In Congress!

by Dan Bacher
Restore the Delta has received an important update on the drought legislation now proceeding through Congress. Please call Senators to oppose BOTH Feinstein's drought bill and the House of Representatives drought bill. Tell Senator Dianne Feinstein that she needs to talk to experts of the Bay Delta estuary. Share with your friends and thank you for taking action!
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Urgent Action Alert: Stop Salmon-Killing Drought Bills In Congress!

by Dan Bacher

Chinook salmon and steelhead, California's iconic fish species, face a double-pronged attack from the Democratic and Republican Party establishments. While Governor Jerry Brown is waging his campaign to build the peripheral tunnels and to exterminate Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt and Trinity/Klamath salmon and steelhead, Members of Congress and the Senate are manipulating the impacts of drought conditions to serve wealthy special interests.

The so-called “drought relief” legislation that has been lingering for months in the U.S. Congress is suddenly about to move at breakneck speed in the dark of night.

All reports indicate it is bad for fish, bad for the Delta and bad for the environment, but is good for Westlands Water District, whose General Manager reportedly canceled a long standing commitment at the last minute and is in DC at this moment trying to help shepherd the bill through the Senate.

Two “drought relief” bills in the Senate need your immediate attention! The House of Representatives recently passed drought legislation that seeks to accelerate massive water transfers from the SF Bay Delta to special interests in the arid regions of the South and West San Joaquin Valley.

Senator Diane Feinstein, a close ally of the Westlands Water District and Stewart Resnick, the Beverly Hills agribusiness tycoon who is the largest orchard fruit grower in the world, is also proposing her own “drought relief” bill in the Senate.

Both bills will override environmental protections in order to provide “drought relief” for special interests, including corporate agribusiness interests irrigating poisoned land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The bill numbers of either bill haven't been made available yet.

"The SF Bay Delta cannot sustain additional water transfers without collapsing, especially in the midst of a historic drought," according to an action alert from Restore the Delta (RTD). "These federal drought bills will put in place provisions that will allow water exporters to override existing environmental regulations that protect the SF Bay Delta from excessive water transfers."

"If the House and Feinstein drought bill is allowed to pass, it will hasten the extinction of our fish and wildlife species and destroy our regional economies in farming and fishing, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs and livelihoods.
This House 'drought relief' bill and Feinstein’s 'drought' bill is in the Senate right now," RTD stated.

Take action to save the largest estuary on the west coast of the America! Contact members of the Senate today to tell them you oppose the both the House and Feinstein’s drought bill. Tell Senator Feinstein that she needs to consult with experts of the Bay Delta estuary.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (California)
Special message for Feinstein: Tell Senator Feinstein you oppose her bill and the House bill and that she needs to consult with experts of the Bay Delta estuary.
Phone number: (202) 224-3841
Email: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

Do you also have a Twitter and/or Facebook profile? After making a phone call or e-mail, tweet a comment in opposition to the federal drought bill to@Senfeinstein with hashtag #CAWater and post on Senator Feinstein’s Facebook.
Senator Barbara Boxer (California)
Phone number: (202) 224-3553
E-mail: https://www.boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/policycomments.cfm

Do you also have a Twitter and/or Facebook profile? After making a phone call or e-mail, tweet a comment in opposition to the drought bills by the House and Feinstein to @BarbaraBoxer with hashtag #CAWater and post on Senator Boxer’s Facebook.

Please also call the following Senators today and urge them to oppose to the House and Feinstein’s drought bill, which will threaten the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas!
Senator Mark Udall (Colorado): (202) 224-5941
Senator Jeff Merkley (Oregon): (202) 224-3753
Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington): (202) 224-3441
Senator Harry Reid (Nevada): (202) 224-3542
Senator Brian Schatz (Hawaii): (202) 224-3934

Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, summed up the situation that we face after the passage of Proposition 1.

“There is great movement now that the Prop 1 has passed....so many things are being put into place for corporate transfers of the waters. Salmon happen to be in the way!”

I urge everybody who cares about the salmon, our precious rivers, the Delta and the people of California to contact their Senators now!

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