Delta Groups and Legislators Call for Transparency in Water Policy

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
Press Contact: Andrew Acosta
andrew [at] acostasalazar.com, (916) 444-8897

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

Delta Community Groups and Legislative Leaders
Call for Transparency in Water Policy Negotiations

Hundreds Plan to Rally at the State Capitol to Ensure the Delta has a Voice

SACRAMENTO – Local legislators will join hundreds of members of environmental organizations, sport fishing groups, farmers and community activists as they hold a rally at the State Capitol on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 to voice concerns around a package of yet-unreleased water bills.

WHO: Senator Lois Wolk and other members of the California State Legislature
Rudy Mussi, Central Delta Farmer
Bill Jennings, Chairman, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
Zeke Grader, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations
Robert Johnson, Contra Costa Delta Fisherman’s Group
Charlotte Hodde, Planning and Conservation League
Debbie Davis, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Steve Evans, Friends of the River
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta
*Spanish speakers will be present

WHAT: Delta Water Policy Press Conference and Rally

WHERE: California State Capitol, North Steps

Sacramento, CA

WHEN: Tuesday, July 7, 2009

11:00 a.m.

The closed door negotiations on this water package are reported to include several contentious water issues including the governance structure of the Bay-Delta region, water storage and an updated version of the multi-billion dollar Peripheral Canal, which was overwhelmingly rejected by California voters in 1982. Participants will express the Delta’s need for a voice in these negotiations and the responsibility of the State Legislature to allow for a full and public debate on these important issues.

# # #

CSPA Urgent Action Alert 7/3/09

Scheme to create Czar to oversee construction and funding of Dams and Peripheral Canal

Public hearings On Critical Water Legislation May Not Take Place
Your presence and help is crucial!!!

A rally and press conference is scheduled for 11:00 AM on the north steps of the State Capitol to address a legislative bullet aimed at the heart of the fisheries, ecosystem and farming communities of the Delta. This may be one of the last times that your personal presence will make a difference in the effort to save the estuary and its fisheries. We need you to join Senator Lois Wolk, CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings, Restore the Delta's Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, the FishSniffer's Dan Bacher, fishermen, environmentalists, farmers, boaters, and other Delta legislators to help make an unequivocal statement to our government about the imperative need for open public process to protect and restore fishery, recreational and farming values in the Delta.

The waffling failure of our state legislative leadership to address the continuing crisis facing fisheries and the Delta ecosystem has morphed into a shocking ploy by proponents of dams and a peripheral canal to circumvent public participation and legislative oversight. It would provide for a politically appointed czar with authority to implement and fund recommendations of the disingenuously named Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). This czar would have authority to authorize construction of a Panama Canal North around the Delta and issue tens of billions of dollars in fees and revenue bonds necessary to finance the boondoggle.

Sound like a surreal fictional conspiracy? It is actually a 100-plus page "secret" document complied by the Legislative Analyst's Office combining elements of six unfinished bills into a yet unreleased "Water Bill Package" that was scheduled to be considered by Senate and Assembly policy committees on 7 July and then "perhaps" on 9 July and now "perhaps" by a conference committee after the fact. In other words, the proposed scheme may circumvent the Senate Natural Resources and Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committees before being voted on by the entire legislature. Bluntly put, if this maneuver is successful, the commercial and sportfishing community will be deprived of the right to constructively comment on this nefarious proposal and advocate specific amendments necessary to protect the Delta and restore fisheries.

Budgetary gridlock and dysfunctional leadership created the opportunity for proponents of additional dams and peripheral canal to put together this backroom strategy to bypass responsible legislative consideration and oversight. As presently formulated, this ploy disenfranchises the public, discards continuing legislative oversight, authorizes the issuance of billions of dollars in fees and bonds and sets the stage for the final solution: termination of viable fisheries and agriculture in the Delta.

CSPA and a coalition of fishing, environmental, recreational and farming interests call upon everyone who values the Delta and believes in open, deliberative public process to gather on the north steps of the Capitol at 11:00 AM on 7 July (Tuesday) to shine the bright spotlight of public scrutiny on this abominable attempt to undermine responsible legislative process. Solutions to the collapse of our fisheries must proceed with deliberative caution through the respective legislative policy committees and be based upon fairness, transparency, the law and best available science. They must include the voices of the Delta community.

Your participation in Sacramento on July 7 is crucial to a healthy Delta and restored fisheries. Arrangements are being made to facilitate visits to individual legislators following the press conference. As events are changing hourly, please check CSPA's website, http://www.calsport.org, on July 4, 5, and 6 for current updates and additional information.