Attend a Meeting to Save the Delta
Get Ready: It’s Voting Season
“No Drilling Where We’re Living”
By Molly Culton
Three weeks ago the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced the first steps towards developing the environmental review of a proposed giant tunnel that will divert water from the San Francisco Bay Delta.
The document, called a Notice of Preparation, requires the agency to hold public meetings around the state to gather information about what it should consider analyzing in the Environmental Impact Report.
The agency has held two meetings so far—one in Sacramento and one in Los Angeles—and 5 others are scheduled for the coming two weeks.
Please sign up to attend an upcoming meeting near you.
- Walnut Grove, Monday, Feb. 10, 6 pm- 8 pm. Jean Harvie Community Center, 14273 River Road, Walnut Grove - RSVP here
- San Jose, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 6 pm- 8 pm. Santa Clara Valley Water District Board Room, 5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose - RSVP here
- Stockton, Thursday, Feb. 13, 6 pm- 8 pm. San Joaquin Council of Governments Board Room, 555 Weber Avenue, Stockton - RSVP here
- Clarksburg, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 6 pm- 8 pm. Clarksburg Middle School Auditorium, 52870 Netherlands Road, Clarksburg - RSVP here
- Brentwood, Thursday, Feb. 20, 6 pm- 8 pm. Brentwood Community Center Conference Room, 35 Oak Street, Brentwood - RSVP here
And when you go to the meetings, urge DWR to analyze a “no tunnel” alternative in the environmental review.
The current proposal would allow a tunnel that can carry from 3,000 cubic feet per second of water to 7,500 cubic feet per second of water out of the rivers above the San Francisco Bay Delta and move it south.
Diverting water via a tunnel from the Delta is essentially a promise to accelerate ecological collapse in the largest estuary on the West Coast. It also risks creating a stagnant pool in the San Francisco Bay, and increasing algal blooms in Delta waterways, including in low-income communities in the Stockton area.
For a list of ways that California can avoid building a damaging and expensive tunnel but still provide needed water, see our white paper here.
Contact Molly Culton, Conservation Organizer, at Molly.Culton@sierraclub.org if you have any questions.
Voting is one of the most important actions that you can take this year to keep the planet livable.
County voter registrars have sent out voting information packages, including vote-by-mail ballots, in preparation of the 2020 primary election, which will be held on Tuesday, March 3.
Be sure to review the voting information as soon as it arrives and then vote as soon as possible for candidates who will support the environment.
The last day to register to vote is February 18 and the last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is February 25.
If you want to check your registration status, please click here.
The California Assembly has passed a bill that will get the public closer to being protected from the health impacts of oil drilling.
The bill, Assembly Bill 345 (AB 345), authored by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, essentially codifies a regulatory process initiated by Governor Gavin Newsom in December.
Governor Newsom instructed the state entity that regulates oil and gas, California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM), to establish rules to protect public health from the impacts of oil and gas extraction. The rulemaking process will include consideration of a prohibition of oil and gas activities within close proximity to sensitive areas, or a setback, to be established at a distance determined by public health data and science.
Pre-rulemaking workshops to gather information from the public about oil drilling impacts have already been set around the state. The first one will be on February 18 in Arvin, followed on February 19 by another one in Bakersfield. Other workshops are also scheduled in Southern California and Sacramento.
If you live near the workshop locations, you’ll be receiving an alert from Sierra Club California soon with more information.
AB 345 also provides guidance to CalGEM to ensure meaningful community input during the rulemaking. More than 5 million Californians live near oil and gas drilling sites where toxic, health-threatening air pollutants are emitted.
Studies link proximity to oil and gas wells to a host of health impacts, including cancer, premature mortality, asthma and other respiratory ailments. These impacts are not distributed equally, with communities of color and low-income communities being those most affected. AB 345 will make sure those communities have a voice in the rulemaking process.
The oil and gas industry has been aggressively fighting against this bill, claiming that it will cost $3 billion. Do they realize that the costs associated with air pollution are more than 9 times that amount? In fact, California spends more than $28 billion annually because of air pollution impacts.
AB 345 now has to clear the Senate by the end of August. Sierra Club California and our allies will continue to make the bill a priority because everyone deserves to live, work, play, and learn in a safe and healthy environment.
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