Newsom News Now February 2023

Welcome back to Newsom News Now! This is a newsletter that Sierra Club California publishes semimonthly aimed at tracking Governor Newsom and his administration’s performance on several key issues that are important to Sierra Club California, its members, and Californians generally. 

Typically the newsletter highlights one pro-environment action the governor has taken (the good), one anti-environment action the governor has taken (the bad), and one issue that Sierra Club California will closely track in the coming months (what we’re watching). 

This month’s edition is different: for the first edition of 2023, we’re focusing specifically on one anti-environmental action that the governor took just last week, and we need your help to ensure that he hears from Californians.

We regularly criticize the Governor’s water policy; it’s antiquated, derivative, and likely posturing for future political ambitions. His most recent action exemplifies these negative qualities. 

On Monday February 13, Governor Newsom issued an executive order (EO) that pressures the State Water Board to suspend two key laws that dictate how much water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is allowed to flow into San Francisco Bay. These laws are in place to protect not only the health and ecosystems of the Bay-Delta, but the communities that depend on it as well. The EO allows for more water to be pumped and diverted from the Delta and stored to eventually be delivered to agricultural corporations in the southern Central Valley. 

While the EO suggests that Newsom is merely directing the Water Board to “consider modifying” the existing requirements - making it seem as though the Water Board has autonomy in the matter - the state and federal agencies in charge of California’s water management system immediately acted on this. The Department of Water Resources and Bureau of Reclamation filed a joint petition at the Water Board to waive their requirements and take more water out of the Bay-Delta during the months of February and March. 

Just how egregious is this action? For years, Sierra Club California and our environmental justice and conservation allies have advocated for greater protections in the Bay-Delta. The impacts of the climate crisis have led to less predictable rainfall and snowpack, as well as increasing temperatures. In recent years, the combination of these effects have radically reduced the habitats of salmon and fish, causing these and other species to become endangered or nearly extinct. This has only been exacerbated by the Newsom administration’s approach to water policy, which has prioritized agricultural businesses growing unsustainable crops in the Central Valley, rather than local Delta communities and ecosystems. Farmers in the Central Valley are well aware that this EO is for their benefit, stating that by issuing this EO “the governor is tipping the balance in [their] direction.”

The atmospheric rivers in late December and early January gave Delta species and communities some reprieve as more water flowed through the system. However, this new EO puts those gains at risk and rolls back environmental protections that have been in place for decades. Even then, the state has also often refused to comply with these existing regulations, which in my mind draws comparisons to the regressive anti-environmental actions taken by our most recent former president. 

In some ways, this is par for the course for the Governor and those counseling him on water policy. But it doesn’t have to be. 

We say this often, but the governor needs to hear from environmentally conscious Californians like YOU. Call the Governor's office at (916) 445-2841 and demand that he reconsider this executive order, stop coddling the agriculture industry, and protect the uniquely important biodiversity and communities of the SF Bay Delta. 

After you do that, send him an email expressing your disappointment with his recent actions. It’s 2023, and Californians value a pristine environment and safe, drinkable water for communities. Tell Gavin Newsom to get with the program. 

As always, we appreciate you taking action. The health and future of the Bay-Delta depends on it.