By Sonia Diermayer
If you care about the SF Bay-Delta and California's rivers, this is a critical moment to help protect them. On August 21 the State Water Board will hold a final hearing on the Bay-Delta Plan: a proposal to require increased freshwater flows in three tributaries of the San Joaquin River.
RSVP to join us and voice support for the plan to balance human and environmental water needs.
According to the proposed plan, an average of 30-50 percent of the natural water volume in the Merced, Tuolumne, and Stanislaus Rivers would be allowed to flow downstream into the SF Bay-Delta without being diverted for other uses. While scientists have found that even more water should stay in the rivers for healthy habitat and preservation of fish species, the proposal reflects concessions to agricultural and urban water diverters for their irrigation and drinking water needs as well.
Nevertheless, San Joaquin Valley corporate agricultural interests and their state legislators and congresspeople are aggressively attacking the State Board's proposal, claiming that it is a "taking" of "their" water. San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission in turn has misled residents about the impacts of limitations on its Tuolumne water supply and refused to hold a public discussion on the matter. These opponents to the State Water Board plan are mobilizing large numbers of Central Valley officials, workers, and farm organizations to speak against the Board's plan on August 21 and to demand more water for agriculture.
Throughout the process, Sierra Club and our allies have lobbied hard for 60 percent river flows based on science that would also meet the needs of commercial and recreational fishermen and -women, Delta farm and tourism communities, tribal interests, riparian habitats, and salmon, smelt, and other fish species on the brink of extinction in the heart of California. Dwindling water supplies belong to the commons and must be shared equitably among all Californians and the environment.
The Republican Congress and Trump administration are doing everything they can to roll back Endangered Species Act protections and Californian's ability to litigate against harmful projects. The minimum flows mandated by this State Water Board Plan may become our last recourse to save the Delta and struggling fish populations. The consequences of the Board's decision are likely to be with us for decades. Regardless of how little or much you know about this issue, your help is critically needed, especially at the August 21 hearing in Sacramento.
The essential messages:
- Support increased fresh water flows in rivers and the Delta; and
- Defend the State Water Board’s efforts to balance human and environmental needs.
What You Can Do
If at all possible, attend the hearing:
State Water Resources Control Board hearing on Water Quality Control Plan Update, Phase I
Tuesday, August 21, 9:30 AM
Joe Serna Jr. CalEPA Headquarters Building, Coastal Hearing Room
1001 I Street, Second Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814
RSVP HERE
Join members of the Sierra Club, Restore the Delta, Tuolumne River Trust, Friends of the River and other organizations. Come at least 45 minutes early and fill out a speaker card. You only need to state the two points above to make a real difference! For further talking points and hearing logistics, contact Sonia Diermayer at (510) 336-1102 or sodier@mindspring.com, or Heinrich Albert at heinrich.albert@outlook.com.
Call your state legislator
Remind them of the upcoming hearing and state the essential messages above. Ask them to publicly voice support for the Water Board and its Plan. Find your legislator and their contact information online at findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Call your water agency board members or SFPUC commissioners
Remind them of the upcoming hearing and state the essential messages above. Ask them to publicly voice support for the Water Board and its Plan.
- East Bay Municipal Utility District board member contact information here
- For the SFPUC board, contact SFPUC Secretary Donna Hood at (415) 554-3165 or DHood@sfwater.org.
If you live in San Francisco, call your supervisor!
Ask them to demand that the SFPUC drop its opposition to the State Board's Water Plan Update and schedule discussion of the proposal in a public meeting. State the essential messages above. Ask them to publicly voice support for the Water Board and its Plan. Find board contact information online here or call (415) 554-5184.
More background:
- More information on the Bay-Delta Plan on our blog
- Video from Tuolumne River Trust: "An Ecosystem In Crisis"
- Article in Water Deeply: "Does the Bay Area Have Enough Water for Economic Growth and Salmon?"
Photo: It's not just fish that are impacted by a dry Delta! The salt marsh harvest mouse is one of many sensitive species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.