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Legislative Alert! ....................... April 25, 2008
Anglers, commercial fishermen, and the fish, need your help to pass critically needed state legislation. As you know, salmon, steelhead, pelagic fish, and the Bay-Delta ecosystem are in grave danger of extinction in the next few years. Our fishing groups are active and united in efforts to save the Delta ecosystem and fisheries. We are working closely with Assemblywoman Lois Wolk to address these serious problems. We can prevail on the need to have appropriate mitigation for the significant damages to the public’s fishery resources caused by the operation of the state and federal water projects, but we need your help now!
In order to save the estuary’s fisheries, those who use water exported from the Delta must mitigate the damages to the public’s fisheries caused by the state and federal water projects operations. AB 1806 by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk does just that. It will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 21, 2008.
In addition to the provisions in the bill that require emergency preparedness to prevent future Prospect Island debacles, this bill requires mitigation for the direct and indirect fish losses caused by the federal and state water projects that divert water from the Delta. Assemblywoman Wolk, and our fishing groups working with her, would appreciate support from environmental and conservation groups and the public, to help pass the bill. The water contractors lobby has been very active in opposition, but this did not stop the bill from recently passing the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. However, we now face far more difficult challenges that require your engagement if we are to be successful.
The next hearing of the bill will be in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Letters of support are needed to the State Legislature by May 14th.
Sample Letter
Date
Assemblyman Mark Leno, Chair, Assembly Appropriations Committee
State Capitol, Room 2114,
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: AB 1806 - Fish Rescue Plans & Mitigation
Dear Chairman Mark Leno & Appropriation Committee Members:
[(your organization) or (you)] would like you to know of our strong support for AB 1806, as it would significantly reduce the potential for fishery disasters like the Prospect Island fish kill this past winter and it would require the State and Federal water projects to comprehensively mitigate for losses to the public’s fishery resources caused by the operation of their projects.
The emergency action plans the bill proposes would ensure state and public lands are provided protections from the likelihood of such events as the tragic Project Island fish kill in the future. We ardently support the mitigation measures required by this proposed legislation, as without such requirements the losses of the public’s fisheries caused by water export from the Delta will not be offset and our fisheries will continue to suffer long-term, significant degradation that prevent their recovery and eventual restoration.
The Delta's fisheries are in crisis. What is happening to them is being described as one of the largest fishery disasters in the country. The salmon season has been completely closed this year, an unprecedented action. Fishery experts note that there are multiple factors contributing to the salmon decline, the most significant are the ongoing impacts of the state and federal water projects.
The goal of realizing a sustainable ecosystem and fisheries in the Delta will clearly not be obtainable without requiring such mitigation. Time has run out for our fisheries in Delta and its tributaries. Actions to help recovery them are needed now or we will continue to see court decisions attempt to remedy the situation through export restrictions.
The SWP and CVP only mitigate for some of the losses of the fish they kill. They clearly lack a comprehensive program to address the destruction of the public’s fishery resources that result for the operation of the projects. The public cannot afford to lose their valuable fishery resources. Billions of dollars have been lost to the state’s economy from the fishery declines since the SWP and CVP began operations. These losses must be addressed now if we are to recover these irreplaceable public resources.
Sincerely,
Please cc:
Steve Archibald, Committee Consultant (at the same address above)
Assemblymember Lois Wolk, Attn: Diane Colborn
Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee
1020 N Street, Suite 160
Sacramento, CA 95814
P.O. Box 94249
Sacramento, CA 94249-00119
Please contact David Nesmith (EWC / 510-893-1330) and/or John Beuttler (CSPA / Allied Fishing Groups / 510-526-4049) for more information and to organize strategy.
Thank you for your help!
John Beuttler & David Nesmith
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