SJR 3, as amended, McGuire. Smith River watershed protection.
This measure would urge the President of the United States and Congress to permanently safeguard the currently unprotected North Fork of the Smith River watershed in Oregon from any mining activities that would have the potential impacts on water supplies, economies, or the environment in California’s portion of the Smith River watershed.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, The Smith River watershed of approximately 610
2square miles in California and 115 square miles in Oregonbegin delete isend deletebegin insert has
3beenend insert considered the prize of the California wild and scenic river
4system sincebegin insert the timeend insert it was included in the California Wild and
5Scenic Rivers Act in 1972, and then later included in the National
6Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1981; and
P2 1WHEREAS, The Smith River is the indirect primary source of
2drinking water for the majority of Del Norte County’s 28,000
3residents, with the largest user being the City of Crescent City;
4and
5WHEREAS, The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and
6the City Council of Crescent City have voted unanimously to
7oppose the issuance of a limited water use license for the Cleopatra
8Check Drilling Program based on the potential to cause significant
9adverse environmental impacts within the overall watershed of the
10Smith River and subsequent impacts on drinking water for residents
11and thousands of annual visitors; and
12WHEREAS, The California North Coast Regional Water Quality
13Control Board, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Natural
14Resources Agency, and the Oregon Water Resources Department
15have also opposed any mining within the Smith River watershed
16because of the detrimental effects of strip mining; and
17WHEREAS, The Smith River is unparalleled for its free-flowing
18status, large and abundant salmon and steelhead stock, and
19extraordinary botanical diversity, and is the only major undammed
20river in California; and
21WHEREAS, The Smith River National Recreation Area Act,
22passed by the 101st United States Congress in 1990 (Public Law
23101-612), amended the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of
241968 and permanently protected all federal lands of the Smith
25River watershed within California by establishing the Smith River
26National Recreation Area; and
27WHEREAS, The Oregon portion of the North Fork of the Smith
28River was not included in the act and remains vulnerable to mining;
29and
30WHEREAS, Any strip mining activities on the North Fork of
31the Smith River could have devastating and irreversible impacts
32to the entire National Wild and Scenic Smith River watershed; and
33WHEREAS, In 2012, the Red Flat Nickel Corporation submitted
34the Cleopatra Check Drilling Program Plan for the watershed of
35the North Fork of the Smith River to the Rogue River-Siskiyou
36National Forest, with the goals to develop and operate a devastating
373,980-acre strip mine to extract nickel, cobalt, and chromium; and
38WHEREAS, The proposed mining operations will unnecessarily
39put the people and wildlife that rely on the Smith River at risk;
40and
P3 1WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection
2Agency has confirmed that hard rock mining, which includes strip
3mining, is the largest source of toxic pollution in the United States;
4and
5WHEREAS, The United States Department of Agriculture’s
6Technical Guide to Managing Ground Water Resources documents
7numerous published reports concerning the release of toxic metals
8to groundwater and surface water resulting from mines and
9mine-related facilities; and
10WHEREAS, Mining operations along the tributaries of the Smith
11River would inevitably impact water quality and quantity with the
12potential to cause significant injury to fish and other wildlife,
13including threatened coho salmon; and
14WHEREAS, The Smith River’s coho salmon are protected under
15the federal Endangered Species Act and are recognized as a core
16independent population with a high risk of extinction; and
17WHEREAS, The Smith River is one of California’s most
18important, irreplaceable watersheds for the threatened coho salmon;
19and
20WHEREAS, The Chinook salmon, cutthroat trout, and steelhead
21runs are vitally important to the economies and environment of
22northern California and Oregon; and
23WHEREAS, Millions of federal, state, and private dollars have
24been spent in the past decades on improving water supply systems
25and for restoration and protection of salmonid habitat and
26watershed lands downstream from the proposed mining operations;
27now, therefore, be it
28Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
29California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President of the
30United States and Congress to permanently safeguard the currently
31unprotected North Fork of the Smith River watershed in Oregon
32from any mining activities that would have potential impacts on
33water supplies, economies, or the environment in California’s
34portion of the Smith River watershed; and be it further
35Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
36this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
O
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