BILL NUMBER: AJR 38	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Arambula and Caballero

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2010

   Relative to public resources.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 38, as introduced, Arambula. Public resources: Two-Gates Fish
Protection Demonstration Project.
   This measure would request the United States Department of the
Interior to complete its study of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
through the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's Satellite and Information Service, the western
region of the United States, since 2007, has experienced a severe to
extreme drought, decreasing water supply by as much as 8 percent; and

   WHEREAS, During these abnormal times, it is understood that all
people in the state must do all they reasonably can to reduce water
use and ensure that water is made available to meet the state's
demands in an environmentally conscious way; and
   WHEREAS, Although all Californians suffer from reduced water
supply, those that are especially hit are those who live within rural
farming communities; and
   WHEREAS, The Westlands Water District, which serves the western
parts of Fresno and Kings Counties, caused 220,000 acres of land to
lie fallow when it reduced outflow to farm lands to 10 percent, which
was a full 15 percent lower than reductions made in much more severe
droughts in the past. This in turn caused 4,200 jobs tied to that
land to be lost as well, causing citizens and workers to join the
ever-growing ranks of the unemployed, according to a study conducted
by the University of California at Davis; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature is aware that the outflow reductions were
made in an effort to protect the endangered Delta smelt, a fish that
calls the San Joaquin-Delta water region home. These reductions came
about as a result of a biological opinion released by the Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS), which resulted in a further court decision by
a federal district court that restrained the Central Valley Project
(CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) from withdrawing water that
compromises a court mandated minimum of 5,000 cubic feet per second
(CFS) in upstream flow for any seven-week average; and
   WHEREAS, These outflow reductions have produced very human
consequences. The Western Farm Press reports that farmers have lost
600,000 acre feet of water since the decision in December, meaning
that 500,000 acres of farmland have been made to lie fallow. This has
caused growers and processors to cut as many as 1,150 jobs in
field-related jobs and 21,000 agricultural jobs in general, with more
likely to occur, producing a 40-percent unemployment rate in parts
of San Joaquin Valley. This has produced a net economic loss of $1
billion at a time when the state cannot afford to lose income; and
   WHEREAS, Currently, the FWS is conducting a study to further
investigate the influences of water pumping on the Delta smelt
population; and
   WHEREAS, While there are many projects to be considered, the
Legislature urges expedient consideration of the Two-Gates Fish
Protection Demonstration Project. With $28 million of funding for the
project allocated as part of Proposition 84, with the rest of the
costs being met by a combination of federal and private funds, Senate
Bill 1 (Chapter 5 of the Seventh Extraordinary Session of the
Statutes of 2009) will provide for an experimental program that will
install gates to prevent the Delta smelt from coming too close to
water pumps; and
   WHEREAS, While information about how the Two-Gates Fish Protection
Demonstration Project will affect the Delta smelt is unclear, it
presents the most viable option to immediately protect an endangered
species and begin to return much needed jobs to rural Californians;
and
   WHEREAS, It is important to preserve endangered species, and,
perhaps more importantly, to conduct studies efficiently and
accurately, removing the need for more studies and more funds the
state is struggling to amass, and given the previously mentioned
human tragedy, expediency is of utmost importance in this matter;
now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature requests the United States
Department of the Interior to complete its study of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta through the Two-Gates Fish Protection
Demonstration Project; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.