BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 38|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 38
Author: Caballero (D), et al
Amended: 8/16/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 9-0, 8/10/10
AYES: Pavley, Cogdill, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe,
Lowenthal, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 63-4, 5/24/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public resources: Two-Gates Fish Protection
Demonstration
Project
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution requests the United States
Department of the Interior to complete, as soon as
possible, its study of the Two-Gates Fish Protection
Demonstration Project in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. From 2007 to 2009, inclusive, California experienced a
severe drought that adversely affected water supplies in
many parts of the state, including water exported from
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) by the State
Water Project (SWP) and the federal Central Valley
CONTINUED
AJR 38
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2
Project (CVP), and also adversely affected the
environment, including commercially valuable fish
species.
2. While most of the 2009 SWP and CVP water delivery
reductions resulted from the multiyear drought, some
additional reductions were made to protect state and
federally listed smelt, salmon, and steelhead species
native to the Delta, pursuant to federal biological
opinions required by the federal Endangered Species Act.
3. In 2009, the combination of recession, drought, water
supply reductions, and other hardships contributed to
significant local unemployment and economic dislocation
in rural farming communities on the west side of the San
Joaquin Valley, affecting farmworkers,
agriculture-related jobs, and small businesses.
4. Water shortages during the drought of 2007 to 2009,
inclusive, and the adverse economic, social, and
environmental effects resulting from those shortages,
underscore the need for California to do everything
possible to manage our limited water resources
efficiently, carefully, and responsibly.
5. Currently, scientific studies of the causes of declines
in populations of fish species in the Delta are ongoing
and continue to further our understanding of the
delicate environmental balance in the Delta and the
influences of the various stressors affecting these
populations.
6. While there are many projects to be considered in
working to protect and recover fish populations in the
Delta, the Legislature urges expedient consideration of
the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project.
With $28,000,000 of funding for the project allocated as
part of Proposition 84 (SB 1 [Simitian], Chapter 5,
Statutes of 2009-10, Seventh Extraordinary Session) and
additional funding available from a combination of
federal and private funds, this experimental project
proposes to install barriers and gates that could reduce
the loss of Delta smelt at state and federal pumps.
AJR 38
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7. While information about how the Two-Gates Fish
Protection Demonstration Project will affect Delta smelt
and other imperiled fish species is currently unclear,
the project presents a creative option that should be
expeditiously analyzed and, if viable, implemented.
8. In light of the importance of the Delta estuary, its
fisheries, the millions of Californians who depend on
the Delta for drinking water, and the millions of acres
of prime farmland that depend on the Delta for
irrigation, there is great urgency to identify and
implement programs and projects that advance
California's coequal goals of protecting and restoring
the Delta ecosystem while ensuring a reliable water
supply for California.
Background
The Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project is a
proposed United States Bureau of Reclamation project,
developed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water
Authority, designed to test alternative ways of protecting
Delta Smelt. This five-year experiment is intended to
modify flows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to reduce
entrainment of smelt and other sensitive aquatic species in
Central Valley Project and State Water Project export
pumps. The Project would include installing two gate
facilities - one at Old River between Holland Tract and
Bacon Island and one at Connection Slough between
Mandeville Island and Bacon Island. Construction at these
sites would include removing peat material from the channel
bottom and replacing it with a layer of gravel, fabricating
"Butterfly" gates mounted on two barges, sinking the barges
in place, installing sheet pilling, and constructing boat
ramps.
This resolution requests the United States Department of
the Interior to complete, as soon as possible, its study of
the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 8/10/10)
Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation
District
Association of California Water Agencies
Chambers of Commerce Alliance of Ventura & Santa Barbara
Counties
Delta Mendota Water Authority
Kern County Water District
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Southern California Water Committee
Westlands Water District
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/10/10)
Counties of Contra Costa and Sacramento
Recreational Boaters of California
Solano County Board of Supervisors
Yolo County Board of Supervisors
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Southern California Water
Committee writes:
"On behalf of the Chambers of Commerce Alliance of
Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties (Alliance), we are
writing to express our support for your legislation, AJR
38, which urges the United States Department of Interior
to reconsider its decision to restart the necessary
environmental review and engineering design of the
Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project.
"As you clearly are well aware, the Delta smelt situation
is of concern to all stakeholders involved with the
state's water issues. However, recent samplings in the
lower Sacramento River have revealed a promising
correlation of smelt behavior and tidal actions in the
Delta estuary. New modeling results project that the
location of smelt populations may have a direct
relationship with water turbidity conditions.
"However, federal involvement is required for
implementation of projects to ensure a more reliable
supply of water and improvements to the Delta ecosystem.
Therefore, your bill helps to keep this important issue
AJR 38
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on the federal government's radar and a project that
should be prioritized."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The County of Sacramento
writes: "We believe additional research is necessary to
determine the benefits to Delta smelt of the Two Gates Fish
Protection Demonstration Project ('Two Gates Project')
before the U.S. Department of the Interior allocates
further funding to the study. In addition, we recommend
reallocating the state funding set aside in Proposition 84
for the Two Gates Project to other short-term Delta
priorities, such as development of the Delta Plan and
increased funding for the Delta Protection Commission."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fuentes, Fuller,
Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, John A. Perez
NOES: Buchanan, Gaines, Niello, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Bass, Chesbro, Evans, Fong,
Hall, Hernandez, Knight, Nava, Saldana, Torlakson,
Villines, Vacancy
CTW:mw 8/12/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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