UPDATE 12/10: We are heartbroken at the passage of the Big Ag rider and the betrayal by Senator Dianne Feinstein. She and the SJ Valley Republican Congressional Members took advantage of what is a good bill for the rest of the United States, by slipping in a scheme to over pump the SF Bay-Delta estuary. We are grateful to all the people and friends of the Bay-Delta estuary who took action. Please stay tuned on our next steps Monday. The fight will go on.
UPDATE 3:23 PM, 12/9: Watch Senator Barbra Boxer filibuster at the Senate hearing. She speaks eloquently about protecting the San Francisco Bay-Delta and our West Coast ecosystem. A vote may be expected tonight or tomorrow so keep calling.
UPDATE 9:11 AM, 12/9: Senator Barbara Boxer is pledging to mount a filibuster as one of her last acts in Congress at the Senate hearing today. This “poison pill” rider will undoubtedly devastate our already fragile Bay-Delta estuary, we still have time to strip it but we have to get our calls in today. Call Senator Dianne Feinstein now using phone numbers below — her office needs to hear our anger and opposition against this rider.
Update 11:50 AM, 12/8: The bill overwhelmingly passed the House today, see story. It will be in the Senate next for approval Friday. Now it is more critical than ever to get our voices heard. Please call today! Many leaders are opposed, including The White House. There is still hope for stripping the rider from this bill!
“It doesn’t just affect California,” DeFazio (D-Oregon) said. “If they start diverting more water from the Delta, it’s likely our fisheries will be shut down in Oregon because of this misplaced provision, which hasn’t had any congressional review.”
Another drought bill authored by Resnick-backed Congressman Valadao under the guise of of “drought relief” in California is being pushed in Congress and the goal is to pass the bill by the end of the week.
There is operational language in the bill that will take away Bay-Delta protections in order to over pump the Delta and the latest reports and statements by various legislators, newspaper editorials, and environmental groups state that the “last minute poison pill rider” will kill thousands of fishery jobs and rollback the Endangered Species Act. The Natural Resources Defense Council says this “backroom deal” may threaten thousands of fishing jobs on the West Coast and harm water quality. The San Francisco Chronicle called it tipping off for mass extinction of the San Francisco Bay and estuary wildlife species.
Tell Feinstein: Senator Feinstein, you are wrong about the last minute rider in the drought relief bill. As our senator, you need to listen to and protect the people of the Bay-Delta that you represent. I oppose the last minute poison rider in the drought relief bill by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that will roll back the Endangered Species Act and destroy thousands of fishery jobs. Senator Feinstein, drought relief must protect the Bay-Delta estuary which has been in an over pumping drought for thirty years and is on the brink of collapse. Click to tweet
Tell Boxer: Thank you for opposing this poison pill rider. Please continue to fight for the protection of the Bay-Delta fisheries and flows. Click to tweet
Please call Washington DC offices and your state offices to get the message through!
Senator Barbara Boxer:
Washington D.C.: (202) 224-3553
Bay Area: (510) 286-8537
Los Angeles: (213) 894-5000
Sacramento: (916) 448-2787
Senator Dianne Feinstein:
Washington D.C.: (202) 224-3841
San Francisco: (415) 393-0707
Los Angeles: (310) 914-7300
We need to send a strong reminder to our legislators that they must continue to protect our Delta water quality and flows in all drought relief packages.
Thank you for taking action!
Past updates ###
Update 1:06 pm, 12/5: Congressman Jared Huffman and Senator Barbara Boxer released strong statements opposing this rider. Please keep calling!
.@RepHuffman calls GOP adding Calif. water to #WRDA a “slap in the face” and “latest effort to pick winners and losers during a drought”
— Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) December 5, 2016
I will use every tool at my disposal to stop this last minute poison pill rider. https://t.co/Pf6gNm8pkh #WRDA
— EPW Boxer (@EPWBoxer) December 5, 2016
Update from E&E News on timeline 2:47 PM, 12/5:
House and Senate negotiators released a compromise Water Resources Development Act bill this afternoon and plan to send it to President Obama before the end of the week. But Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she would oppose the measure if the drought provision proposed by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is included.
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A current draft of the bill as of 11:53 AM, 12/6, starts on page 584.
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Update 9:47 AM, 12/6: Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer are in an angry split over this bill. Now it is more critical to call both Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer.
Update 2:02 PM, 12/7: Congressman Jerry McNerney and West Coast Democrats are asking President Obama to veto the rider. Read the letter.
I oppose the last minute poison rider in the drought relief bill by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that will roll back the Endangered Species Act and destroy thousands of fishery jobs. Drought relief must protect the Bay-Delta estuary which has been in an over pumping drought for thirty years. It’s time for Democrats to start ACTING LIKE DEMOCRATS, not money grubbing Republicans.
Please do all you can to stop this madness! Our water supply should not be held hostage to massive agribusiness, especially of the S. San Joaquin Valley. My family has farmed in N. Yolo County (Sacramento Valley) for 4 generations and never usurped the resources of another area at the expense of fish or wildlife that depend on the water of that area. Our society needs to give up long-distance, consequence free exploitation.
I will stand up for our Delta water ways and the endangered species that will be effected by the tunnels with my very last breath. These water ways are important for our farms, fishing, drinking water and recreational use. Please stand up for our Delta.
I oppose the last minute poison rider in the drought relief bill by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that will roll back the Endangered Species Act and destroy thousands of fishery jobs. Drought relief must protect the Bay-Delta estuary which has been in an over pumping drought for 30 years. We do not want our wetlands, endangered fowl and fish species dessimated by further strains on the delta water quality. Thank you.
I oppose the last minute poison rider in the drought relief bill by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that will roll back the Endangered Species Act and destroy thousands of fishery jobs. Drought relief must protect the Bay-Delta estuary which has been in an over pumping drought for thirty years.
I OPPOSE THE RIDER IN THE DROUGHT RELIEF BILL . VOTE NO OBSTRUCT
Feinstein is in the pockets of Westland Water District and she should be fired for even attempting to sell out our Delta for her own financial gain. FIGHT people or we will have nothing left here!
The water belongs to every living thing in this State. To deny the necessary flows to maintain a healthy Salmon fishery is criminal and to ignore the hard ship that has been burdened by the coastal communities is selfish. Their should be no tolerance for this behavior.
NOW is the right time to get on the side of our environment/earth.
SAVE THE DELTA !!!
If we don’t keep a balance with water usage, we will have dire consequences!
. Clearly the Resnicks pom wonderful are the most curupt farmers . The resnicks paid politicians and political affiliations, senators to pass a bill that only benifits the resnicks curupt farming who made a bad ag purchase of dried up land for Penny’s on the dollar after railroading other famers during a drought out by selling the struggling farmers water for over 400-1000 per acre that the resnick empire stole from a california reservoir making it impossible for other farmers to survive. Then after the resnicks accumulated over a 140,000. Acres went a head to irresponsibly plant thirsty permanent crops like almonds that soak up a gallon of water per almond per day again during a drought. Then demand california water board give them and L.A metro more water rights when the Resnicks farms in Kern county use more water then all of northern cal farmers on fertile farm land , L.A and S.F cities combined. Clearly its not about logic its about curuption and abuse of power. Why would any one politician vote to ruin an entire estuary and successful farming in northern cal and established fishery’s for just one Resnick farming empire in a dessert that is not sustainable unless they were getting paid off . it makes no sense to take water from the most fertile land and revert it to the dryest at the risk of ruining already huge sustainable economys just for ONE water waster!
The only true way to stop this is through our California veterans. California had over 2 million veterans in northern California alone. With the veterans farm bill benifits are at risk if the curupt politics continue to devert water that will destroy verified quality farming lands to dry money grabbing Resnicks that keep changing the name to lying water fix and jerry browns misleading TV ads that saying no to public vote is bad. Wake up veterans we need you to help stop this curuption happening to YOU!
Thank you Barbara, keep it up!
Save ALL west coast fisheries by protecting the Bay-Delta; protect migrating birds – strip out the last minute “Poison Rider” in the drought relief bill by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Save sustainable fishery jobs. We need fish, and we need SUSTAINABLE farms, not water-grabbing Big Ag almond growers.
No more tunnels if the farmers want more water put in desalination plants