For Immediate Release: 7/8/21
Contact:
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org
Stockton, CA – Today, Governor Newsom asked Californians to voluntarily cut how much water they use by 15%.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta response:
“Governor Newsom’s response to the drought is too little too late. Restore the Delta and our coalition partners began warning state agencies and the Newsom Administration at the end of 2020 to plan for these drought conditions.
“Senior management at DWR and the California Natural Resources Agency have given the Governor bad advice. They let too much of the water out of the system for industrial agriculture users — who only contribute 2 to 3% of the state’s GDP. Our water resources and public trust resources like salmon fisheries have been squandered for almonds and other unsustainable crops.
“The decimation of salmon in the Sacramento River and the proliferation of harmful algal blooms in the Delta, which are the result of drought conditions from climate change and decades of mismanagement, are an assault on Delta environmental justice communities and Northern California tribes.”