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For Immediate Release:
August 12, 2008
Community groups mobilize call for water solutions and oppose Governor’s water bond |
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| Event: |
March and Press Conference |
| Date: |
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 |
| Time/Location: |
10 am – March
From the West Steps of the State Capitol to the
Sacramento Convention Center
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10:30 am – Press Conference
CORRECTION! -- Room 103
Sacramento Convention Center
1400 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 |
| Contact: |
Mindy McIntyre, Planning & Conservation League
(916) 541-8825
Debbie Davis, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (916) 743-4406 |
Sacramento- In response to Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Feinstein’s push for a November water bond, community groups throughout California are joining together on Tuesday to expose the proposal’s failure to provide long-term and equitable solutions to California’s water problems. Community groups oppose the bond and are calling for immediate action from the legislature to distribute existing bond funds that have sat unspent since 2006.
The Sacramento event is one of four simultaneous press conferences throughout the state, with others in San Francisco, Visalia, and Los Angeles. The event will feature environmental, fishing, environmental justice and community organizations all speaking out in support of water reform that will end California’s ongoing water crisis.
“Our communities are struggling as budget cuts dry up state support for our health, education and infrastructure programs. Now the Governor is asking Californians to repay another $9.2 billion dollar water bond? We simply cannot afford to do that,” stated Debbie Davis, legislative analyst for the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water.
Ms. Davis goes on to state, “Ironically, this bond is called the ‘Safe Drinking Water Act,’ but it does nothing to address the drinking water crisis in thousands of communities in California. Our communities need funding for programs that help provide safe, clean drinking water. Despite a $9.2 billion dollar price tag, this bond doesn’t deliver.”
California’s recent drought has exacerbated water problems throughout the state, ranging from a lack of clean drinking water for rural communities to the collapse of the Delta ecosystem. Instead of creating new management solutions to old problems, the bond provides funding for the same types of projects that have already pushed California’s water system to the brink.
“We have a water crisis today. This proposed bond wastes $3 billion on projects that will take decades to produce a drop of water,” said Jim Metropulos of Sierra Club California.
“This year’s closure of the pacific salmon fishing season clearly demonstrates the impacts of water mismanagement: it’s killing jobs and eliminating our fishing industry. After tens of millions of dollars spent, our fisheries are worse off than ever. We don’t need more wasted dollars; we need our leaders to take on water reform before it’s too late for our fisherman and our salmon,” said Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.
“Nowhere is the California water crisis more evident than in the Delta. We cannot continue to base California’s water security on risky exports from the Bay-Delta Estuary. This bond would increase reliance on exports from the fragile Delta and further endanger our community as well as the water supply of millions of Californians” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director for Restore the Delta.
“Fortunately for California, we have funding available from the 2006 water bond to address urgent needs across the state. Rather than rush into another billion-dollar bond this year, our communities are calling for water reform that will ensure California does not drift further into water crisis,” stated Mindy McIntyre, water program manager for the Planning & Conservation League.
Advocates are calling on the legislature and the Governor to pass SB 1XX (Perata, Machado and Steinberg), releasing unspent funds from Proposition 84, passed in 2006. There are over $800 million that are being held hostage as leverage for a wasteful water bond.
The statewide coalition is presenting ten principles that address ongoing water crises and support water quality, ecosystem and water supply sustainability. The principles emphasize the need to provide safe, affordable drinking water to disadvantaged communities, enforce land use regulations based on actual water availability, protect watershed and aquatic ecosystems, and redirect water policy toward sustainability and equity.
For more information contact:
Mindy McIntyre, Planning & Conservation League (916) 541-8825
Debbie Davis, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (916) 743-4406
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| Heading to the Capitol |
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| Mindy McIntyre Speaks |
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| Eduardo Cruz speaks |
The Planning and Conservation League is a nonpartisan, nonprofit alliance of individuals and conservation organizations working at the state, local, and national levels to protect and restore California's natural environment. |
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