BILL NUMBER: AJR 35INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fuller FEBRUARY 19, 2010 Relative to public resources. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AJR 35, as introduced, Fuller. Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project. This measure would request the United States Department of the Interior to reconsider its decision to abandon implementation of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project and to restart the series of meetings designed to result in completion of the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010, and would respectfully request Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and all other members of the California congressional delegation to request the United States Department of the Interior to restart its involvement in the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project with the goal of completing the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, California is in the midst of a three-year drought that is having a severe impact on California's ability to provide water to its citizens, businesses, and farms and threatens to extend into a fourth year in 2010; and WHEREAS, The federal government issued biological opinions in 2008 and 2009 to protect the endangered Delta smelt and salmon that live in or migrate through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; and WHEREAS, The restrictions imposed by the biological opinions severely restrict operation of the State Water Project's Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant and the federal water project's C.W. "Bill" Jones Pumping Plant by limiting the amount of water that can be moved from state and federal storage reservoirs located north of the Delta to California's citizens, businesses, and farms south of the Delta in the San Joaquin Valley and southern California; and WHEREAS, Under the restrictions imposed by the biological opinions, the State Water Project was allocated just 40 percent of its water supply last year and the federal water project was allocated just 10 percent of its water supply; and this year the State Water Project allocation is currently 5 percent and the water allocation for the federal water project is 0 percent; and WHEREAS, The Department of Water Resources estimates that even if 2010 is an exceptionally wet year it will only be able to allocate 40 percent of the necessary water supply to California citizens, businesses, and farms in the San Joaquin Valley and southern California due to the restrictions imposed by the biological opinions; and WHEREAS, Restrictions imposed on the state and federal pumping plants to protect Delta smelt and salmon have been in place for decades prior to the biological opinions and those restrictions were increased under the biological opinions, but have failed to slow the decline of either species; and WHEREAS, Despite decades of pumping restrictions, the salmon fishery continues to decline and the state is experiencing an unprecedented third year of closure of California's commercial and recreational salmon fishery; and WHEREAS, The restrictions were imposed at a time of severe drought and combined to significantly increase the hardships of California's citizens, businesses, and farms, resulting in the fallowing of 240,000 acres of farmland that feed the nation; and WHEREAS, Swift action must be taken to protect the Delta smelt and salmon and to protect the water supply for California's citizens, businesses, and farms; and WHEREAS, California's urban and agricultural water districts have combined to develop an experimental triage project capable of increasing protection of Delta smelt and salmon, while also protecting water supplies, known as the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project; and WHEREAS, In 2009, the Legislature, through passage of Senate Bill 1 of the Seventh Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 2009, directed the Department of Water Resources to pursue implementation of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project, and the United States Department of the Interior's Federal Action Plan for the California Bay-Delta states that the "Federal agencies will work in partnership with California authorities to help implement key aspects of the new water legislation," but the United States Department of the Interior recently issued public statements that it will no longer pursue implementation of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project and will instead engage in more study; and WHEREAS, The Legislature made an appropriation of $28,000,000 for the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project; 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 reconsider its decision to abandon implementation of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project and to restart the series of meetings designed to result in completion of the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully requests Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer to make a request to the United States Department of the Interior to restart its involvement in implementation of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project with the goal of completing the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully requests Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to request the United States Department of the Interior to restart its involvement in the implementation of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project with the goal of completing the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully requests that all other members of the California congressional delegation make a request to the United States Department of the Interior to restart its involvement in the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project with the goal of completing the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit official copies of this resolution to all members of the California congressional delegation.