SACRAMENTO June 4, 2009 - Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) announced today the California State Assembly has approved four bills to help resolve the current crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of California's water system and the most valuable estuary on the west coast of North and South America. These bills reflect recommendations from Governor Schwarzenegger's Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force and Cabinet Committee.
"The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a critical respiratory system for California's water supply and ecosystem," Bass said. "These bills represent important steps in preventing the collapse of the Delta, which would have catastrophic effects on the health of our environment and economy."
The bill authors include participants in the Speaker's 60-day process to review the Delta Vision Strategic Plan and consider how best to fix the Delta.
AB 13 (Salas) – Delta Conservancy: Creates a State conservancy to carry out ecosystem restoration projects and support appropriate economic development in the Delta.
AB 39 (Huffman) – Delta Plan: Requires a new Delta Council to create a comprehensive plan for resolving the Delta crisis, consistent with the Delta Vision Strategic Plan
AB 49 (Feuer) – Water Conservation: Requires California to achieve a 20% reduction in per capita water use by 2020, as proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger and relying on local water agency actions.
AB 900 (De León) – Delta Water Diversion Reporting: Ensures that California has sufficient information about how much water is diverted from streams in the Delta.
Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), who led the bicameral, bipartisan Legislative Working Group on the Delta Plan, commented: "I am proud of our House for taking another important step toward saving the Delta for both its ecosystem and water supply benefits for Californians."
These bills now proceed to the Senate, as the Senate sends the Assembly its Delta bills that address Delta governance.
