ICO Article: Water Export bill delayed in committee

The water export bill, AB 2924 Wiggins, was scheduled to be heard Tuesday in an important policy committee, Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife, but it was put over so legislative staff could work with the committee chair. The bill drafted by Assembly Member Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, is intended to help protect those Northern California rivers that already have protected status under state law, including the Albion and Gualala Rivers, from water exports.

The bill would grant county boards of supervisors of the county or counties from which the water would be taken the power to approve or deny such applications.

According to Wiggins’s Chief of Staff Matt Reilly, AB 2924 was put over until the next WP&W hearing on May 7, to work with Committee Chair Joe Canciamilla, (D-Pittsburg).

The legislative analysis prepared by WP&W staff states:

“According to the author, current law designed to protect certain designated rivers is not sufficient to appropriately protect the unclaimed water from these river as originally intended with the passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. As a result […] World Water SA, a water export business, has petitioned the [State Water Resources Control] Board for the rights to […] water from the Albion and Gualala Rivers in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties so that it may be sold to communities in San Diego County.

“The author [Wiggins] maintains that the environmental impacts of such an action were the very reason why these rivers were originally granted special status. Flows from these coastal rivers are essential to the proper ecological functioning of the estuaries and near shore conditions. In addition, any reduction of these flows could undermine efforts to rebuild the threatened or endangered salmonid species, which would have serious negative repercussions on the local environment and fishing and tourism industries.”

The ICO has editorialized against the water exports and in support of AB 2924.

People can reach Chairman Canciamilla: by email, assemblymember. canciamilla @assembly.ca.gov; voice, (916)319-2011; Fax, (916) 319-2111; postal mail, State Capitol, P.O. Box 942848, Sacramento, CA 94248-0001. People can also comment on the bill electronically by going to http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm

Wiggins’s staff says that calls, letters and emails of support (some legislature watchers feel that calls are the most effective) are also needed to Assembly Speaker Herb J. Wesson, Jr. (D-Culver City). His phone: (916) 319-2047; FAX: (916) 319-2147; Email, assemblymember.wesson@asm.ca.gov