Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it
| This editorial was published in the Independent Coast Observer on April 19, 2002. |
Courtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA
Remoteness is no longer a defense.
The Gualala River and Albion River have not yet been heavily exploited for their water — mainly because the rivers were too darn far from anything.
No aqueduct was feasible to pipe our rivers away.
Now, with water sources shrinking while the population of southern California grows, “innovative” entrepreneurs are looking to suck the water out of our rivers and tow it in huge bladders to thirsty far away cities — or foreign countries.
There are few protections for local people to defend the rivers that they already care for. The state can decide who will take the water and for what purpose — not the local counties.
Assembly member Patricia Wiggins has introduced AB 2924 that would give local county supervisors control over schemes such as this one which would export river water out of their counties.
The next test of AB 2924 is the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, where it will be heard this Tuesday, April 23.
The easiest and fastest way to send comments on the bill is to go to this address, enter AB 2924, and enter your comments: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm
