For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com; Twitter: @shopcraft;
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 barbara@restorethedelta.org; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta
GOV. BROWN IS BREAKING HIS PROP. 1 PROMISE,
Announces he WILL Use Prop. 1 Funds to Mitigate Tunnels
Stockton, CA – Governor Brown promised the people of California that Proposition 1 (Water Bond) funds would not be used for the BDCP, but for dealing with the drought. Now, his administration admits that they could use money from Proposition 1 to pay for habitat mitigation for construction and operation of the tunnels.
“It is outrageous that the governor would break the promise he made to the people of California that their taxes would not be used to mitigate damage from the tunnels. Now he is signaling that bond monies will support mega-growers like Stewart Resnick, who plans to expand almond production by 50% over the next five years,” said RTD Executive Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla.
“It's time for Governor Brown to drop the 19th century tunnels plan, and embrace water technologies that will serve the world we live in now, and our children will live in in the future.”
Here is a link to the San Francisco Chronicle story including this startling admission: http://bit.ly/1QgcJc3 “[Brown Administration BDCP spokesman Richard Stapler] acknowledged that the money could conceivably come from Proposition 1, the $7.5 billion water bond that California passed last year.”
“The science has demonstrated that habitat without water for fisheries fails in the Delta. The tunnels project cannot restore the Delta because it takes the necessary water out of the Delta,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.
“California experiences dry or drought conditions 40% of the time historically, even before climate change. That means that in at least four out of ten years exporters will have astronomical fixed costs to pay for no water.”