Dear Friends,
In a brazen final act, Governor Brown has cut a deal with the Trump Administration to save his Delta Tunnels. Brown endorsed a 7-year extension of the controversial Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act).
These provisions were proposed by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in a deal designed to increase water deliveries to agribusiness. By endorsing the WIIN Act, Brown appears to hope the Trump Administration will provide funding, and federal sign off on permits, to his costly tunnels project.
With just a week left of the federal legislative calendar, Delta lovers are calling Senator Dianne Feinstein and asking her to withdraw her support the WIIN Act rider to a spending bill needed to prevent a federal shutdown.
Please keep calling Senator Feinstein. Here is a sample script.
“Hello, my name is ____, and I live in ______, CA. I am calling to express my disapproval the WIIN ACT that would weaken protections for endangered species and increase Delta water deliveries to the Central Valley, thereby subverting the objectives of the Bay-Delta Plan. I oppose the deal Senator Feinstein is cutting with Governor Brown and Majority House Leader, McCarthy. She said in 2016 the WIIN ACT was to help with the drought—now it is being used as a tool by the Brown Administration to increase flows permanently in the Delta in exchange for federal support of the Delta tunnels. The WIIN ACT has become the legislative companion piece to the Brown-Trump tunnels deal. Thank you.”
Senator Feinstein’s D.C. Office: Phone: (202) 224-3841
Senator Feinstein can also be reached via email here.
Here are some other ideas you might bring up:
– Senator Feinstein, your staff continues to tell our supporters that the WIIN Act has nothing to do with the Delta Tunnels and that you oppose the tunnels. However, in order for the Trump-Brown deal to take hold, there will need to be legislation to weaken environmental protections.
– The Trump-Brown deal is a weakening of environmental protections now to increase pumping for Westlands Water, negotiated by David Bernhardt who will be the new Secretary of the Interior; he was a former Westlands lobbyist.
– You claim to support proper government processes, the rule of law, and proper procedure. Then why interfere with the State Water Board who is attempting to set science based standards, and complete permitting processes in a transparent manner?
– It’s not that Delta advocates get what they want from the State Water Board. The Board’s mission is to balance competing interests. Their work is transparent, even when we don’t agree.
– Why would you tie yourself to cutting a deal with the most corrupt Interior Department since the Harding Administration? Your colleague Senator Warren calls Bernhardt “the ultimate DC swamp creature.”
– Wouldn’t it be better to follow what the next generation wants in terms of expenditures and environmental protection?