Dear Friends,
Call Assemblymember Wilson today to stop her efforts to undermine public participation in the update to the San Francisco Bay-San Joaquin Delta Plan (“Bay-Delta Plan”)!
AB 497, amended today by Asm. Lori D. Wilson, supported by Solano County Water Agency, seeks to limit the State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) review and consideration of comments about the most recent update to the Bay-Delta Plan.
Assemblymember Wilson represents all of Solano County and parts of Contra Costa and Sacramento Counties, including Fairfield, Vacaville, Vallejo, Benicia, and Suisun City. Her constituents deserve transparency and a meaningful voice in decisions that affect the future of the Delta and California’s water!
We need your voice now more than ever.
📞 Please call Assemblymember Wilson and tell her:
- You oppose any efforts to limit or lessen public participation in the update to the Bay-Delta Plan.
- The quantity of comment periods, hearings, and other public outlets does not mean meaningful consideration of those comments.
- You do not support any bill that would hasten the approval of a version of the Bay-Delta Plan that includes the Voluntary Agreements and subsequently promotes the Delta tunnel.
- You expect public participation to be upheld and protected.
Limiting public comment for a bad Bay-Delta Plan update would hasten the approval of the inherently inequitable Voluntary Agreements (“VAs”), which are intricately linked with the proposed Delta Conveyance Project. A 2024 letterfrom the Department of Water Resources highlights this connection, making it clear: the Department of Water Resources needs the Voluntary Agreements for the tunnel to operate.
Under current law, the Water Board is required to review, consider, and respond to comments on the Bay-Delta Plan. The proposed legislation, however, would remove that requirement under the guise of “sufficient prior public engagement.” But we know, “significant public engagement” does not mean meaningful public engagement. The update to the Bay-Delta Plan has been overdue for over 25 years. While we need an update, we need an updated plan that is protective of ALL communities and beneficial uses.