Number: 1989-19
WHEREAS, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has commenced renegotiating the contracts for Central Valley Project (CVP) water, beginning with the Friant Unit; and
WHEREAS, the Central Valley of California provides some 60% of the Pacific Flyway’s waterfowl wintering habitat; and
WHEREAS, this habitat is provided by fewer than 300,000 acres of wetlands which remain today–down from over 4,000,000 acres of wetlands that historically existed in the Central Valley; and
WHEREAS, some species dependent on the California wetlands, including the Pacific white-fronted goose and cackling Canada goose, have suffered aggravated population losses from disease, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction and degradation; and
WHEREAS, the United States has signed the North American Waterfowl Management Plan with Canada whereby both countries agree to take actions between now and the year 2000 to assure the continued survival of abundant populations of ducks, geese, and swans; and
WHEREAS, the stocks of many anadromous fish species, such as chinook salmon, steelhead, and striped bass, and wildlife populations have suffered severe depletion from water resources development and associated agricultural activity resulting in economic losses of several hundred million dollars annually; and
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Reclamation has provided little mitigation for the fish and wildlife losses from its water resources development projects and no fishery mitigation whatsoever for the Friant Unit of the CVP; and
WHEREAS, the process followed and conditions agreed to for renewal of the contracts for water from the Friant Unit will set a precedent for reallocating millions of acre-feet of Reclamation water and the terms and conditions for the hundreds of contracts that will expire between now and the year 2005; and
WHEREAS, in addition to water committed in existing contracts subject to renewal, the Bureau is proposing to enter into long-term contracts to deliver approximately 1.5 million acre-feet per year of water it claims is uncommitted from the CVP; and
WHEREAS, most of the initial contracts for delivery of Reclamation water were agreed to before the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act; basic conditions used to allocate subsidized water have changed; and the public’s knowledge of and concern for the environmental attributes and values of water resources have increased during the past 40 years; and
WHEREAS, the Department of the Interior has ruled recently that the renewal of water contracts for the CVP water stored behind Friant Dam will not require any environmental review; and
WHEREAS, the expiration of contracts for the delivery of Federal water presents an opportunity to obtain more timely repayment of the Federal investment, to tighten eligibility requirements, and to undertake other reforms to make water available for fisheries, wetlands, water quality, and other high-valued uses; and
WHEREAS, the Secretary of the Interior has broad discretion to alter the allocation, pricing, and other requirements and conditions of expiring contracts, and each of these options could result in different environmental impacts;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 16-19, 1989, in Arlington, Virginia urges the Secretary of the Interior to defer renewal of the Friant Unit and other contracts until after preparation of a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate the cumulative impacts of all reasonable alternatives, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the Congress of the United States to schedule oversight hearings to ascertain the impacts to California’s fisheries and fish habitat that have resulted, or could result, from the construction, operation, and water marketing of the Central Valley Project and to consider directing the Secretary of the Interior to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on such impacts.