12210.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary is the most valuable estuary ecosystem on the west coast of North or South America. It includes over 738,000 acres in five counties. The tributaries, sloughs, and islands support over 750 plant and animal species.
(b) The bay-delta, its tributaries, and watershed are critical to California’s economy, supplying drinking water for two-thirds of Californians and irrigation water for over 7,000,000 acres of the most highly productive agricultural land in the world. It also supports 80 percent of the state’s commercial salmon fisheries.
(c) The bay-delta is the hub of California’s two largest water distribution systems: the Central Valley Project, operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the State Water Project, operated by the Department of Water Resources. It also provides the conveyance of flood waters from most of the rivers in the central valley.
(d) In 2000, state and federal agencies established the CALFED Bay-Delta Program to address four issues critical to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: water supply reliability, ecosystem restoration, water quality, and levee system integrity. The CALFED Bay-Delta Program Record of Decision dated August 28, 2000, provided for a comprehensive assessment of the entire Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta program in 2007, including all four critical issues.
(e) In the last three years, the Legislature has received reports of substantial decline in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the inadequate response by the bay-delta program. The entire aquatic ecosystem has deteriorated, including declines in critical fish species and their food web and increases in invasive species. Recent federal and state court decisions have led to curtailed Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water exports. As delta peat soils continue oxidizing and subsiding, the hydrodynamic pressure on delta levees and the resulting risk of levee failure has increased. The Department of Water Resources presented a scenario projecting vast economic dislocation from a mass levee failure following an earthquake, if the delta levee system is not improved. Finally, delta water quality presents a continuing challenge and has not improved as much as previously anticipated.
(f) In the 2005–06 Regular Session of the Legislature, the Legislature recognized the serious threats to the delta’s sustainability and passed a series of bills
requiring studies, plans, and proposals for addressing delta issues. Assembly Bill 1200 required state agencies to assess the risk of delta levee failure and its effect on the multiple uses of delta resources. Assembly Bill 798 required the Department of Water Resources to recommend funding priorities for the delta levee subvention program. Senate Bill 1574 required a committee of state officials to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a strategic delta vision. Assembly Bill 1803 required the development of a comprehensive plan for the future of the delta. All of these reports are expected to be completed in 2008.
(g) Recent reports and discussions among delta experts, stakeholders, agencies, and the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force have led to a growing consensus that current delta policies are not sustainable over the long term. While there are diverse views as to a new Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta vision or the best way
to sustain the delta over the long term, the need for change enjoys strong consensus and support.