[env-trinity] News Release: Friends of the River Opposes Proposition 1

[Tom Stokely]

NEWS RELEASE
September 10, 2014 Contact: Eric Wesselman: 510-775-3797
Ron Stork: 916-442-3155 x220
Friends of the River Opposes Proposition 1
Water Bond Takes California Back to the Era of Big Dam Building
The Friends of the River Board of Directors has voted to oppose the State Water Bond which will
appear as Proposition 1 on the ballot this November. At least 36% of the $7.5 billion bond would go
toward new storage, ushering in a new era of taxpayer-subsidized dam building in California that FOR
helped to end with the Campaign to Save the Stanislaus River forty years ago.
“We support cleaning up groundwater, providing safe drinking, water conservation and ecosystem
restoration,” said Eric Wesselman, Executive Director of Friends of the River. “But Proposition 1 is
unnecessarily weighted down by funding for deadbeat dams that would destroy rivers and cost
taxpayers billions.”
Friends of the River supported a proposal for a pared-down $6B water bond that included priority
projects that would improve water security for all Californians, ensure fiscal responsibility in
allocating bond funds and eliminate the special-interest investments. Instead, the legislature passed a
$7.5 billion package that caters to large corporate agribusiness.
“In a state that already has more than 1,250 dams, dedicating 36% of a $7.5 billion bond to build more
is bad public policy,” said Ron Stork, Policy Director for Friends of the River. “Making billions of
dollars available for dams breaks faith with a half a century of State Water Project policy: these
projects are paid for by the beneficiaries, not the taxpayers of California.”
Proposition 1 is a slimmed-down version of the bond the legislature pulled from the ballot in 2009
when polls showed voters would likely oppose it. Legislators cut funding for water quality,
conservation and restoration programs to make room for storage which would be continuously
appropriated while the rest of the funds would be subject to the annual budget process.
If approved by the voters, funding for dams in Proposition 1 would help leverage additional funding as
members of Congress look to funnel federal dollars to two projects in particular: Temperance Flat on
the San Joaquin River gorge and Sites Reservoir on Antelope Creek, alongside the Sacramento River.
These projects, along with other proposed dams, would cost $9 billion (before cost overruns and debt
financing) and increase California’s total annual water supply by less than 1%.
“California needs real water solutions that diversify our water supply and reduce our dependence on
rivers that are already dammed and degraded,” said Wesselman. “On balance, Proposition 1 is a bad
investment for California that takes us back to the bygone era of big dam building.”
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