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PLF’s “Save our Water” Petition Is Submitted; More than 12,000 Signers Call for ESA “God Squad” to Convene to Address
California’s Water Emergency
SACRAMENTO, CA; August 19, 2009: Pacific Legal Foundation’s “Save our Water, Save Our Jobs” petition campaign came to a conclusion today, with notification to both Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Obama Administration that more than 12,000 petition-signers want the federal Endangered Species Committee – the so-called “God Squad” – to be convened to deal with California’s government-caused water emergency.
PLF President Rob Rivett addresses reporters at State Capitol |
“This year, San Joaquin Valley farmers, farmworkers, businesses, rural communities, and cities, have suffered a terrible blow because of draconian water reductions due to harsh federal environmental regulations,” said PLF President Rob Rivett said. “Recently, new federal Endangered Species Act restrictions have been proposed that will worsen this water crisis in California. The 12,000-plus names on Pacific Legal Foundation’s ‘Save our Water’ Petition show that the public realizes that California is facing a water emergency, and emergency action is required.”
“The Endangered Species Committee must be convened to save the California economy from even more destructive water cutbacks than have already been imposed by government regulators,” Rivett continued.
The petition drive is part of PLF’s initiative, utilizing provisions of the Constitution and the Endangered Species Act, to halt the crippling water reductions. PLF is the leading litigator for a balanced approach to environmental regulations. On behalf of several San Joaquin Valley farmers, PLF attorneys are prosecuting a federal lawsuit against environmental regulations, relating to the Delta smelt, that have drastically cut the flow of water in the Central Valley.
High profile support for meeting the water emergency head-on
Among those who gathered in support of the “Save our Water” petition drive, at a press conference on the west steps of the California State Capitol in Sacramento: Congressman George Radanovich (R-Fresno); State Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Merced); Denise Davis, a vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce; Dave Puglia, senior vice president of Western Growers; San Joaquin Valley businessman Piedad Ayala, with the Water for All organization, who came with a number of farm workers; and Fresno County farmer Bob Dietrich.
In an online statement urging support, the California Chamber of Commerce warned of the urgent necessity to protect water systems “from measures that will inflict serious economic and social harm on millions of Californians.”
In his own online statement of support for the effort, Rep. Radanovich said it sends a message: “when it comes to water policy, humans come before fish.”
The Endangered Species Committee – and the Klamath Valley precedent
Provided for as an emergency expedient within the Endangered Species Act, the Endangered Species Committee is a panel of federal cabinet officials who can countermand ESA restrictions that cause excessive destruction to jobs and the economy.
A governor may formally petition for the convening of the Committee. PLF’s “Save our Water” petition urges Governor Schwarzenegger to submit such a request, and urges President Obama to make sure his administration acts favorably on it.
PLF is well-versed in the law relating to the Endangered Species Committee. Eight years ago, in 2001, farmers in the Klamath Valley faced a devastating ESA-caused drought. Water was being withheld from farms and communities – and a vast agricultural region was left bone dry – in a misguided federal scheme to help sucker fish.
PLF attorneys represented two local water districts in a formal petition to the Secretary of the Interior, to take the extraordinary step of convening the so-called “God Squad,” because the situation was so extraordinary, so dire. Ultimately, the petition was not successful because our clients were deemed not to have standing under the ESA to submit the request. However, the federal government revisited the scientific basis for the water cutoff, and ended up easing the regulations so that water again was made available (unfortunately, only after much economic hardship).
Unlike the water districts in that case, the governor of a state has explicit authority in the ESA to formally ask for the convening of the “God Squad.” This is why the “Save our Water” petition is directed to the governor, as well as to the Obama Administration. The deadline for the governor to submit a petition to the Department of the Interior is September 2, 2009. PLF attorneys stand ready to help in the preparation of a petition, if the governor decides to go forward, according to PLF President Rob Rivett.
The water crisis in the San Joaquin Valley
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has imposed devastating cutbacks on water pumping into California’s main water system as part of a regulatory scheme to protect the Delta smelt. These water cutbacks have contributed to an estimated loss of tens of thousands of jobs and the idling of more than 250,000 acres in farmland. Some rural communities are experiencing stratospheric unemployment, such as Mendota’s 40 percent rate.
Now, sweeping new reductions in water supplies loom as part of a “biological opinion” relating to several other species, including chinook salmon and steelhead. These further cuts in pumping and water supplies are estimated to remove an additional 500,000 acre-feet of water, the amount that is required to serve two million people annually.
“California should be known for the Rose Bowl, not a Dust Bowl, but there’s danger of a Dust Bowl being created in the Central Valley by extreme ESA regulations,” said PLF President Rob Rivett. “Instead of stimulating jobs, federal environmental officials are turning recession into depression and stimulating economic hardship for businesses, farms, and families. California is faced with an emergency, and summoning the God Squad is a justified and needed response to meet the crisis.”
About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is the leading legal watchdog for limited government, property rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulation.
On May 21, 2009, PLF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Central Valley farmers against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, challenging federal authority to regulate for the Delta smelt, which has led to sharply reduced pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
A brief video about PLF’s history and mission, including comments by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin J. Meese III, can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnBSlRQwxKU.
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