A call to your Assemblymember will make a big difference now
Powerful San Joaquin Valley and Southern California water interests are pushing the state legislature to hand them a blank check to grab more Northern California salmon river water to eventually divert through the Delta tunnel they hope to build. Their effort is focused on passing Assembly Bill 2215, which would bypass normal procedures and grant the Delta tunnel new “water rights” for massive volumes of northern water. This would prove deadly to salmon and many other species that live in and along the Sacramento River and its tributaries, including the American, Yuba, and Feather rivers.
Here’s why this is important:
In plain English: this bill is designed to bypass the normal water rights process and clear the way for the Delta tunnel without fully evaluating whether there is enough water in the Bay-Delta to support both increased exports and healthy salmon runs.
That’s dangerous.
Excessive water diversions are already one of the biggest killers of Central Valley salmon. They were the major driver behind the catastrophic collapse that led to a three-year shutdown of California’s commercial salmon season and severely restricted recreational fishing opportunities.
AB 2215 could make those problems permanent. But there’s something you can do to help.
The bill, authored by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, could come up for a vote on the Assembly floor at any time. It can be stopped there if enough of us call our Assemblymember and urge them to vote NO on AB 2215.
Take Action!
We urge all GSSA members and salmon supporters to call your Assemblymember today and urge them to vote NO on AB 2215.
You can find your Assemblymember here.
Suggested Call Script
“Assemblymember (Last Name), I’m calling to urge you to oppose AB 2215 when it comes up on the Assembly floor.
This bill is designed to advance the proposed Delta tunnel, which represents a major threat to California salmon, fishing jobs, and fishing communities across the state.
We are just beginning to recover from a devastating three-year shutdown of commercial salmon fishing and years of extremely limited recreational opportunity. The economic damage to fishing families, businesses, and coastal communities has been enormous.
Excessive water diversions helped create this crisis. AB 2215 could make it worse by bypassing the normal water rights review process and opening the door to even greater pressure on the Bay-Delta ecosystem.
Salmon matter to Californians like me. Please vote NO on AB 2215.”
Thank you for standing up for California salmon, fishing jobs, and healthy rivers.