Dear Salmon Supporter,
Governor Newsom is subsidizing California’s industrial agribusiness at the expense of the Bay-Delta’s fish, wildlife, and water quality and the people who depend on salmon and its industry for their livelihoods, families and culture.
Background
California’s 2023 salmon fishing season will be canceled for the 2nd time in the state’s history. Fishermen and women, businesses, jobs and families will suffer from the devastation of our iconic salmon population. Instead of functional ecosystems supporting natural resources for people and wildlife, we’ve been handed hostile Central Valley river conditions plagued with inadequate flows, high temperatures, and toxic algae blooms in the summer.
The State desperately needs a plan for sustainable water use that protects our fishing industry, fish, wildlife, water quality and all the jobs and communities that depend on them. Instead of a balanced approach that works for fish and people, Governor Newsom is giving away water the Bay-Delta needs by subsidizing big industrial agribusinesses. In dry years, his agencies have slashed environmental safeguards in order to deliver more water to big agribusiness for water-intensive crops like almonds. In wet years, the Newsom administration cuts environmental protections again, handing out water that our Bay-Delta rivers need to recover from drought.
Since 2009, the State Water Resources Control Board has been developing a science-based plan that would require increased river flows into the San Francisco Bay. The new protections would force both industrial agribusinesses and cities to use water sustainably. But Governor Newsom has actively blocked this plan. If Governor Newsom doesn’t stop blocking action soon, the Bay-Delta will no longer support the jobs, people, families, salmon, other fish, and wildlife species that have and continue to rely on it.
Native fishes like salmon need cold, flowing rivers to survive. As our fisheries crumble, a domino effect occurs across all businesses, families, jobs, habitats and communities directly and indirectly connected to California’s salmon.
For years, Governor Newsom has tried to negotiate a compromise with unsustainable industrial agriculture. Commercial and recreational fishermen and women, environmental organizations, and tribes have been excluded from those talks—and the latest proposals don’t do nearly enough to protect our rivers, our fish, or our communities. Our Bay-Delta needs a plan to protect the quantity and quality of water—and that plan must be based on science, not the demands of powerful water districts.
After a decade of failed negotiations with corporate unsustainable agribusiness, it’s time to put our fish, rivers and people first. The State Water Board can avert a further crisis—in fact, it is legally required to do so. Tell Governor Newsom to insist that the State Water Board move forward with the Bay-Delta Plan to safeguard our salmon once and for all.
Take Action
Stop the Bay-Delta Extinction Crisis to Save People and Salmon. Fill out the form below.