California News

Speaking up for birds amid water debate

As the Trump Administration seeks to revamp how water is managed in the Central Valley, we're keeping birds in the conversation.
By Garrison Frost
Published November 13, 2018
This article is from 勛圖窪蹋 California . 勛圖窪蹋 has 31 conservation action centers and more than 500 community and campus chapters across the U.S. serving local communities. Find your local center or chapter here.

With the Trump Administration looking to reshape how water is distributed across the Central Valley, 勛圖窪蹋 California is making sure that the concerns of birds and habitat are not overlooked.

While President Trump made a number of criticisms about how Central Valley water is used during his 2016 campaign, it really wasnt until this year that he began to set in motion a number of potentially significant changes, ones that 勛圖窪蹋 California contends could jeopardize birds and habitat.

In the first week of January, the Administration from the northern part of the state to the southern Central Valley.

Commenting on the proposal in February, 勛圖窪蹋 California stated, As currently described has the potential to threaten an already fragmented system of habitat areas that receive less than the mandated share of water needed to create habitat and are frequently underfunded, limiting the ability to sustain habitat and wildlife populations. This is a reference to the recurring failure of the federal government to deliver water to Central Valley refuges identified in the Central Valley Improvement Act.

Even though the Central Valley has lost roughly 90 percent of its wetland habitat, it remains a crucial stopover on the Pacific Flyway for millions of birds, says Mike Lynes, 勛圖窪蹋 Californias director of public policy. These types of changes have the potential to impact bird up and down the flyway.

Since January, the Administration has taken further steps to reshape water deliveries in the Central Valley. In August, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke echoed the presidents call for more pumping, and to coordinate delta pumping with the state in order to facilitate that. In October, Trump to speed up environmental reviews of major water projects in California and to develop plans to suspend or revise regulations that hamper water deliveries.

With all these proposals, our mission will be to make sure that the interests of birds and habitat are represented, says Lynes. The birds of the Central Valley are one of Californias great natural treasures, and we need to make sure that theyre provided for.