In tweet today, Senator Kamala Harris announced her opposition to the controversial Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act) proposed by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and supported by the Jerry Brown and Donald Trump administrations in a deal designed to increase water deliveries to agribusiness.
“We must invest in sustainable water projects that protect critical ecosystems while also supporting our important agricultural economies across the state,” said Senator Harris. “Extending the controversial and detrimental policies of the WIIN Act is not the way to do this.”
In response to Harris’ tweet, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), tweeted, “This is what leadership in water policy looks like. Thank you Senator Kamala Harris!”
On November 30, Brown announced his endorsement of the 7-year extension of the WIIN Act, “including important provisions that House Majority Leader McCarthy and Senator Feinstein have proposed that enable California water users to participate in voluntary agreements and help improve river flows to restore fish populations.”
Along with Senator Harris, Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay), the Co Chair of the Califorrnia Legislative Delta Caucus, is also strongly opposed to proposed extensions to the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act).
“As Co-Chair of the California Legislative Delta Caucus, I urge Senator Feinstein, Governor Brown, and Representative McCarthy to end their support for the misguided and harmful WIIN Act extensions currently under consideration in Congress,” he said. “By pursuing this power grab, they are sending a clear message of support for billionaire agribusiness and contractors at the expense of local fishermen, farmers, and the water quality of an entire region. Instead of giving water away to billionaires, I ask that they stand up for the Delta that we call home, and the millions of Californians who believe that small businesses and the Delta’s precious environment should have a fair chance to thrive.”
Fraser said the WIIN Act, passed in 2016, enacted temporary changes to protect both water supply reliability and the ecological health of the Delta in the aftermath of a historic drought in California. He said the proposed extensions would prolong those short-term emergency provisions until 2028, without regard to actual drought conditions or Delta water quality.
“As I stated in a letter to Senator Feinstein, extending short-term provisions of the act until 2028 is a federal assault on the ecology and water quality of our rivers and overrides the urgent need to protect the health and economy of all Californians, especially small, disadvantaged communities in the Delta,” Frazier said. “The proposed extension of the WIIN Act also delivers unwelcome support for Governor Brown’s destructive tunnels proposal.”
“The Governor is resorting to desperate measures to try and rescue his dangerous tunnels project, which is currently on the ropes. However, harming one part of California’s economy to benefit another is the wrong decision for the state and for the Delta – we must support our local ecosystem and Delta economy,” Frazier concluded.
Caleen Sisk, Chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, pointed out the connections between the Twin Tunnels, Sites Reservoir and the Shasta Dam raise that the WIIN Act facilitates.
“The Twin Tunnels, Sites Reservoir, and the Shasta Dam raise ‘are all 1 Brown WaterFix project’ to get the Water Mongers more water to sell back to the communities, towns and cities,” she said.
Protest set for December 6, 11 am, San Francisco
To stop this dangerous legislation, Food and Water Watch, Restore the Delta and concerned Bay-Delta residents will hold a protest at the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein in San Francisco on Thursday, December 6, at 11 a.m. to protest Feinstein’s Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act) Deal.
This legislation, if passed by Congress and signed by the President, would funnel Delta and Northern California water to corporate agribusiness in the San Joaquin Valley, harming the SF Bay-Delta environment, fisheries and fishing and Tribal communities in northern and central California.
Feinstein’s office is located on 1 Post Street #2450, San Francisco, CA 94104. Everybody concerned about the future of West Coast salmon, steelhead, striped bass, sturgeon, halibut, Dungeness crab and other fisheries is encouraged to attend.
“On November 30, Governor Brown endorsed a congressional rider that would extend of the drought-related, Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act,” according to a media advisory from Restore the Delta and Food and Water Watch. “By endorsing the WIIN Act, Feinstein betrays the future of salmon, Delta environmental justice and legacy communities, the state’s water rights system, and Delta cities’ drinking water quality serving over a half million residents and businesses,” the groups say.
For more information about the WIIN Act, go here: www.dailykos.com/…
Contacts for the protest: Julie Light, Food and Water Watch, 510-992-4083
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta 209-479-2053
Action Alert from Restore the Delta
By endorsing the WIIN Act, Feinstein betrays the future of salmon, Delta environmental justice and legacy communities, the state’s water rights system, and Delta cities’ drinking water quality serving over a half million residents and businesses.
We cannot take our eyes off the ball. The time to act is now. Please take just five minutes each day to call Senator Feinstein's to express your disapproval of the WIIN Act and the California WaterFix project.
“Hello, my name is ____, and I live in ______, CA. I am calling to express my disapproval the WIIN ACT that would weaken protections for endangered species and increase Delta water deliveries to the Central Valley, thereby subverting the objectives of the Bay-Delta Plan. I oppose the deal Senator Feinstein is cutting with Governor Brown and Majority House Leader, McCarthy. She said in 2016 the WIIN ACT was to help with the drought—now it is being used as a tool by the Brown Administration to increase flows permanently in the Delta in exchange for federal support of the Delta tunnels. Thank you.”
Below you will find the numbers to Senator Feinstein's Federal and State offices. Please keep your messages polite and professional. We want to represent the Delta well.
- Washington D.C. Office*: (202) 224-3841
- San Diego Office: (619) 231-0707
- San Francisco Office: (415) 393-0707
- Los Angeles Office: (310) 914-7300
- Fresno Office: (559) 485-7430