By Cindy Charles
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) sent a joint letter on February 16, 2021 to the Biden Administration and Secretary of Interior designate Debra Haaland, urging them to withdraw or rescind four major policy changes to the Central Valley Project (CVP). These changes were last-minute actions of the Trump Administration made by former Interior Secretary Bernhardt, who was previously employed by one of the biggest beneficiaries of these actions: Westlands Water District. If implemented, the actions would lead to extremely adverse environmental, cultural, and economic impacts within California.
President Biden’s issued an Executive Order on January 20, 2021, Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, that directed the development within 30 days of a preliminary list of recissions and withdrawals of Trump-era actions. The CSPA & PCFFA letter urges that the following items be added to this list:
- Withdraw former Secretary Bernhardt’s January 19, 2021 memorandum that slashes statutorily required funding for Central Valley Project mitigation and restoration.
- Rescind unlawfully executed permanent water contracts for Westlands Water District and other CVP contractors, in order to ensure compliance with Reclamation laws, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Acts.
- Withdraw the Business Practices and Guidelines pending before Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that would shift hundreds of millions of dollars owed by the CVP contractors to American taxpayers.
- Withdraw and peer review the Trump Administration cost allocation methodology for the CVP that would shift hundreds of millions of dollars in costs owed by water and power beneficiaries to American taxpayers.
CSPA and PCFFA also circulated this letter to key members of the House and Senate. The letter continues CSPA’s work to ensure the enforcement of statutory obligations, recission of unlawful permanent water contracts, and meaningful oversight of federal agencies’ performance under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.