Gov. Gavin Newsom’s jaw-dropping announcement last week that he plans to veto a crucial water bill, SB 1, calls into question his commitment to protecting the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The Trump administration in August gutted the Endangered Species Act, the nation’s bedrock conservation law that protected not only the Delta’s wildlife but also the quality of its water.
SB 1, authored by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, would establish as state standards the federal environmental protections that were in existence when Trump became president. The bill passed by wide margins in the Senate and Assembly earlier this month.
It’s imperative that the governor act to clearly demonstrate his dedication to safeguarding the state’s most valuable resource: the fresh water that is essential to California’s residents and businesses.
If Newsom follows through with his veto, as expected, he risks a legacy as the governor who helped the Trump administration destroy the Delta.
The Delta is the largest estuary west of the Mississippi, supplying fresh water for 25 million Californians, including about one-third of Bay Area residents. But decades of overpumping water south to Southern California and the Central Valley threatens the Delta’s ability to provide fresh water for current and future generations. Climate change exacerbates the danger.
The governor said in a statement released Saturday that “I fully support the principles behind Senate Bill 1: to defeat efforts by the President and Congress to undermine vital federal protections that protect clean air, clean water and endangered species.”
If that’s true, he should sign SB 1.
But the governor added, “Senate Bill 1 does not, however, provide the state with any new authority to push back the Trump administration’s environmental policies and it limits the state’s ability to rely upon the best available science to protect our environment.”
We’ve come to expect that level of mischaracterization from Donald Trump’s daily tweets, but it was beyond disappointing to hear it from Newsom.
The Trump administration’s efforts to undermine basic environmental protections demanded that legislators give the state the authority to block the federal government from destroying California’s waterways.
A key element in the legislation is a provision that imposes state protections on the federally run Central Valley Project, which provides water to Central Valley farmers. If the federal government allows the CVP to pump water south at will, it not only puts immense pressure on the State Water Project to come up with the water needed to protect the Delta, but it also could limit the supply to Bay Area residents. SB 1 gives the state the ability to regularly review federal government actions and ensure they meet state law. Numerous court decisions have supported the state’s right to do so.
Furthermore, Atkins specifically agreed to language in SB 1 that California would implement the state Endangered Species Act by making “determination(s) based on the best scientific and other information that is reasonably available.”
How does that in any way limit the state’s ability to “rely upon the best available science”?
Newsom, to his credit, has been seeking a grand bargain on water issues that calls on the major water players to reach a “voluntary agreement” on water flows. Multiple sources say that those negotiations are failing, and that Central Valley and Southern California water districts have threatened to walk away from the talks if the governor signs SB 1. But they would eventually have to come back to the table if they have any hope of getting additional water. Where else would they go, outside of seeking remedy in the courts?
Agreements on water issues in California are hard to come by. They only happen when the governor has a hammer capable of forcing both sides to seek a compromise. If the Central Valley Project is allowed to divert more water south, Newsom risks losing the leverage needed to bring those water districts to the table.
California officials expect that the federal government will release in the next two weeks a biological opinion on the status of endangered species in California waterways. It’s widely expected to conclude that pumping more water to Central Valley farms would further jeopardize nine endangered species, including salmon and steelhead, putting them at further risk of extinction.
Scientists have said for years that the only way to protect the endangered species is to allow more, not less, water to flow through the Delta and the rivers and streams that feed it.
The governor has an obligation to protect the health of the Delta and its precious water supply. He must not fail to demonstrate his commitment to current and future Californians.
