Why Audubon Supports Prop 1 (Water Bond)

Why Audubon California supports Proposition 1 (and you should, too)

Even before California entered its third straight year of this brutal drought, California birds were suffering from poor water management and infrastructure.

• Central Valley refuges, the last strongholds of wetland habitat in the valley, were not getting the water promised to them by Congress in the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.
• Funding has decreased for the types of habitat restoration and wildlife conservation benefitting birds that have been provided by a series of parks and conservation bonds.
• The state’s system for water delivery (including levees) is inadequate and crumbling. This puts habitat at risk, just as it threatens every other sector of the state.

California’s $7.12 billion water bond (Prop. 1) contains numerous benefits for birds and habitat throughout California.

• Explicitly allocates $475 million in funding for priority bird habitat in the Salton Sea, Klamath, and Central Valley refuges (funding for Central Valley Project Improvement Act refuge water).
• Includes almost an additional $1 billion for watershed protection, restoration, and habitat improvements.
• Includes funding for all of the conservancies throughout the state and the Wildlife Conservation Board — the principal land acquisition and restoration sponsors in the state.
• Makes critical investments in Delta habitat, through the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Delta Conservancy, which will greatly benefit birds, and ensures that bond funds cannot be spent on projects such as tunnels or canals described in the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan.
• Provides critical statewide watershed conservation funding in an environment where funds for conservation are diminishing.
• Will improve water quality and make supply more reliable – which is critically important for the environment and for birds.

With 170 California birds specifically threatened by global warming, the water bond provides critical funding for projects that will help our birds adapt to a warmer climate.

Like many conservation groups, we are concerned about the $2.7 billion set aside for water storage, including potential new dams. However:

• None of the funds are earmarked for specific projects and the funds can be spent on projects such as off-stream reservoirs and groundwater storage, which are much more environmentally sound and fiscally viable than new dams.
• All bond-funded projects — including potential new dams — must undergo full environmental review, giving Audubon and our allies opportunities to challenge ecologically dangerous projects.
• No bond-funded projects — including potential dams — can threaten the quality of rivers protected by the federal Wild & Scenic Rivers Act.

Proposition 1 Overview