HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-024 - Calling for Support of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan for Reliable Water SuppliesJxs 6!312014
RESOLUTION NO.2014 -024
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA ANA CALLING FOR SUPPORT OF THE BAY
DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN FOR RELIABLE WATER
SUPPLIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION
WHEREAS, water supplies from Northern California that move across the
Sacramento -San Joaquin Delta are vital to the economy of California, serving 25 million
people from the Bay Area to the Mexican border and agriculture throughout the Central
Valley; and
WHEREAS, the Delta is the 550,000 -acre estuary where the rivers of the Sierra
Nevada merge before heading west to San Francisco Bay; and
WHEREAS, the Delta is in a state of environmental stress due to the loss of
wetlands habitat, invasive species, pesticide runoff, a depletion of native food supplies,
pumping operations and other factors; and
WHEREAS, the decline in the Delta's health threatens this unique environment
and water supplies that are key to the California economy; and
WHEREAS, the Delta's levees are not engineered to protect the State's water
supply distribution system from a major earthquake, and multiple levee failures could
disrupt water deliveries and the state economy for up to three years; and
WHEREAS, State and Federal agencies, via the Bay Delta Conservation Plan
(BDCP) process, have worked for years towards developing a comprehensive package
of ecosystem and water system improvements to address both current conflicts in the
Delta and long -term threats to the State's water supplies; and
WHEREAS, BDCP represents an effort to comply with State and Federal
environmental laws for 50 years through a cooperative effort to reverse the Delta's
decline; and
WHEREAS, the failure to take decisive actions would be an unacceptable risk to
the environment of the Delta and the economy of California; and
WHEREAS, on December 13, 2013, the State released a public draft BDCP and
its environmental impact statement/report; and
WHEREAS, the State's preferred alternative is the most promising plan
developed to date to solve Delta challenges and resolve decades of conflicts between
agricultural, urban and environmental water users with a comprehensive solution that
Resolution No. 2014 -024
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achieves California's Co -Equal goals of a reliable water supply and a restored Delta
ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is supportive of the State's preferred Alternative
Number 4 which calls for a proposed twin- tunnel conveyance system that isolates and
protects drinking water supplies and helps restore natural flow patterns in the Delta for
the benefit of native species as well as the complementary habitat restoration, water
quality and predator control measures outlined in the BDCP.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Santa
Ana urges the state to move forward with the draft BDCP, specifically with support for
Alternative Number 4, the State's preferred alternative, and focus efforts on resolving
those remaining issues needed to provide assurances that the plan will achieve
California's co -equal goals of water supply reliability and ecosystem restoration in a cost
effective manner.
ADOPTED this 3`d day of June, 2014.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
By/
e andoval
ief Assistant City Attorney
Resolution No. 2014 -024
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AYES: Councilmembers: Amezcua Benavides Pulido, Reyna Tinaiero (5)
NOES: Councilmembers: None (0)
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers: None (0)
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers: Martinez Sarmiento (2)
CERTIFICATION OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, MARIA D. HUIZAR, Clerk of Council, do hereby attest to and certify the attached
Resolution No. 2014 -024 to be an original resolution adopted by the City Council of the
City of Santa Ana on June 3, 2014.
Date: i'1111201`/
I—z / I �dwvv a7.
Maria D. Huizar
Clerk of Council
City of Santa Ana
Resolution No. 2014 -024
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