Congressmembers Doris Matsui, George Miller, John Garamendi, Jerry McNerney and others have written a letter to Governor Brown expressing their deep concerns that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan is overly reliant on federal funding that may not materialize.
The legislators point to the BDCP’s draft of Chapter 8, which assumes that $4 billion will be set aside of the BDCP and say that this unrealistic, given the recent cuts in the federal budget and that the federal government is currently operating under sequestration. They point out that the decline in federal funding has caused the nation to put many other important priorities on hold, and that to assume the BDCP will have funding over other priorities is unwise.
“Despite meetings with senior federal and state officials to discuss our concerns, we continue to believe the current BDCP plan and process are deeply flawed and do not warrant federal funding at this time, especially to the levels called out for in the draft plan. Additionally, Northern California stakeholders continue to be left out of the process. The lack of involvement is particularly troubling given that the State plans to release its draft BDCP Plan for public comment on October 1, 2013.
We request that you postpone the release of the BDCP management plan until all stakeholders are at the table, sound science is conducted, and a workable financing plan is developed. … “
Read the full text of the letter by clicking here.
