SACRAMENTO, CA--(Marketwire - August 4, 2010) - The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) has adopted policy principles calling on state and federal agencies to take a comprehensive, ecosystem-based approach to implementing the Endangered Species Acts.
The principles, adopted July 30 by ACWA's Board of Directors, express strong support for the underlying goals of the state and federal acts but note that current implementation efforts, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, have set the California economy and environment unnecessarily on a collision course. A more comprehensive approach that recognizes the co-equal goals of water supply reliability and ecosystem health and employs a diverse set of management tools would better meet the needs of species as well as communities, farms and businesses.
ACWA President Paul Kelley called the principles an important statement by the water community at a time when ESA actions in the Delta and elsewhere are affecting water supplies for many in the state.
Randy Record, ACWA vice president and chair of the task force that developed the principles, said: "We are stating strongly that we support the goals of the ESA. But current ESA implementation actions are not working, causing tremendous loss to our economy with virtually no improvement to the ecosystem. We should acknowledge that the status quo fundamentally has not met our expectations; we must move to an approach that places us on a path to meeting the co-equal goals that are now the cornerstone of California water policy."
Because ESA implementation tends to focus on a single species or a single action, it often results in narrow and restrictive measures that may not address the underlying cause of ecosystem decline, the principles say. In addition, too few resources are dedicated to developing integrated strategies that address ecosystem health and utilize real-time data to adaptively manage projects.
"Without a fundamental change in implementation strategy, it will be impossible to satisfy the demands required by the ESA while also effectively meeting the needs of California's families, farms, businesses and communities," the principles say.
Implementing agencies should use the flexibility available under existing law to develop more integrated strategies that consider economic and social stability and encourage more parties to help develop solutions, ACWA's principles state.
ACWA's policy principles were developed by a diverse task force with representation by local water managers from throughout the state, including agricultural and urban agencies, agencies upstream of the Delta and those that rely on exports from the Delta for all or part of their water supplies. The final principles were unanimously recommended for approval by the task force and were unanimously approved without modification by the ACWA Board.
ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn said: "We hope that the ESA implementing agencies appreciate the fact that such a strong statement on redirecting ESA implementation efforts came unanimously from such a diverse set of water managers. ACWA urges the ESA implementing agencies to work with the water community to significantly improve ESA implementation in the future."
The policy principles can be found at http://www.acwa.com/sites/default/files/news/endangered-invasive-species/2010/08/esa_policy_principles.pdf.
ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Jennifer Persike
ACWA Director of Strategic Coordination and Public Affairs
916/441-4545
916/296-3981 (cell)