HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09191995 - SD7 sty . 7c.,
- WC3
Contra
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
. :�� • Costa
FROM: WATER COMMITTEE Cointy
Supervisor Gayle Bishop, Chair
Supervisor Tom Torlakson
DATE: September 19, 1995
SUBJECT: REPORT ON RESOLUTION OF OPPOSITION TO THE SAN LUIS DRAIN
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATIONS) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
Adopt the ABAG-sponsored Resolution of Opposition to the San Luis Drain Project, and authorize Water
Agency staff to represent the County on short and long-term drain issues until such time that an
appropriate and acceptable long-term drainage solution can be carried out.
REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND
On February 28, 1995, the Water Committee recommended to the Board that Water.Agency staff work
with other involved agencies on a letter campaign to express opposition to reinstatement of the San
Luis Drain proposal. Since that time a great number of letters and other communications have gone
out to an array of agencies, many of which have indicated opposition to the drain. As the letter-writing
campaign is the only non-legal policy statement by the Board regarding opposition to the drainage
issue, policy opposing the drain as part of ABAG resolution efforts seemed appropriate, and is
recommended by the Board's Water Committee.
As part of this effort, the County has become involved in several other drainage issues related to the
drain to the delta. For example, short-term use of the existing drain has been proposed, and has been
viewed as a potential long-term drainage solution, with continuing impacts of selenium loading into the
South Delta area. From staff's perspective, many of these issues are inter-related, and provide an
opportunity to discover more information through water quality monitoring and other means which will
allow more meaningful discussion relative to longer term drainage issues.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
Supervisor Gayle Bis op, Chair Supervisor Tom Torlakson
ACTION OF BOARD ON 9 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
UNANIMOUS (ABSENT I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND
AYES: NOES: CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
OF SUPERVIS RS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
Contact: Roberta Goulart (510) 646-2071 ATTESTED
cc: Community Development Department (CDD) PHIL TCHELOR, CLEAK OF THE
County Counsel BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND
ABAG (via CDD) AD I ISTRATOR
BY:G,1A,,C7NTY
, DEPUTY
RGaw
RRG3:9-19WC3.6bd
r'
i.
IN THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
SUBJECT: In The Matter of Opposing 1
The San Luis Drain Project 1
RESOLUTION NO. 95/642
The Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County RESOLVES THAT:
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are natural resources of statewide,
national, and international significance containing irreplaceable resources, and
WHEREAS, the Bay and Delta serve as critical Pacific flyways for many species of migratory birds and is home
to various rare and endangered species of waterfowl, mammals, fish, and other types of animals and plants, and
WHEREAS, the Delta is a source of the California drinking water supply which must be protected from
contamination, and
WHEREAS, historically, Central Valley agricultural wastewater was released into the Kesterson Reservoir
resulting in tragic losses of wildlife and ultimately resulting in the closing of both the drain and refuge in 1985, and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation stopped the San Luis Drain into the Delta as both socially and
environmentally unacceptable, and
WHEREAS, on December 2, 1994, Judge Oliver Wanger of the U.S. District Court found that the Bureau of
Reclamation has an obligation to provide drainage to the San Luis Unit and directed the Bureau to apply for a discharge
permit for the San Luis Drain, and
WHEREAS,the U.S. Attorney General has already filed an appeal to Judge Wanger's decision on behalf of the
Department of the Interior, and the County has filed a Petition to Intervene; and
WHEREAS, the San Luis Drain still has a planned discharged point in the Delta,
NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors opposes the release
of wastewater from the San Luis Drain into Bay or Delta waters and recommends to Congress that they enact
legislation to prevent polluted, hazardous, and toxic agricultural runoff from ever being released into the Bay or Delta
waterways, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors supports the Department of
the Interior's legal appeal and requests that the Bureau of Reclamation work with Central Valley farmers to consider
other options which are safer, "in-valley" solutions.
PASSED by the following vote of the Board of.Supervisors on the 19th day of September, 1995:
AYES: Supervisors Rogers, Smith, DeSaulnier, Torlakson and Bishop
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of an order entered on the minutes of the Board of
Supervisors on the date aforesaid.
Contact: Roberta Goulart (646-2071) Witness my hand and the Seal ofhe
cc: Community Development Department (CDD) Board of Supervisors affixed on this 19th
County Counsel day of September 1995.
ABAG (via CDD)
Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board of
Super^i rs aP County ministrator
BY:
Dep ty Cle
NK
RESOLUTION NO. 95/ 642
RRG3:sarr1ui9.res
8-13-86