HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTIONS - 04191988 - 88-219 3 . .
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Adopted this order on April 19 , 1988 , by the following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Powers , Fanden, McPeak, Torlakson, Schroder
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
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SUBJECT: Resolution to Adopt San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary
Protections
RESOLUTION NO. 88j 219
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors RESOLVES THAT:
1. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has convened
the Bay-Delta hearings, a three-year, three-phase proceeding
designed to - set new water quality standards for the San
Francisco Bay - Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta Estuary.
2 . Over the next three years the SWRCB will review evidence and
set water quality standards for the Bay-Delta Estuary to
protect such beneficial uses as drinking water, agriculture,
industry, recreation and fish and wildlife.
3 . These historic Bay-Delta hearings will have far-reaching
implications for the entire Bay-Delta region and the State
of California.
4. The U.S. Congress recognized the San Francisco Bay-Delta as
an estuary of national significance and added it to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency' s (EPA) National Estuary
Program.
5. Governor Duekmejian has designated the State of California
to be a partner with the EPA in the San Francisco Estuary
Project, a five-year effort to address the Bay' s and Delta' s
most critical problems through a Comprehensive Conservation
and Management Plan to restore the chemical, physical and
biological integrity of the Estuary.
6. The San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary is the largest inland
estuarine system on the West Coast of North and South Ameri-
ca, home to more than 100 species of fish and an estimated
800 ,000 waterfowl and shore birds and is a major stop-over
on the migratory Pacific Flyway.
7 . The Delta provides drinking water to two-thirds of Califor-
nia` s population, representing 40 percent of all drinking
water consumed statewide.
8. The 12-county Bay-Delta region is home to more than seven
million Californians, and its economy is dependent upon the
quality of the environment and health of this estuarine
resource.
RESOLUTION NO. 88%219
PAGE 2
9. The Bay-Delta Estuary is under increasing stress due to
increased diversions and exports of freshwater out of the
Delta to many parts of the State, resulting in exports or
diversions estimated at 60 percent of the Bays historic
annual inflow and up to 85 percent of its springtime fresh-
water inflow.
10 . Diking and filling of nearly all the Bay-Delta Estuary' s
historic tidal marshes; increased discharge of pollutants
from ,point to non-point sources; and increased waterway
modification, including dredging; also have affected the
Bay-Delta Estuary.
11 . These practices, including diversions and exports, have
caused adverse impacts to the Bay-Delta Estuary, including
increased salinity of Delta drinking water supplies; an 80
percent decline in the striped bass population since the
19501s; decreases in salmon available for sport and commer-
cial fishing; reduction in the Bay' s flushing and circula-
tion capacity causing longer residence time for pollutants
in the Bay; and loss of critical fish and wildlife habitat.
12. The SWRCB has an historic opportunity to address these
adverse impacts and protect the Estuary' s vital public trust
resources through the Board' s decision on water quality
standards for the Bay-Delta Estuary.
13 . Each city, county and concerned citizen in the Bay-Delta
region has a unique opportunity to express support for
improved protections for the magnificent resource that is
the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.
14. The County of Contra Costa supports complete and adequate
water quality standards that protect all beneficial uses of
the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.
15 . The County of Contra Costa urges the State Water Resources
Control Board to adopt water quality standards that assure
the protection of the Estuary before increased diversion or
exports are considered.
16 . Suitable copies of this resolution shall be transmitted to
the State Water Resources Control Board and to appropriate
state and federal legislators.
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of
an action taken and enterzd on the minutes of the
Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED, April 19, 198 8
â–ºFOIL BATCHELOR,Clerk of the Board
of Supervisors and County Administrator
By ,Deputy
DBO: jn
144:baydelta.res
Orig. Dept: Community Development
cc: Committee for Water Policy Consensus (via CDD)
State Water Resources Control Board (via CDD)
RESOLUTION NO. 88/219