CalTrout News
Written by CalTrout Policy Associate Kam Bezdek and Lost Coast Project Manager Charlie Schneider
Earlier this month, CalTrout staff joined the Day of Action for Water Justice and Salmon in Sacramento, sponsored by a collection of Tribes, Native-led NGOs, fishing, and environmental organizations. In addition to a rally and advocacy efforts to support healthy rivers and salmon runs, this lobby day was filled with legislative meetings for the three water bills moving through the legislature: AB 1337 (Wicks), AB 460 (Bauer-Kahan) and SB 389 (Allen). CalTrout was thrilled to be invited to this event, which yielded a mix of lobbyists, scientists, community advocates, and project managers participating in teams and speaking to staffers about these bills.
All three water bills are part of a movement advocating for more pragmatic and equitable water rights enforcement in California. While they all took different journeys throughout their legislative processes, they all engaged in the same vital conversation: that we need to make pragmatic changes to the ways in which we manage water in California. As we grapple with a rapidly changing climate, California needs to modernize the water rights system to effectively manage water as supplies become more variable.
Our day started with a general meeting to get everyone on the same page (and fuel us all with donuts!), and we broke out into teams from there. CalTrout staff Charlie Schneider and Kam Bezdek both served as team leads, organized their teams, led their teams throughout their schedule for the day, and took leadership roles within the legislative meetings.
“I remember participating in events like this when I first became an intern, and then later a registered lobbyist,” said CalTrout Policy Associate Kam Bezdek. “These events are great ways to engage folks in important dialogue while helping them learn the ropes, all of which creates great advocacy skills and experiences even if you never become a lobbyist or consultant. It was awesome to see people from all spaces in the environmental movement come together to support the communities and Tribes who came to have their voices heard.”
Much of the day highlighted Native People’s perspectives to the legislature–many participants and organizers from across California spoke to the importance of healthy rivers to California Tribes and their ways of life. There was also a rally held at the Capitol steps, where Native people shared their dances and songs, and the public had the opportunity to hear from those who shared their experiences.
The theme of the day was community: communities advocating for themselves, communities coming together for each other, and new communities forming to fight for a better future for fish, water, and people. CalTrout was incredibly appreciative to the coalition of groups wanting to support and feature our co-sponsored bill, AB 460, in their advocacy for that day. We were also honored to work with numerous other organizations and Tribes to support more equitable water rights enforcement in California and create meaningful advocacy for our work in this legislative cycle.
“For many people, democracy is something that happens way off in DC or Sacramento or maybe once every couple of years when they vote,” said CalTrout Lost Coast Project Manager Charlie Schneider. “But in reality, it happens almost every day and events like this are a great way to engage with decision makers on issues important to them. It was moving to be able to lead a diverse group from the North Coast to legislative offices and help them have their voices heard.”
