This year, the California legislature is grappling with how to spend a record-breaking $262.6 billion budget – demonstrating a much larger budget surplus than predicted at the beginning of the pandemic. Naturally, there are countless worthy issue areas that need funding and the CalTrout policy team has engaged to advocate for programs that assist with fish passage, barrier removal, drought response and more. The state budget, as currently proposed, allocates approximately $3 billion for drought response. Though much of the detail still needs to be hashed out, the CalTrout policy team is pushing hard to ensure our priorities will be reflected in the final budget language. Our internal team and external partners have been championing for the following items to be included in the budget:

Funding to the State Water Resources Control Board in order to:

• Support real-time management of drought response, enforcement of water rights abuses, and to process regulatory approvals for drought management actions consistent with the Water Rights Drought Effort Review Report. Funding should be used for water rights database upgrades and analysis to support decision-making and real-time emergency management of drought.
• Fund the Division of Water Rights to establish a Drought Section and support real-time management related to drought response and processing regulatory approvals.
• Implement Water Code Section 144 and deploy prioritized stream gauges to improve water management and respond to the impacts of drought on fish and wildlife.

Funding to California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

• For real-time management of drought response and to process regulatory approvals for drought management actions consistent with Chapter 340 of 2016, Section 51.
• North Coast Salmon Project: to expedite and enhance efforts to recover endangered coho Salmon in California. The Project will develop strategies to prioritize and accelerate implementing projects in four specific watersheds with the goal to export these approaches across the North Coast watersheds.
• Coastal Monitoring Program: funding to document salmonid status on a statewide scale using standardized methods, with data centralized in a statewide database.

Funding to The Wildlife Conservation Board:

• Potter Valley Project dam removal, socioeconomic impact, and water supply reliability priority studies.
• Grants pursuant to the guidelines of the Streamflow Enhancement Program for the purposes of protecting fish and wildlife from the impacts of drought including for short term acquisition and transfer of water.

Funding to the California Natural Resources Agency:

• Cutting the Green Tape Initiative: to implement the recommendations of the November 2020 Cutting Green Tape report, which will increase the pace and scale of ecosystem restoration necessary to create resiliency to the effects of climate change.

In addition to the policy team’s focus on budget negotiations, we have also engaged on several pieces of legislation. Below are examples of the types of bills we have supported during the 2021 legislative session.

Senate Bill (SB) 716:

• Authored by Senator McGuire, this bill would extend the Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Act (HREA) set to sunset on January 1, 2022 and ensure critical habitat restoration and enhancement work can continue with minimal delay.

SB 624:

• Authored by Senator Hueso, this bill would codify ensuring equitable environmental protection and outdoor access as a state priority and establish the fundamental framework and authority needed for the state to take targeted actions that reduce impacts and barriers for communities that face disproportionate environmental harms and access barriers.

Assembly Bill (AB) 315:

• Authored by Assemblymember Stone, this bill would require the state to indemnify landowners who allow voluntary stream restoration projects funded by the state on their property for liability from damages caused by them. In doing so, this bill would help address an obstacle that many groups face in convincing private landowners to permit important stream and habitat projects on their property.

Policy and legislation advocacy is an exciting and fast-paced aspect of CalTrout’s work with far reaching impacts. We look forward to continuing this Capitol Corner series in order to provide you an insider look at our efforts.