RIVERS NEED WATER: FUND THE LONG TERM SOLUTION
State and federal agencies allocate millions of dollars per year for water conservation projects, but do not allocate the conserved water to rivers and streams. Instead, water that is conserved with public money is used by the very property owners who undertake conservation projects, or by downstream property owners with unsatisfied “paper” water rights.
We, the undersigned urge you to adopt funding guidelines and grant scoring criteria that:
(1) Require that water conserved with public money be dedicated to rivers and streams.
(2) Clarify baseline regulatory requirements for river and stream flow levels.
(3) Preclude instream flow studies that are not tied to specific actions.
